Rassy cat & Howard, Sick with kidney failure Options

[forduffy]

Hi Joanne,
I wanted to stop by to see how you've been doing these days. I had been having a hard time coming to to this website for a while- actually going on the internet at all, recently. I have been drawn back by some unknown force and it's probably exactly what I need so it's for the best. I guess I just needed a breather. I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you. I know you are going through a whirlwind. I am so sorry to hear that Mew is having such a tough time. My heart goes out to you. You are such a strong woman but I know that it takes its toll. My heart goes out to you. Those kitties are so lucky to have such a strong, amazing mommy.

[toonie]

Joanne, my heart goes out to you, how difficult this is for you. I hope Rassy cat
will somehow bring you the strength you need, the serenity...I am not religious but I found a lot of comfort in the words of the lord's prayer: thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Take care and may all turn out best for you and yours. Please know that I feel so much for you, I admire your courage very much.

[forduffy]

Hi Joanne,
I am so sorry to hear about Mew now. You have so many changes going on in your life. Some of them sound good- Mario and hopefully, the move will be good ultimately. I just want you to know that you are in my thoughts.
Hugs,
Stephanie

[annie's mommy]

Dear Joanne

I feel so very awful for you. You have been dealing with so much and far too many losses. I do not know how you have coped but I admire you tremendously. I hope you and your loved ones can find some peace soon. Neither am I prepared to "celebrate" Christmas this year. If you are dealing with a move on top of this all, I can understand how stressed you must be. You have endured far to much for too long. Please take care and know that your devoted heart was the best gift you could give.

annie's mommy

[annie's mommy]

Dear Joanne,

we have a male kitty who is FOREVER constipated. We finally discovered after many trips to the vet, and trials of numerous foods, to fill a syringe full of baby prunes and feed it to him daily. It seems to do the trick better than anything else (most of the time). I know that your kitty is dealing with numerous problems that are either causing or making the constipation worse, but if you are seeking something additional to alleviate the constipation, it may be worth a try. Prior to our use of the baby prunes, our vet had suggested both pumpkin and Laxatone neither of which worked for him. (Although Laxatone does work for our other male cat whose constipation problem is not as severe.)

Since my little Annie has gone, I am struggling with anxiety myself. I am a mess. But my other kitties seem to be alright for now and for that I am glad. I do feel for your and your lovely little guys.

I hope you have a better day today,
annie's mommy

[annie's mommy]

Joanne,

you asked about the prunes, whether or not I needed to mash them... they come (in a plastic container with pull off lid) pretty well mashed up, quite liquified, and go and squirt out of the syringe easily. If you choose to try them, I hope they work well.

annie's mommy

[forduffy]

Hi Joanne,
I'm so happy to hear that Tootsie is ok. I am in the same boat with the upcoming holidays. I'd like to take this year off from them. I know it's bad to wish away your life but I just want to stop the world and get off for a little bit. I work pretty long hours at my job which can be a blessing because it helps me forget problems but it can be a curse when I want to reflect on my memories of Duffy-actually, when I want to "own" my own thoughts. In any case, I do understand becoming overwhelmed with grief- it's like someone punches you in the stomach and all you want to do is lie there on the floor. I admire your strength but I hope that it gets better for you. When do you plan on moving?

[forduffy]

Oh Joanne,
Please don't riddle yourself with guilt. You so don't deserve that after all that you have been through and are going through. Rassy had a full life- hey, he probably saw places in this country that a lot of people haven't. And every time you moved, he was always surrounded by love. I'm sure if he ever looked back on his life, he would feel that he loved every bit of it. That monster vet was NOT your fault. You were just as much a victim. Someone in one of the other posts mentioned that when it is time, it doesn't matter what cir%%stances. If Rassy had had a good vet, but it was his time, it could have happened another way. There is a sequence that happens whether we want it to, or not, and we have no control over it. Stop beating yourself up. You are such a loving and strong individual who did more than the best for your baby. You are hurting so much now- take care of that. Don't victimize yourself a second time.

I have no idea when it stops hurting. I'm still trying to figure that one out. But there are certain things in life that bring a smile to your face. Sometimes when I think of the funny things that Duffy did, I laugh out loud. They used to make me bawl but I'm finally at the point that I can smile, if only for a short time.
Take care and many hugs to you and your family. You are all in my thoughts.

[annie's mommy]

Dear Joanne,

I want to send again my complete admiration for you going through this move at this terribly sad and stressful time. I know it must be just awful trying to cope with it now. Try hard to protect yourself from all the stress. Two specific things you mentioned in your recent post have prompted this reply: you said "the clothes you wore to vet that night are still hanging on the banister" (I understand this well!); and the other statement: "they say the eyes are the window to the soul"...
this is true. I have been "willing" my Annie to come to me at night and for two nights in a row now, I have been receiving detailed visions of faces, with quite specific eyes, lighted so that I can make out those of various and numerous animals. At first the faces were those of many different dogs, each one quite different than the other. I recognized specific breeds, one a pug, a collie, and various combinations each with clear eyes glowing in the dark. And then, dimmer, amongst the many, my Annie's eyes came through. She was a small black cat with a very delicate fragile face (in fact my vet described her, on that dreadful night we found out she had cancer, as having "such a pet*ite face and a pear-shaped tummy"... the tummy sadly even bigger due to the cancerous fluid found). The longer I "watched", the clearer her face came through. The second night this happened, again starting with various eyes and faces of dogs, the first one being a german shepard, I am sure of. I have no german shepard dog that was ever in my family, but I believe these many dogs, especially the larger ones, came through first to get my attention. And perhaps my Annie is "safe" among them, that the bigger, stronger animals are protecting the smaller ones. Visions of many other faces both dogs and cats shown through. Annie's eyes were the identifying feature! I KNEW I was seeing her because of the eyes! You know how even though many dogs and cats have very much the same eyes in size and color, yet you see in your loved one, something special? Well I of course I saw that "special" something in my Annie's. It has to be the soul.

Due to the way it is happening and how I feel when it does, I am believing it more and more. I know that we are not the first to believe that the eyes are the window to the soul. I hope that we all can feel better soon.

Annie's mommy

[forduffy]

Hi Joanne,
I just read Annie's Mommy's post and that was a pretty interesting post. I loved it. It's ironic that she mentioned the eyes being the windows of the souls. Today I went to Petsmart to torture myself and visit with the animals. I am not ready to get another dog and my husband and I have severe allergies to cats. We were originally thinking about saying to hell with the allergies and getting a cat and working with an allergist. The problem raised by my husband is that since we plan on having children in the near future, our children stand a chance of being allergic and while it is ok for adults to pop a claritin and get allergy shots, we couldn't think of doing that to a newborn. So we have to see what allergies our children have before we get a cat. I can't put myself in a position to have to choose between my furbaby and my human baby. To get back to my story, we came upon the cats for adoption today. My eyes locked with this sweet little girl kitty and we both fell in love. I can't tell you how expressive those sweet eyes were and how much I could tell from them about her personality. It broke my heart to leave and I am still begging my husband to go back and take her home-he is at least being logical about it but I am all emotion. Those eyes will haunt me forever. In any case, I just found that Annie's mommy is so right about the eyes.

I also found LoveThem's post pretty interesting. The calendars are such a cute idea.

Take care and hugs to your family.

[forduffy]

Hey Joanne,
Yes- I would build a sanctuary if i won the lotto too. That's a great idea. My retirement dream is to have an animal sanctuary/daycare.

I looked over the cat allergy website that you sent. My husband and I are willing to get allergy shots but we are concerned about our potential children, especially when they are first born and during their developmental years. I don't think that newborns can get allergy shots and it is uncertain at this point as to whether they will have allergies. We saw her at Petsmart and they do not take the adopted cats and dogs back but they claim that they work with you to locate a related shelter. It's a little sketchy. I also don't think that I would have the heart to bring that kitty home and then be forced to take her back. Once she is at home, she's a member of the family. As much as I hate to admit it, I will have to be smart about this and adopt when I can guarantee that I can offer a furbaby a stable home without so many changes. It's unfair to them. That little cat is still on my mind though and I am planning on checking up on her at the end of this week.

It's good to hear that your babies are doing ok and are stable. That's an atrocious thing about that cat owner at the vet. It's stories like that that make me cry and then make me livid. I wonder how many other states have that law. I hate the fact that these people are even allowed to have animals. They should require a screening, examination and licensure to be able to adopt an animal.

Take care,
Stephanie

[annie's mommy]

My heart is with you, Mew Mew, LilyCat and Mario. I am so sorry.
Annie's mommy

[forduffy]

Oh Joanne- What a beauty! Thanks, LoveThem! It's so good to put a face to the name.

[forduffy]

Joanne,
I wanted to wish you peace on Christmas Day and let you know how grateful I am to have found wonderful people like you in these forums. I am so sorry that it has to be so painful for you these days. You have my prayers and warm wishes going out for Mew and Mario.

[forduffy]

Oh Joanne,
I am so happy to see Rassy! I feel like I am meeting him for the first time. What a doll! I see those slippers in the picture too. That's too cute! LoveThem, you truly are someone very special.

I really hope things start going more smoothly for Mario. The great thing is he has you for a mommy so he's already got the best chance for a beautiful life.

Hugs to you and Mew, Howard, and the rest of your family! Happy New Year-hopefully it will be a little more peaceful and lucky for all of us here in the forums.

[forduffy]

Joanne,
You are so special. Thank you for your support in everything! My love is with Charlie (this was my favorite uncle's name, Charlie so it is very special to me), Mario (my favorite cousin's name), and Mew, who already has special love in my heart. Joanne, my heart goes out to you but you are such a chosen individual. You are truly an animal guardian and I aspire to be just like you one day. Please know that and my heart goes out to you and your babies! Please know that!

[Bonny'sMom]

Joanne,

I know that this is such a hard decision for you but you don't want Mew to suffer and that is the most unselfish thing you can do. We want our babies to stay with us as long as possible. Please know that my prayers are with you to have all the strength you can call upon to carry you through these times. These are the times we do need to be carried because by ourselves it is too much. I will keep you in my prayers.

Sincerely,

Bonny'sMom

[forduffy]

Joanne,
I pray for those miracles to come for you. You are so strong and you have been thoroughly and brutally tested by life recently. I am so sorry about Mew-it makes me so sad to hear that you must go through this again. And then Charlie and Howard too. Oh Joanne, you have my prayers and my most positive wishes. For Charlie, I had read in another post that baby food might entice him. I wish I knew more to help give you some ideas. As for Howard, I don't know what I would do. Yes, ultimately, the vet said that there will be an end but then, there will always be an end. I just don't know. The one thing I do know about you is that these things happen to you because you give these babies a wonderful home and the same love that they give you. Most humans are not capable of giving that unconditional love that only animals seem to know how to give. Also, there are so few people who would be able to provide for sick babies. It's a blessing that probably seems like a curse, at times. But then, we have all thought-if we had to go through it all over again, we would have always chosen to have our babies in our lives and face the impending grief than to never have had them.
Please know that I will be thinking about you and the babies and that I will be crying with you.
So many hugs-
Stephanie

[Bonny'sMom]

Joanne,

I am so sorry about Mew and Charlie and Howard. And of course for you, their wonderful mommy who is going through so much right now. May God Bless you with strength and serenity. Take care Joanne, you're a true angel for animals. There are special people picked by God to take this responsibility of being angels for animals. You are definitely one.

Bonny'sMom

[forduffy]

I cry for you too, Joanne. I am so terribly sorry. You are such a special soul and I am so grateful that these babies have you to be their mom. My heart goes out to you. You know in your heart that you did the best for these babies. It was just their time. Mew and Howard crossed the Bridge together and Rassy probably greeted them with open arms. I am praying for Charlie, Mario, and Moose- I know that they are in the best hands possible with you.
Take care and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.