Remembering Ata/talk about your pets thread (update)

[Dr. T is an alien]

Edit: I'll leave all of my posts in this thread regarding my cat getting sick and dying, but I found it comforting as other posters talked about their current/past fur-babies (even though mine was a furless-baby). I'd like to change the purpose of this thread to talk about our companions through life and how much they make the daily hell better on all of us. Please share about your pets.




We have a sphinx cat that we got 7 years ago. He has definitely been the baby of the family and very loved (and very loving as well).

Wednesday night he had a seizure. His blood tests were fine so they took a “wait and see” approach. He responded by having several more over the last few days. This afternoon he simply went into a non-stop seizure.

We got him to a animal hospital where they used medications to stop the seizures. He is staying until Tuesday as they monitor him. Tuesday, he is supposed to get an MRI that I don’t have the money for.

Best case scenario is that he has no tumors, which suggests he had a late onset of epilepsy.

Worst case scenario is that he has an operable tumor. I don’t have the money for an MRI, so I definitely don’t have the money for such a surgery. I’d have to break my children’s hearts by not saving his life.

This sucks so hard. My youngest and y wife are taking it really hard.

[Deleted]

Well, whatever you do, don't try to pull a Homer Simpson & casually talk about "Kitty Heaven" to your kids & overly sugarcoat the situation.

It is always a very unfortunate thing to be in a situation where you can't afford to save somebody's life & you must make a heartbreaking choice largely on finances. Unfortunately, that's not much you can do. I've been in that situation quite a few times.

What I would recommend if you have to put it down is give your family time to grieve and for your children to eventually calm down. Then, if they are okay, go to the city pound and adopt a new cat & begin a new lineage of loving somebody. But, the memories you have of the old pet will never go away as long as you remember the fun times & the joy it brought.

Plus, you were raising one of the most difficult types of cats to tend to. That in and of itself is a feat.

[Dr. T is an alien]

My kids are16 and 18, but the 16 year old is on the spectrum and Kitty was soma form of therapy for him, so I expect him to be heartbroken over it.

[Deleted]

I remember having to put my cat Boo down after her illness became terminal. It's a horrible feeling.

You have my deepest sympathies. Just know that while you will all miss her, you and your whole family will be ok. I promise you.

[Dr. T is an alien]

It kind of took the wind out of my sails for NYE, I must say.

[Catalanotto]

Why don't you try a GoFundMe account to help raise the money? Or borrow from a place? Borrowing sucks as you have to pay back a bit more than you borrowed, but, it can help in times of immediate need.

My dog was diagnosed in July with advanced diabetes and then in September, he peed blood one day and we rushed him to the vet. We had to pay for x-rays and some tests, the total was over $1000. We don't have that kind of money just lying around, so, we went to Money Mart and borrowed the money. He was diagnosed with Cushings Disease on top of his advanced diabetes. He has a few tumors in his belly, which is what caused the Cushings, but, they are non-cancerous, so, no surgery required, but, he need special food and medication for the rest of his life, which costs us an extra $300 a month. He is alive, I don't care about being broke after getting what he needs.

My dogs are 12 and 10 (the 10 year old is the sick one), I will do anything to save them. Those two dogs literally saved my life. I was in a bad relationship for a long time and they were the only things that kept me on this planet. I had a cat at the time that I had since I was 15, but, she had passed away of cancer just shy of her 10th birthday and before I was out of that relationship. If I didn't have my dogs, I would have probably offed myself after her passing as I would have felt I had nothing to live for.

I don't know what I am going to do when 'that day' comes for my boys. I can't imagine life without them.

[Dr. T is an alien]

I’m pretty underwater as far as debt goes. I tried to sign up for a lender that the vet recommended and was promptly turned down.

As far as a go fund me, I’d feel like a dick since my wife’s cousin (and former babysitter of my kids) has a COTA acct for her baby who has had to have every one of his organs in his digestive tract replaced with a transplant. How could we fundraiser for our pet when this still needs funding?

[Dr. T is an alien]

The animal hospital called us and asked us to pick him up. He’s stabilized for now but was extremely agitated and was not letting anyone near him. This was made worse by him soiling himself in his agitation and not letting then near him to clean him up.

We picked him up and he settled fairly quickly. He’s now sitting in his favorite window sill (second floor in the game room). I’ll stay with him today as the rest of the family visits my in-laws.

Long term, we are simply going to treat him as though he has epilepsy until proven otherwise. Hopefully we can manage his condition with medication. If not, we’ll make the hard choice then.

[denna5]

Glad that your kitty is home. Hopefully the meds will work for a while. I'm going to keep happy thoughts for you.

[Deleted]

Ill keep your kitty in my thoughts and hope he improves.

[edgestar]

Thoughts and prayers for your kitty's continued healing.

[Dr. T is an alien]

He’s not quite himself today, but there were flickers of his usual self. I got good cuddles in today, but he isn’t as warm today as usual (both literally and figuratively). He is a little uneasy with his balance, which probably plays a role is his general malaise (he tried to give my wife a loving head butted, one of his favorites with her, and gave an actual head butted instead).

Sphinx cats are prone to heart issues and his X-ray from today shows an enlarged heart. It could be related to the seizures, which means we will be mixing 3 drugs into his food from here on out.

Edit: How can spellcheck not know headbutt? It makes me look like an idiot! I don’t need help looking like an idiot! I do that well enough on my own, thank you!

[Deleted]

Jan 2, 2018 1:03:02 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

He’s not quite himself today, but there were flickers of his usual self. I got good cuddles in today, but he isn’t as warm today as usual (both literally and figuratively). He is a little uneasy with his balance, which probably plays a role is his general malaise (he tried to give my wife a loving head butted, one of his favorites with her, and gave an actual head butted instead).

Sphinx cats are prone to heart issues and his X-ray from today shows an enlarged heart. It could be related to the seizures, which means we will be mixing 3 drugs into his food from here on out.

Edit: How can spellcheck not know headbutt? It makes me look like an idiot! I don’t need help looking like an idiot! I do that well enough on my own, thank you!

You're good dude. The best thing you can do when they're cold like that is give them a good blanket to snuggle with.

[Dr. T is an alien]

His appetite appears to be shot and he had a very mild seizure just a few minutes ago (mild enough that we would not have known about it had he not frozen in the middle of climbing out of his cave (which is elevated about a foot of of the floor).

He has a vet appt this afternoon, but I’m doubtful we can make this work for both us and him.

At least we can have our goodbyes if the vet visit turns out the way I think it will.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Well, we still have a cat for now. The vet said the issue is that it takes a while for the drugs to be truly effective. We will give it a week and judge things from there.

Honestly, I think the rest of the family is slowly coming to the conclusion that we might need to let him go. Between the frequency of his seizures when the drugs wear out and his general malaise when they are effective, I think it is a real quality of life issue we have on our hands. It does not help that he does not like his meds.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Trying stay up to keep an eye on him to see how he reacts to the medicine. Thankfully, even if he is slowed by the drugs at least his appetite is returning and his body temp is back to his normally toasty self (Sphinx cats tend to run on the warm side as is)-

[Limity (BLM)]

My ex had a pug that would get seizures, the vet put him on phenobarbitol, and it took a couple doses to find just the right amount, but after that he hasn't had one in four years.

Of course I don't know if his seizures, or the cause, is the same as your cat's.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Jan 3, 2018 4:10:40 GMT -5 Limity (BLM) said:

My ex had a pug that would get seizures, the vet put him on phenobarbitol, and it took a couple doses to find just the right amount, but after that he hasn't had one in four years.

Of course I don't know if his seizures, or the cause, is the same as your cat's.

That is what Ata is on. At this point we can only hope he has epilepsy or some heart issue (something Sphinxes are prone to) that is behind them. If he has a tumor (even a treatable one), we don’t have the means to deal with it. I wish we could have afforded to keep insurance on him. That would have been REALLY helpful right about now.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Btw, as frustrated as we are about how our finances affect how we deal with this, it hasn’t been lost on us that there are plenty of people who have to make similar choices regarding their own children (particularly those who are about to lose their kids’ coverage). That’s truly heartbreaking.

[Dr. T is an alien]

My wife texted me at work and said he appeared on his way out. I am home now and he is definitely struggling to breathe and isn’t particularly responsive. Unfortunately, I don’t have anywhere to take him until morning. Not sure if I want him to last until then or not.