Q.. for pet owners. what would you do in this situation...

[Starset]

I suppose koi/fish are pets, too - but you''ll never find my pet fish sleeping with me in my bed

 

[Jensia]

I have five cats. Because of chronic illness I now no longer work. Last week my cat had to goto the emergency vet at 2am.
His bladder was about to explode. No symptoms up to that point. He needed 1,000 surgery for a cathader to be put in.

I did not have the money, so I wrote the check,and the next day had to put my new diamond ring in pawn for a loan.
Because of about 500 thousand in outstanding medical bills I can not apply for the credit.
It was horrible. But he is still with me and doing well now. Now I have to figure how to come up with the money to
get my ring out. But when I look at it, life is more important than things. Even if it means giving up my favorite thing.

TO make things worse, I broke a tooth two nights ago, and went to the dentist. I had an allergic reaction to the novocain and they had to call an ambulance. Now to get the tooth fixed, I have to be put under general anesthesia, and the dental or health insurace will not cover that. So now my mouth is killing me, and not a thing I can do. My ring is no longer an option. I have been loaded on percocets for two days now, and the fight with the insurance company begins,which can take months.
My husband is giving me the I told you so about spending the 1,000 on the cat, but how was I to know that this would happen,, and I think I still wouldhave paid it if I did. I have had zarra for 8 years now and love himt o death.

So if something happened to my cat now, there would be nothing I could do. But if I can afford it I will always put them first.

jensia

 

[lizz]

I just went through this with a cat a few weeks ago. She had gotten liver disease due to losing a lot of weight in a short amount of time due to a respiratory infection. Fat is processed through the liver, which made her liver diseased. At least this is how I understand it from what the vet said. Our local vet (whom we really trust) said she had liver disease and did some tests. He gave us some meds. I panicked after about a week and wanted to know more. Went in there frantic in the middle of the work day (my boss told me to leave because she could see I was falling apart) and waited for my cat to be seen. Had more tests done and force feeding was ordered. She didn''t eat on her own for something like 4-6 weeks, a ridiculously long amount of time, so for part of that time, we were force feeding her. If anyone has ever seen an animal you love disintegrate and die before your very eyes, you know what I''m talking about. We went back regularly to the vet after that, who was hopeful since he had just treated a cat with liver disease, and she responded well. We were going to the vet once or twice a week. One night my husband was force feeding her, and she collapsed on the counter. He was freaking out, so we drove 30 miles to an emergency vet clinic and stayed there til the wee hours of the morning. She was put on a heating pad, etc. and treated and left to stay overnight. We spent $700 for that one night. Gulp. But my husband and I said we would spend whatever to keep that pet (our "daughter") alive. We were told to bring the cat right from the emergency overnight vet clinic the next morning over to our regular vet''s office, which we did. We went to our vet''s office that night after work. He came in and shook his head. He said she could not keep up her body temperature on her own and she was fighting to die. He said her liver disease had cleared up, but her kidneys were now failing. It makes me so sad to think about it. My husband and I had talked about this potential moment and what we would do. We told ourselves we would never be so selfish as to keep an animal alive who was in misery. We made the decision quickly to have her euthanized. I miss her greatly but know we made the right decision. Never once have I actually calculated how much we spent on her. It was a lot of money. But neither of us cared. We charged all the vet bills.

 

[lizz]

Date: 6/26/2006 12:04:07 PM
Author: Jensia
I have five cats. Because of chronic illness I now no longer work. Last week my cat had to goto the emergency vet at 2am.
His bladder was about to explode. No symptoms up to that point. He needed 1,000 surgery for a cathader to be put in.

I did not have the money, so I wrote the check,and the next day had to put my new diamond ring in pawn for a loan.
Because of about 500 thousand in outstanding medical bills I can not apply for the credit.
It was horrible. But he is still with me and doing well now. Now I have to figure how to come up with the money to
get my ring out. But when I look at it, life is more important than things. Even if it means giving up my favorite thing.

TO make things worse, I broke a tooth two nights ago, and went to the dentist. I had an allergic reaction to the novocain and they had to call an ambulance. Now to get the tooth fixed, I have to be put under general anesthesia, and the dental or health insurace will not cover that. So now my mouth is killing me, and not a thing I can do. My ring is no longer an option. I have been loaded on percocets for two days now, and the fight with the insurance company begins,which can take months.
My husband is giving me the I told you so about spending the 1,000 on the cat, but how was I to know that this would happen,, and I think I still wouldhave paid it if I did. I have had zarra for 8 years now and love himt o death.

So if something happened to my cat now, there would be nothing I could do. But if I can afford it I will always put them first.

jensia

Jensia, I am so sorry about all these mounting expenses. I am glad your cat is fine and is with you.

 

[innerkitten]

He probably shouldn''t buy more koi.

 

[Jensia]

Sorry to hear about your kitty liz. I know how hard it is. When Zina got hit by a car, I screamed. I woke up all the neighbors, and carried her home in my arms.

I know what you mean by daughter. She was a daughter to me. I Found her at two weeks and had to feed her by tube.

She thought I was her mamma. It broke my heart. I actualy had her creamated.

My oldest cat Mjaestic is 10, and has just started getting blood in his stool. I know his time is comming,
and I dont think you can ever prepare for it. I had majestic before I met my husband . He is a very overweight cat
and not healthy as a result. He weighs 18 pounds. I can not cut his food as I have 5 cats and all the others
are normal weight. My Vet said it would be immossible. I have cut the wet food to twice a week rather than daily.
But he sleeps in the same spot all the time now 24 hours a day. He coughs and now the blood thing. I know its comming.

Its such a hard payoff. You have your animals , they keep you company. You come home to them every day.
But then you have to let them go at sometime. My mom just lost a dog at the age of 20(pretty good for a dog)
and now her other two (the daughter and son of that dog) are getting up there and have problems. She said no more animals after they go because she cant deal with loosing them.

I have to go through this with 5 cats. Three of them are up there in age. But when they pass, I too will not consider another,
but may go another route at that point with birds. I always loved birds,lol I also have my chinchilla , they live to be 30 years old
but they arent the cuddly type of animal. They are skitish.


Jensia

 

[innerkitten]

Off topic: jensia! OMG sorry to hear about all the craziness happening to you right now. I bet it times like this your glad you have your cats. My cats have always been there ready for a cuddle during the worst of times. I love them!

 

[FireGoddess]

When I was in grad school, getting a stipend just to live on, and my cat needed surgery that was costlier than a whole month's rent, I somehow found a way to do it. I ate Ramen for awhile, but found a way. 5 years later, she's still healthy. So my financial hardship was worth it.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

DF, cats and dogs have the capacity to love. They seek and give affection, especially dogs (but we have had sweet, loving cats as well). They have personalities and are faithful to their owners. They are in a totally different category than fish who certainly do not have these attributes. My kids have had a fish or two over the years, and they eventualy died. No, I never even thought about carrying the goldfish bowl to the vet. But I have probably paid for one of the vets Mercedes considering all the money we''ve spent on our dogs and cats over the years.

 

[Apsara]

Date: 6/25/2006 8:05:11 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 6/25/2006 7:17:38 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
I''m also going to say that I''d put dogs/cats and fish in two different categories.

why ?

they''re just different types of pet.

Wrong.

Dogs and cats are domesticated and have been bred for centuries to be companions to humans.

That being said, a living thing is a living thing, and taking responsibility for another living creature is a serious commitment. Having a "disposable" attitude about a living creature is shameful and sad.

 

[moremoremore]

I don 't get the whole fish thing. They should have as much "value" (not $ value) as cats and dogs, etc b/c they are living creatures...but to me, they just don't....Don't know why- maybe because we eat them? LOL...Poor fishies.

That said, I think it's a tough call. The animal not suffering is #1. I can't say how much I'd spend on my dear sick Scotty .... as long as he's not suffering I'd do what I could. I think it depends on the situation.

 

[luvsdiamonds]

If it was to be my Yorkie-mix, or one of my bassethounds then I would max out every credit card, sale , pawn what ever I would have to, to keep them with me. They are my fur babys and I couldn''t live without them. They are my children.

 

[blodthecat]

Date: 6/25/2006 8:05:11 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 6/25/2006 7:17:38 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
I''m also going to say that I''d put dogs/cats and fish in two different categories.

why ?

they''re just different types of pet.

Bloody hell DF....you''re not getting us all fired up on pet topics again!!

BUT...you make a very good point....why do people think fish are less important than a cat or dog?

Blod

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/27/2006 11:52:38 AM
Author: blodthecat

Date: 6/25/2006 8:05:11 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 6/25/2006 7:17:38 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
I''m also going to say that I''d put dogs/cats and fish in two different categories.

why ?

they''re just different types of pet.

Bloody hell DF....you''re not getting us all fired up on pet topics again!!

BUT...you make a very good point....why do people think fish are less important than a cat or dog?

Blod

believe me. serious koi owners think of them as their kids too,just like dog and cat owners do.

 

[monarch64]

We live next door to a childless older couple who have a large koi pond in their backyard. They also have two adorable doggies. The man takes care of those fish as if they are his children. When he feeds them in the morning, they all swim up to him and splash around playfully. He spends every weekend taking care of the rest of the garden surrounding the koi pond, making a happy home for them. His wife is pretty much in charge of the dogs, she always tells me since they don''t have children the dogs are her babies, just like the koi are his babies. His fish are beautiful...every time we have company they love to go outside and look over the fence and say hi to the fish!

 

[rfath]

I''ve never owned koi, but I used to have an aquarium. I researched for months before I bought anything, picked out every fish individually, agonized over every detail to keep the fish happy and healthy. Some species of fish rank a lot higher on the intelligence scale than others - mine definitely recognized me and behaved differently with me than with the rest of the family.. There was the gourami who had all of his fins nipped off, then ended up with a swim bladder problem that kept him from swimming very well. He eventually recovered, but while he was sick he ended up trained to swim into my hand to be fed since he was too slow to get food before the rest of the fish ate it. He''d still swim up into my hand and let me ''pet'' the top of his head... I still have nightmares about the tank dying when I was away for the summer and my parents tried to give the tank to my grandmother. She was going senile and didn''t remember that she needed to treat the water before putting it in the tank...

So I definitely think that you can have affection for fish.. they can return attention and be trained.

Would I spend the money on fish? Sure... Have I spent that much and more on my current pets, horses and ferrets? Heck yes. I''d rather go without material things than to go without my soul-mates if there''s any possible way to keep them with me and comfortable.