In a different thread, this was asked: Which is priority, yourself or your cats? - Page 2

It doesn't hurt my feelings. We have different priorities.

If Lazlo's cancer wasn't responding to the chemo, or if the trips to the vet were freaking him out, we wouldn't continue it. Thankfully, neither is the case, and he feels better now than he had in months. You can't really tell he's sick with anything, let alone cancer. Mega massive vibes for Lazlo urgent

But I'm definitely going to give my cats the same opportunity I'd give any member of my family, because that's what they are to me. I'll make the same sacrifices for them I would anyone else in my family. For me, it's not an issue of "balance," but an issue of what I'd do for family.

We also confirmed how Lazlo feels with an animal communicator.

ok what is an animal comunicator????

...and I'm glad your kitty is doing well despite your not giving her the meds your vet recommended. But for $75 a month you're going to deny her that? We definitely have very different priorities.

yes very different priorities lol oh yes she is an old girl thats for sure, but still fine.. and at the time i was only 26 and living at home with my parents.. the vet said she is not in any pain, just that her heart beats faster than normal due to the thyroid so i took her home and thought well if she gets to be in pain then i will know when it is time.. i also had to put my 13 yr old to sleep last yr as she had stomach cancer.. she was not eating and very weak, only drinking a bit of water so we made the decision and i say decision not choice because it is not a choice to put a cat down. the vet called us after to say we had done the right thing as she had a orange sized tumor in her tummy that was cancerous. he said she had a great life with you guys and lived to be 13 what more could we ask for.. its a hard fact to when to know when your cat needs to cross the bridge,but sometimes you just need to let go and move on, not to say it won't hurt like hell, but we all survive and move on.. hugs to your lazlo you obviously love him very much.. and maybe 75 dollars a month is not alot to you but it is to me, thats how much my hydro bill is in my measly apartment if i didn't pay it i would have not heat or electricity,so am i going to give my cat meds or move back in with my parents at the age of 35!!! I don't think so...

$75 is a lot. I also think heat and electricity are a priorty. It seems each week we're not sure where we're coming up with the money for Lazlo's treatment, but we do, and the lights are still on. We did have to split his last ultrasound into several payments. On the other hand, "things" like jewelry aren't that important to me to begin with.

I do find your suggestion that we're keeping Lazlo alive to his detriment offensive. There is a (currently) 38-page thread in the health forum that is quite detailed in documentation of the process and outcomes.

As to whether or not it's Lazlo's time, thanks to the treatment, it isn't. He's only 9. He had bleeding ulcers from the mass in his stomach, and had we not treated him, he would have bled out within a few days or weeks. Without treatment, it was his time.

With treatment, the bleeding ulcers were fixed inside of two weeks. As to the cancer, with 50/50 odds of going into remission with treatment, and with a likelihood of just 15% that he wouldn't tolerate the chemo, those were odds, to us, that made finding out worth it. And we're willing to make what sacrifices can be made to get him the treatment that is working. The tumor in his stomach was "massive:" it has shrunk 40%. But this isn't the thread for me to defend our decision. If you want to read up on how things evolved, I already posted a link to Lazlo's cancer thread.

I do want to ask for clarification, however. You say, "its a hard fact to when to know when your cat needs to cross the bridge,but sometimes you just need to let go and move on, not to say it won't hurt like hell, but we all survive and move on.. " So you believe we're bad kitty parents for opting to treat cancer, and not just accepting it was his time?

As to the animal communicator, it's just what it sounds like: a person that is able to communicate with animals.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...&postcount=128
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...&postcount=146
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...&postcount=153
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...&postcount=164

My cats come first. There is absolutely no question. Unless my medical needs were absolutely life threatening my cats would come first. I do absolutely everything I can to ensure my cats get everything they need. I don't go out to visit friends much anymore, I haven't bought any new clothes in almost a year and I don't buy expensive food. The cats come first. It was all me and my decision to bring them in to my home. So I will provide for them, no matter what.

For us, animals come first. I am very budget oriented and I have my purchases down to a science where with tax I know exactly how much I need to spend for everything week by week. I know how much I need in cat litter when I dump and wash the boxes and fill the tub. I know exactly how many bags of food it takes to fill the food bin, how long the dog food last along with cost. Knock on wood (well a whole forest) noone has been in need of a e-vet trip since Fatman but I take them to low cost rabies clinics for their shots and they get a mini check up and if anything would be brought up to say hey get this checked out I would do it in a heartbeat. I bust my butt to try and give my cats and Franklin the world. I cant afford a cat tree and want one in the worst way so I tore apart and modified a big screen tv to give them a place to play and lounge in the living room. I make toys for them and door dangle toys so they have plenty of stuff to play with and when I find jingle balls on sale I get a bunch at a time. If money is tight they dont get the extra stuff. Like treats and toys. But when I have the extra I get more treats than I need and more toys.

Thank heavens Ive never been in the situation where I had to make the choice between them or me.

What did I do wrong now ? Seriously, I am confused care to explain? If you mean "veterinary" technician v.s. veterinarian technician that is just what my actual degree says. But I still really what you are talking about .

Lastly on this topic, do you want me to do what a lot of what my co-workers say, which is "animal nurse" ? If so, not happening.


While you are right to a point, I would like to add that I would not allow myself to possibly risk losing my home, medication, job and so on to care for a cat.

I truly commend that , but I would never live in an RV with my cats. I would re-home all the cats and then move to an RV.


That is the main difference between me and most people on this site, as far as I am concerned. I believe these animals are here to enrich my life, around for my enjoyment and so on. Due to that, I am to give the best care possible without sacrificing my necessities. To me necessities are home, work, car, and so on.

I haven't read anyone on here saying they would. You can't care for them well without a home. But let's face it, if you had a cat that ill that expenditures for care would threaten your home, you'd most likely have to put the cat down, as who's going to adopt that cat?

A hypothetical question for you. You lose your job and your benefits. You have some savings, enough to stay in your home for a few months without a new job. Do you scale back on what you spend on yourself and your food so you can feed the kitties while you look for a job, or do you immediately start trying to rehome them?

Why?

Of course, we lived full time in the RV, on the road for 7 years. The first five cats were rescued while we still lived in the RV. THEN we moved into a house. When our "fortunes" changed, we moved back into the RV.

I consider home, work, and a car necessities.

honestly i would sell my home and use the money to rent a place, but i'm also canadian and it gets cold up here in the winter,and i would rehome my animals to family members, like my parents until i got back on my feet.. i made the decision not to bring my other 2 cats with me when i moved out of my parents because they had been in the home for sooo long that i didn;t want to stress them out with a new place... it really amazes me the length people will go to for their animals, i commend them but that is just not for me.. i have debt coming out the wazoo and our economy is not much better. i could move to a cheaper province but my family is here and way more important than saving a few bucks on taxes.. its definatley all about priorities isn't it ladies

I just realized, I probably misunderstood what you said. I think you meant you wouldn't live in an RV at all - you'd rehome your cats before moving into one, not that you would rehome your cats IF you moved into one. Gotcha.

We would have had to move back into the RV, cats or no. They had nothing to do with the reason we had to move, so that's a moot point for us. The RV is a lifestyle decision, definitely not for everyone.

I agree with you minus a cat like my DLH Panda. She has a terminal illness, yes . But with the proper medication she might/has lived longer then expect. She is about two years old and still going strong.

But her medication cost me hundreds of dollars (American) a month. This is even with it "at cost". So as long as I have a job, I feel it is fine to spend the money to keep her alive as I enjoy her company, she seems to be okay, and Loki loves her.

However, if I had issues with affording my medication or hers, I would pick MINE!

Lastly, no one said they would lose there home, car, or job for there cat. I think it is implied. I guess I am wrong ?

I think I would rehome all the ones that could be rehomed. I would not risk paying for my cats and not my medication. So I would rehome the cats in order to make my savings last longer. Since getting a job in the USA is hard.

I could not imagine having Loki in an RV. He is in a fairly good sized home and he is destructive. I could not imagine living with him in such a small space. As for my two indoor/outdoor DSH's Shadow and Momma, I do not think they could go in and out if I lived in an RV. Is that correct?

Everyone's decision is a personal one and there is no right or wrong answer, IMO. Laurie, I've seen pics of your RV and how you have tailored it to make your kitties happy with the levels and places for them to hide and it amazes me! I, personally, could never live full time in an RV but I'm claustraphobic (sp?) so it wouldn't work, with or without animals. You make it work and I commend you for that!

As for us, none of our animals will ever starve. My grocery budget per week is $100-$150 and $70 of that goes to animal food. A bag of dog food, a bag of indoor cat food and a bag of outdoor cat food, plus enough canned food and litter to get me through the week. And they don't eat expensive food...it's Purina and Friskies but they seem to be doing fine. With my husband being recently diagnosed as diabetic and having Crohn's disease, he can't eat a lot of junk so menus are a challenge on a tight budget.

My animals don't have yearly vet examines (except for Monster who has seizures) or teeth cleaning but they do go to the vet when they are sick. They don't get a lot of toys and treats, but they get love.

DH's prescriptions recently went from $25 a month to over $100 a month. Monster's meds went from $4 for a 30 day supply to over $20. That doesn't sound like a lot but to us it really hurts. Hopefully Monster will never have to go without her meds, we will cut costs however we have to, but not at the expense of my husband's health.

I know some people will probably think "you shouldn't have pets if you can't afford them". Well, we could afford them 5-6 years ago before the economy tanked, DH's hours were cut in half and prices skyrocketed. Now, we're just trying to do what we can.

Sorry for the rant...this thread just touched a nerve. I just needed to vent.

I totally would not expect just about anyone to want to live in an RV full time, let alone with their animals.


Vent away. I doubt very much anyone will think that - the same thing has happened to quite a few of us.