A few months ago, I wrote in asking for advice on my female medium haired cat, Evie, who had begun urinating outside of her cat box on the beds that our new chihuahua pup was frequenting. We took her to the vet and they said nothing physically wrong with her. We spent hundreds on special cleaners, extra cat boxes, and "happy cat" hormone sprays and room diffusers. We thought we had turned a corner when we brought home our basset pup, who was energetic enough to play with the now 1 year old chi and keep him entertained and away from the cats.
Then she started repeating the behaviors, but this time marking on our rugs, couch and finally on our bed. We ended up contacting the rescue that Evie came from, out of desperation, and the rescue lady felt it would be best to bring her back so she could seek a home for her where she could be either an only cat, or have a single cat companion, but no dogs. We were very sad to see her go, as she had a wonderful personality, but the rescue lady felt it was what was best for her, since clearly her placement with us was very stressful to her. So that was the first piece of bad news...
We also found out this week that our former feral boy cat, Sterling, who is 4 years old now and a wonderful cat to us, his family, has had a reocurrence of the bone infection that was plaguing him last Christmas. He also came to us from a rescue, and we were told that he had a bad open chest injury when he was captured in a trailer park as a young cat. The injury had been fixed by the rescues vet, but last year the old wound opened up again and began seeping. We took him to the vet and they performed a $600 surgery to cut away the infected areas and found that the bone itself was infected. We then spent $50 every two weeks for four months to have antibiotic injections after the surgery in order to combat the bone infection. It seemed to work-- by July 2010, the incision had healed and his chest seemed smooth, sleek and healed. A few weeks ago we noticed a lump and the seeping is back.
When he had his surgery this time last year, the vet said if the infection reoccurred, the only recourse would be to remove an entire section of the sternum, as opposed to abrading the bone itself. This will require an open chest operation (which requires a veterinary specialist) and a chest tube, along with months of restrictions and injecting to heal. Sterling is very mistrustful of all strangers and absolutely hates being restricted, locked up and manhandled by people. The vet also told us they cannot guarantee that this will fix the issue, as the infection could still spread to other bones or organs.
We are going to take him back to the vets this week, but we're fairly certain we are not going to opt for the open chest surgery. Besides the expense (the specialist's fee alone is $1500-- not counting anything other than his expertise), we're struggling with the idea of putting him through another invasive procedure and months of difficult recuperation, along with the idea of spending so much for something that may not work anyway. We both always try to make the best possible decisions for our pets and to avoid holding on too long for our sakes, when its in the animals best interest to let go. Neither one of us is convinced that the emotional and physical stress on Sterling will be worth it. I hate even contemplating the idea of what this means... but at this point I feel the best thing we can do for him is to keep him as comfortable as possible, monitor his physical condition, and take appropriate steps to end his suffering once the situation advances to where his quality of life is no longer what we want it to be.
To make matters absolutely worse, our nearly 2 year old Nanday conure, Rico, had a stroke this week and is not doing well. The vet thinks "he" is probably a "she" and that during this period of puberty in female birds, when the ovaries start to work, they can throw blood clots that can go right to the birds brain, causing symptoms very similar to human strokes-- loss of vocal ability, difficulty in coordinating body movements and disorientation, all of which Rico is suddenly and unexplicably experiencing.
This past month has absolutely been terrible with our pets... but this is unfortunately the downside of having more than one or two-- the suffering and pain caused by their loss or illness is magnified. We take solace in the fact that we are committed to making the best possible decisions for them, and that joy and happiness are much more frequent for us than months like this.
Sorry to be so long... just felt a need to vent.
Then she started repeating the behaviors, but this time marking on our rugs, couch and finally on our bed. We ended up contacting the rescue that Evie came from, out of desperation, and the rescue lady felt it would be best to bring her back so she could seek a home for her where she could be either an only cat, or have a single cat companion, but no dogs. We were very sad to see her go, as she had a wonderful personality, but the rescue lady felt it was what was best for her, since clearly her placement with us was very stressful to her. So that was the first piece of bad news...
We also found out this week that our former feral boy cat, Sterling, who is 4 years old now and a wonderful cat to us, his family, has had a reocurrence of the bone infection that was plaguing him last Christmas. He also came to us from a rescue, and we were told that he had a bad open chest injury when he was captured in a trailer park as a young cat. The injury had been fixed by the rescues vet, but last year the old wound opened up again and began seeping. We took him to the vet and they performed a $600 surgery to cut away the infected areas and found that the bone itself was infected. We then spent $50 every two weeks for four months to have antibiotic injections after the surgery in order to combat the bone infection. It seemed to work-- by July 2010, the incision had healed and his chest seemed smooth, sleek and healed. A few weeks ago we noticed a lump and the seeping is back.
When he had his surgery this time last year, the vet said if the infection reoccurred, the only recourse would be to remove an entire section of the sternum, as opposed to abrading the bone itself. This will require an open chest operation (which requires a veterinary specialist) and a chest tube, along with months of restrictions and injecting to heal. Sterling is very mistrustful of all strangers and absolutely hates being restricted, locked up and manhandled by people. The vet also told us they cannot guarantee that this will fix the issue, as the infection could still spread to other bones or organs.
We are going to take him back to the vets this week, but we're fairly certain we are not going to opt for the open chest surgery. Besides the expense (the specialist's fee alone is $1500-- not counting anything other than his expertise), we're struggling with the idea of putting him through another invasive procedure and months of difficult recuperation, along with the idea of spending so much for something that may not work anyway. We both always try to make the best possible decisions for our pets and to avoid holding on too long for our sakes, when its in the animals best interest to let go. Neither one of us is convinced that the emotional and physical stress on Sterling will be worth it. I hate even contemplating the idea of what this means... but at this point I feel the best thing we can do for him is to keep him as comfortable as possible, monitor his physical condition, and take appropriate steps to end his suffering once the situation advances to where his quality of life is no longer what we want it to be.
To make matters absolutely worse, our nearly 2 year old Nanday conure, Rico, had a stroke this week and is not doing well. The vet thinks "he" is probably a "she" and that during this period of puberty in female birds, when the ovaries start to work, they can throw blood clots that can go right to the birds brain, causing symptoms very similar to human strokes-- loss of vocal ability, difficulty in coordinating body movements and disorientation, all of which Rico is suddenly and unexplicably experiencing.
This past month has absolutely been terrible with our pets... but this is unfortunately the downside of having more than one or two-- the suffering and pain caused by their loss or illness is magnified. We take solace in the fact that we are committed to making the best possible decisions for them, and that joy and happiness are much more frequent for us than months like this.
Sorry to be so long... just felt a need to vent.
