h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

had gradually become worse the last days. Heavy breathing, runny nose, slept a lot and not wanted to eat. Today's visit to the vet was no fun. X-ray of his lungs showed that only about a third or so of them works properly. It was hard to say from the X-ray if it's just another penumonia or if he has an underlying condition such as a tumour. It was even hard to see the heart properly, and the air-broncograms were prominent. Ths latter is not unusually a sign of heart malfunction as pulmonary oedema.

He is in no shape for an open thoracotomy to find out either. I really doubt I would have let the vet do it even if had been in a better shape. I don't believe in unnecessary painful procedures and treatments neither in cats, humans nor others.

He's given a course of antibiotics and steriods and we'll see if that will do. I was prepared to put him to the eternal sleep today, but princess is not ready for such a decision yet. My primary concern is the wellbeing and dignity of When he can't have a good life, he must be allowed to go - even if it's a hard and sad decision to take. however it's a responsibility you have as pet owner.

Very sorry to hear this.

Lots of that the treatment will work.

Oh no! Poor kittycat. And poor DQ and DP. all around.

But I think you're right. If it would require major surgery like that, it wouldn't give him much quality of life for the extra time it would buy...

Oh, DQ, I am so sorry to hear it. I do hope he will respond well to the treatment he's been given.

I totally agree that for humans and animals, if the treatment isn't likely to accomplish much more than prolonging life a short time, especially if that time will be spent suffering, then best to let the loved one go with dignity and without much pain.

for you and the cat.

and wishing poor well

is doing better today - he objected significantly to taking his meds. princess had to hold him rather firmly while I squeezed the tablets into his mouth. He even managed to spit out one of them. It's a good sign he's getting better.

He doesn't eat much, though. Kitty treats with beef flavour is the only thing he accepted so far, but quite a lot of them on the other hand. The other Lair Cats also declare they're very ill and in great need of huge amounts of kitty treats... and seem to rather pout when their wishes are not granted.

Let me guess what's on the shopping list!

There's only one efficient way we've found of making cats take pills, and it requires something so horrible it should not exist.

American aerosol "cheese" from a can.

The stuff is so horribly sticky they can't lick it off, and have to swallow it along with the pill.

Also available in "cheese and bacon"

i guess you are familiar with the tale of "how to give a cat a pill"?

if not i'm sure you'll find it

Yes, but fortunately I've not had to rebuild anything yet No holes in my skin so far either, but is not happy with taking his meds.

So sorry to hear about Putte. He's such a beautiful boy.

There does come a time to say "no more" and let them go, like I did with Lua. But I do hope Putte wins another battle and has at least a bit more time left to spend in The Lair.



az

I am so sorry to hear that kitteh has been sick again, I hope that her health will improve soon.

I meant to have said that I hope that his health improves.

dq, I hope Putte has a few years yet, as he sounds like a lovely cat to have at the Lair.

I went through something similar with Bandit, one of my trio of girl cats from a few years back. She took to the antibiotics for a while, but I did eventually have to "let her go". Rocket's cat Missy reminds me so much of her -- sweet, willful and independent.

is slowly getting better, even though it's a long way to go before he's back on track again.

There was a hide and chase this morning before princess could catch him from underneath her bed and he could be given the meds - and my thumb got chewed upon as well...

I don't think the male Lair cats fancy me that much nowadays.

Saturday Lynx had to be given a bath after a little "bowel related accident". Even though he really likes to play with water, having a bath is something completely different... I do now have a quite good mark of his teeth on one of my boobs...

Oh, what a place for him to bite you. Herman's good like that, too- hates baths and usually manages to inflict at least one serious claw-related puncture wound. I tried wearing chain mail once, but the claws fit through the holes in the mail...

Glad to hear Putte is showing some improvement. I hope he's with you for quite a while longer.

Ouch! What we don't do for those cats...

We'll be adding a fifth one to the mix here soon. It belongs to my sister but her father was keeping it. Until he got three hunting dogs trained to kill animals but not otherwise very well trained. He still wouldn't let her bring the cat home, until one of his dogs attacked it yesterday! It's having surgery today and will have to spend a week at the vet's, then we'll rescue it.

The funny thing is that I almost picked that kitten 12 years ago when I was choosing my cat, until I saw that her sister had picked me by falling asleep in my lap, holding on with all its claws

Poor puddy-tat. Best wishes for .

It always amazes me how a sick cat can recover enough to lead a mad chase through the house to avoid the very meds that promise to "restore" its health.

Sorry to hear the Lair contingent is so free with their sharps...hope the punctures heal soon!