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

Kaz, a friend of mine adores cats, but her husband is servely allergic to them. So she set up a cat sitting business and they got a dog.

Sadly her mother died a little while ago and my friend couldn't bear the thought of the cats being seperated and not being able to see them. So she went to see the vet who told her about stuff that you apply to the cat's coat which keeps the dander down.

My friend took in her mother's cats and her husband doesn't have any reaction to them at all.

There is another author with a very similar name - Deric Longden - who also wrote brilliant cat books. He wrote about other things, like his wife who suffered from ME ("Diana's Story") and his eccentric mother("Lost for Words" - which was made into a play starring Dame Thora Hird.) Sometimes funny and very poignant. But it's his cat books that I adore.

In fact - if you do a search for Deric Longden on [insert famous online booksellers name here] you will find Derek Tangye in the other suggested titles!

I've been told by my friend Javier who is an allergist that cat dander is the worst! Including if allergic people move into a house that once had cats in it, even up to six months previously, they can still get an allergic reaction.

It's a shame about your allergy, Kaz, since it is obvious that you love cats. Well, at least you can still enjoy your visitors from a distance and also share 'the Lua experience' with me.



hi Ivan,

It turns out that I also have a fair bit of feline stubbornness myself, which is probably why Lua and I understand each other so well.


Lua is doing very well today. Ate a whack of ham for brekky and is now hanging out in *her* room. My beautiful girl.


az

Interesting Caerwynn. It seems the only fluffy creature I am not alergic too is bunnies, so when I have a house and garden, not a one room flat, I will be getting bunnies instead!

I could try the mysterious substance but only on someone elses cat, I wouldn't risk getting one and the substance not working on both of us.

"Lost for Words" was also made into a film with Dame Thora and Pete Postlethwaite....


It was terrific... The scene with his mother eating ice cream was so sweet.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174882/

I have found a site about Derek and Jeannie Tangye, they have both died now, but their land has become a reserve. I must go there one day.

There is a list of books, with quite a few I don't have yet!

"Dander may be part of the cause of reactions to cats, but the real culprit and cause of the major reactions is from the secretion of the sebaceous glands. All skin, human or animal, contains these glands which produce an oily lubricant that keep the skin supple and the hair shiny. It is from this secretion that Fel d1, the cat allergen, surfaces. (It also surfaces from the persistent self-cleaning of cats). The protein composition of dander can, and does cause reactions, but probably 80% of the serious reactions stem from the Fel d1 allergen." http://www.allerpet.com/websites/inet2.htm


Scientists in the US (where else....) are trying to create a hypo-allergenic cat: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/highlights/010705_allergycats.shtml

*It's never the 'practical' stuff that gets me down (cleaning up after Lua, putting up with her being all smelly and oozing gunk onto my bedsheets, etc.) but rather the constant worry about how she is feeling and how much I can do to make her feel as comfortable as possible.*

Az, I had the same worry 12 years ago when my 11 year old cat, Daqiqi, got a blood cancer (cat version of human leukemia) and spiraled downhilll very fast. He was gone in two months. I worried and worried in the last week or so when it was the right time to have him put to sleep. I was stuffing pills in him and taking his temperature every day as they'd told me to, and I wondered who I was really helping -- him or me.

When I finally screwed up my courage and took him in to the vet for the last time, she took one look at him and said, "Oh, it's time." That really helped, because I didn't want to take away any good days he might have left, but I sure didn't want him to suffer, either.

It's hard, and you both are frequently in my thoughts.

hi Big Red,

<>

I hear ya. I mean, I'm presently injecting Lua with antibiotics and trying to make her as comfortable as possible. But, especially this week, I *have* been asking myself that very same question. Because this week her behaviour has noticibly changed and she still has the 'dire rear' (it's not acute, she has her one BM a day but it ends up being liquid rather than solid).

Again, I feel so fortunate that Maria the vet comes here twice a week for her classes so she can maybe help me decide when Lua has had enough. On Tuesday she said that Lua still seemed okay, not in distress. But you know, I honestly can't say if Lua is actually suffering or how much.

I was talking to Javier the allergist about Lua this morning. He works a lot with asthma patients and says that not being able to breathe without a lot of effort *is* suffering. And both Noggin and I have noticed that this week Lua has become very inactive. Like, perhaps just walking around takes too much effort? And as I said, although she hasn't gone totally off her food, she isn't eating with as much pleasure as she was even a week ago.

I just don't want to end up being selfish and keeping Lua alive only for my sake. Yet having to make the final decision while she still looks okay is something I don't seem capable of doing.

I must say that Javier was wonderful this morning. We spent at least fifteen minutes of our hour-long class discussing Lua and I know he does understand my predicament. But he also pointed out that *whenever* this has to happen it is going to be a huge trauma for me so I shouldn't be considering myself first and should try and be strong enough to do what's best for Lua. His medical opinion is that Lua's reduced breathing capacity *is* causing her to suffer now and that I shouldn't wait until things get too much worse. But Maria keeps saying I can still wait awhile longer.

But as you pointed out, Big Red, *who* actually is benefitting by waiting - me or Lua?

Also, Noggin is still here with me and returns to Wales at the end of September - two weeks from now. Thinking only of ME, I know that I would rather go through all this while he is here with me. But I also don't want that to be the deciding factor. Meanwhile, if Javier is right and Lua is actually not having much quality of life due to her breathing problems (and who knows what other pain caused by the cancer spreading?) then perhaps I do need to make a decision sooner than later?

Javier said it was similar to what people go through with family members who are dying of a painful illness but they don't have my option to stop the suffering. And - bless him - he *does* understand that Lua is a part of my family and doesn't think I'm being silly. He would never say - 'oh, she's just a cat!' Heck, he won't even have pets anymore because once the family had a canary that died and everyone - wife, kids and Javier - were so upset when it happened that he wants to avoid that ever happening again.

Anyhow, just a bit of a ramble while I try to sort out my own feelings. Thanks for listening!


az

I have to say that the prospect of missing all the joy and love one gets with a pet in order to avoid the pain when it dies is simply not worth it.

Great pain when something or someone dies is indicative of the amount of pleasure they gave us in life. Who would forgo that? Not me.

Az dont forget Javier hans't lived with Lua, re breating problems,
hot weather accounts for some of it, a lot does depend on how laboured it is, tiredness in hot weather plus illness will mean she breathes heavier, as long as she eating, more importently drinking


No one but you and lua will know when the time is right, my thoughts are with you several times a day normaly jogged by henry.

Funny you should day that Mudhooks...when I first moved in with Bryan (8 years ago) I told him there and then that I wanted to have at least two cats in the house - I had lived in a 1st floor flat on a busy main road prior to this - not cat safe.

He shocked me by saying that he didn't want pets! "Why?" I asked... "because they die" was the astonishing answer! My reply to that was virtually identical to the excellent comments you have just made.

He cried like a baby when we lost Jake but eventually got over the grief, and now we have Tasha and Charlie and he wouldn't have it any other way. He is soppy about them! Like me.

hi everyone,

Shortly after my last posting I went in to 'Lua's room' to see how she was doing and found her in a very odd crouched position trying to breathe. After a bit she laid down again and seemed to be breathing somewhat better. Then I brought her some shaved ham and she very hungrily ate a couple of mouthfuls but then laid down again, leaving the rest untouched. Noggin came in to have a look at her and commented that she did seem to be breathing with much more difficulty than even just the other day.

I asked him what I should do and he didn't know what to say.

Then I called Maria. I asked her if at this point she truly felt I was keeping Lua alive for myself or for Lua's benefit. She paused a moment and then said - 'for you'. She then explained that some people are just not able to let go until the last possible moment, and that she never likes to interfere with such a personal decision. But since I asked her outright she decided to be totally honest.

And so I asked Maria if she would be able to help us tonight. And she said she would be over after she closes the clinic at 8pm.

You see, I have decided that I don't want to wait until the last possible moment. Only for *my* benefit.

I don't want to wait until I find her totally suffering and gasping for breath. I've looked after Lua (well, we've looked after each other) for more than twelve years now and I owe it to her to keep looking after her properly - especially now. Now that she really needs me.

I've just given her some left-over grilled salmon (cooked in olive oil and garlic, just how she likes it) and she managed to eat a bit of it. Now she has gone back to sitting on the balcony. In *her* room.

If this posting sounds a bit 'factual' rather than emotional it's because since about a couple of hours ago I've not known how to feel. Mostly I feel myself going cold but then suddenly I start crying. Then I go cold again.

This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. And I haven't even done it yet.

We have about an hour left before Maria arrives. So I think I'm going to spend some time with Lua in her room. Though even now she still manages to be cranky and seems not to want me hanging around.

My beautiful girl. She's totally breaking my heart.


az

You know you are making the right decision now and Lua will thank you for it. I'm glad that Noggin is there with you, you are all in my thoughts.


k

Az i know exactly how you feel, Hannahs as i said died in my arms,at 3 am , i curled her up in her fav position, and put her on a cushion in front of the window so "she" could watch the sun set the next day (also for Henry's benifit), then uried her under a Amerilus,
the sun first rays catch the spot nicely

Henry seemed to settle fairly well after mind you he only tolerated her most of the time

az

We love you all.

We are here with you, however far away we are.

I have never met Bast... but Lua will...

Jez - in tears, but knowing you are doing the best that can be done.

oh dear . . .

This seems to be dragging on. Maria just called, an hour after we were expecting her, and said she wouldn't be able to come until tomorrow morning.

My immediate response was relief. Well, just to have one more night with Lua. And to have one more morning to wake up to her. Also, I just realized that tomorrow is my 11th anniversary of arriving in Seville. Eleven years ago I drove into town with my friend Peter and two very less-than-pleased cats. Drove down from Salamanca. More than eight hours of listening to Lua and Sunny screaming their heads off.

Anyhow, Noggin and I just spent the past two hours hanging out in 'Lua's room' (I have a feeling it's always going to be called that from now on) and she seemed to enjoy the company. But she won't be enticed to join us in the living room.

So now the plan is to get up early and spend some time with Lua in the morning. But now . . . bed! I'm completely exhausted.

hasta mañana,
az

Good night, dear Az! You need the rest after such an exhausting day, after such a big decision. Good luck tomorrow. I too am glad you have company. It really helps at such a time.

When my husband had to put our 14-and-a-half year old Maine coon cat to sleep two years ago while I was out of town (taking care of my mother after surgery), I suggested he ask two of our good friends to go with him. He did, and they did, and they took him out to dinner that night. Being alone is too much.

az, give Lua a few more scratches behind the ear for me.... Send her off with some sweet whispers.

Noggin, give az a few hugs for me. I send a few head-pats, too. I know it won't help, but it is all I can do.

Just know that we are all thinking about you, Lua and az. (I'm am all teared up, sitting here in the office, sniffling).