Coyotes

I live across from a canyon that has many coyotes..it's their home and they aren't going to be relocated. Even the street smart cats aren't safe.. some of my neighbors have outdoor cats that have lasted a long time..but all to often I see the "missing cat" signs at the gate to my neighborhood. I also volunteered at the animal shelter and every Sunday we'd have a flood of cat owners looking for their missing cats... I have 2 indooor 3 year old cats...they are happy because they were raised as kittens to be indoors... I'm not saying this to make anyone feel bad... just to know that in coyote areas there is no way to insure they won't get your cat. Of course there are hazards indoors too.. medicines ect... but it is an alternative to be considered. As far as the turkey bones ect... also no one should leave pet food sitting outside for their animals as this can also attract them. Thanyou for sharing about the risk with us kit's dad...

Dutchess's Good Day!

Wow... such a roller coaster ride. Last night I posted how sad I was. Dutchess didn't eat all her meal and I was depressed. We have a two story house... Dutchess and Faith our other dog sleep downstairs in my 16 year old daughters bedroom. My hubby is first to get up during the week. Before Dutchess got sick the normal routine was that both dogs ran upstairs to see me(still in bed) as soon as hubby let them out of daughters room in the morning, let them out and fed them.
Dutchess stopped being able to do stairs about 3 weeks ago... Christmas day hubby and I carried her upstairs so she could be by me while I was up there.
This last week when Dutchess got sicker I have been sleeping downstairs in the family room.. so I can watch her all night long. Last night I was exhausted from not sleeping, feeling depressed as I posted. I forced myself to go sleep back upstairs in my bed because I could feel myself starting to obsess over Dutchess. I knew that realistically she would be fine thru the night with my daughter in her normal routine.
Anyway... this morning my hubby let the dogs out to go to the bathroom... Faith of course ran up the stairs and jumped on me.... my hubby followed about 15 minutes later and said, "Guess who is half way up the stairs?" Dutchess had decided to do the stairs..she was halfway up resting on the landing. I said that from now on we will have to close the baby gates so that she doesn't try..she has a hernia. But I thought she would enjoy just resting on the landing. About 15 minutes later she did the rest of the stairs and came trotting up to me in bed. She nuzzled and hugged. I cherished that moment and layed in bed longer than I would have... she really shouldn't do stairs. I was so touched though.. I feel like she was definately coming to find me. What a sweet sweet dog!
She ate a full meal and kept it down... so I've gone from last night wondering if she'd last a week to hoping she can make the couple months the vet said....
I know things can change in a hurry but wanted to share our good day. Whatever happens.. I'll have the memory of her doing the stairs to get me after 4 nights of having me by her side.
Thankyou for listening. Terri

Can't Sleep

Hi friends,
This last week has been hard and I'm trying to come to terms with all this. This all started a month ago with Dutchess cancer surgery after my finding a lump. It was near the surface and removed and the margins were clear so I hoped for the best.
She had one good week...but then she started doing a lot of whining which is totally out of character. I took her back in two weeks later and the vet examined her and said she had a hernia that needed to be repaired. I also told her that Dutchess was drinking excessive water. The vet told me that Dutchess's blood work for her cancer surgery was all good. She was having trouble walking more than her usual arthritis. The vet said that was not due to the hernia.
It was Christmas week so we scheduled her hernia operation for Monday Dec 27...but I had a bad feeling. Dutchess kept whining and walking was getting worse. The morning of the surgery I told them that she wouldn't be having the surgery because she could barely walk... The vet checked her out and found diabetes... so advanced that she had ketones in her urine and needed to be hospitalized.
I don't want to play the blame game... but wish she would have rechecked her blood when I brought her in a week earlier. It turns out that the pre cancer blood work that she told me was so good actually did have high sugar..but not as high as it was now and they chalked it off to "stress." It wouldn't have changed the outcome if she'd found it a week earlier but it does make me question her being careful and checking details. When they got her diabetes under check the limpness in her back legs corrected and she could have been spared a week that she was whining in pain.
Any way after a couple of days of hospitalization and a trip to the emergency clinic when she started vomiting... we did the stumach tests that revealed the progression of cancer into the stumach which is where we are at now.
Praise God that Dutchess has been able to keep her food down and seems comfortable at home the last couple days. However tonight she only ate half her meal... which isn't good. This is so painful to watch the decline.
One of my concerns is this... I come to these boards because I need so badly to talk about what I'm going thru to people who understand. I know that we are all hurting. I don't want to hurt any of you... because I read your heart breaking stories about your missing your pets and I am still able to hold Dutchess. I don't want to offend anybody.
Okay... well I feel a little bit wound down after posting some of this... Maybe I can sleep now. I just had to unload some pain. I'm sad... hate to see my loved one sick and worried that the illness is progressing. I know I can't fall apart but I'd like to... this stinks. deep breath...... thanks for listening

Need Some Support Friends

********** Hi! We thought it best to bring Terri's post to the "Death & Dying" area, for more exposure, so that she can
receive more love, comfort & help........ I know that Marcia alluded to this in a post, but I "spoke with Terri",
and she agreed to the move.........
Lightning-Strike is a wonderful place, with exceptional human beings who love people, and the "furry family"
who loves them...(or...finned...winged....rodent-type, etc., etc., etc....) LS is for all of us!!!!

God Bless You All..............Love, Denise (Muffins)...xo

P.S. PLEASE DO NOT WORRY YOURSELF OVER "LONG POSTS", MY NEW FRIEND............. I FEEL THAT
I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO TAKE UP MORE SPACE THAN A LOT OF THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE ON HERE.......********
ALWAYS BE SURE THAT YOU SAY AND GET OFF YOUR CHEST WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY...........
WE ARE ALL HERE FOR YOU...........JUST REMEMBER THAT..........OKAY?????????****





Hi everyone,
This is my first post here...so I'm just figuring out how to post ect. My dear 9 year old lab is very sick and I need someone to talk to and go thru this with me. About a month ago I found a lump... it was a cancerous tumor that was removed and the margins were clear so I hoped for the best.
She seemed normal for about a week...but then she went into a decline. She was having a lot of trouble with her back legs and her arthritis prescription didn't seem to help. She was whining a lot and I knew things weren't right. I took her in for one vet visit where they didn't run test or in my opinion investigate completely. She had a hernia and said she needed hernia surgery but that wasn't what was causing her pain.
The morning of her scheduled surgery I told them she wouldn't be having hernia surgery because she wasn't eating and seemed to be in pain. She was diagnosed with diabetes... the vet said all would be fine and we could take her home and give her insulin ect. She then went back into the back room and came out to tell us that she just got the results of another test and things were much worse... she was in a bad stage of it.
After several days of trying to regulate her diabetes she again took a turn for the worse...vomiting ect... Today she had ultrasounds that revealed probable stumach/liver cancer and she is requiring anti nausea meds to see if she can hold food. I feel like I'm paralyzed and can't leave her side..my couch ect. Luckily I work at home so won't have to leave her but I do licensed day care so worry about if she starts dying while I'm at work with the kids.
With her diabetes and cancer and who knows what else..her condition could decline rapidly. I feel sick to my own stumach and am just coming to terms with this...
I think this is too long for a first post..but hopefully I can share more about some of the anxiety's I'm feeling and get some support and offer support to others too.
I do believe in the rainbow bridge. The bible tells us that God will give us the desires of our heart and that we can't even imagine the wonders he has prepared for us...so I believe our wonderful pets will be there.
Thankyou for listening and Blessings to all... I have another dog, and two cats but Dutchess is the senior pet and it is heartbreaking. Terri