How much would you pay to save your pet?

[Tman]

This is a vexing question. I once had a niece (she was a child of a man my sister once was married to) and was so stretched beyond her means I was dumbounded when I heard she spent $3,000 on medical expenses for her cat.

I have two cats, well actually I've had 4, two of which disappeared and we never heard from again. We always thought it was coyotes.

Anyway, i couldn't imagine spending $3,000 for a cat, when it's competing with my food and house payment, or gas to get to work. I have always loved my pets very much, but there is a point at which I have always thought I could weigh in logically.

Well, this past friday, I'm finishing up my last day of work, last 8am meeting for the next two months, and I turn around and our youngest cat (he's about 11mos old) is laying on the ground in my office, obviously in very bad shape. I yell for my wife, we put him in the cat carrier and off to the vet we go.

I could tell there was some sort of damage, some matting of fur, and he was obviously in a incredible amount of pain. At the vet, they proceeded to shear around all the matting and I coulnd't believe my eyes. He had puncture and tears from his neck almost down to his ass. Two large chunks, about the size of a fifty-cent piece where his skin is flapping back. The vet reached for a pair of pliers and ripped out one of his canines that was hanging by a thread.

This cat had been to hell and back.

The vet laid it out, this could easily go to $1,500 ... we decided to take x-rays to see how bad internally he was and then would make our decision. He made us sign a consent form, understanding this first part could be $800-$1,000. The x-rays turned out very good. No internal bleeding, no broken bones. Hospital stay is $80/night. We decided to go till Monday to see if he's improving.

At each point, I've been ready to euthanize him if it looked grim. The amount of money is weighing heavily on me. I mean, this is likely what happened to my other cats - they just didn't escape.

But the fact that he somehow managed to drag himself back into our house and collapse, literally at my feet is something I can't ignore and the money part isn't going to put me in the poor-house.

As I look back on my niece, I can see how she would spend that money. At that point, she had no kids and I know how it is to love a pet like your family, but I have kids and I know there is no way a pet even comes close to my children.

While I'm pretty sure I would have chosen the quick end had I been under different financial burdens, I'm not 100% sure. What do you think you would do?

BTW - We're pretty sure it was an owl (the talon punctures and scrapes on his back) but not positive.

[Sarkus]

I'm sorry to hear what's happened.

You've already gone farther than I would, to be honest. However, I think it really comes down to the individual's financial situation. If you can afford to spend the money, it's a lot different from being in a situation where the money is going to cause you problems to come up with. In other words, don't sacrifice your finances to save the animal.

The other side of things, of course, is that you have to consider with your vet what the odds are for the cats full recovery.

Good luck.

[MattKeil]

On June 10th, 2004, one of my two cats seemed like he had a cold or something, so I took him in. They took blood and gave him a vitamin shot in the back of his neck. Later that night I noticed there was blood all over the blanket he always slept on, and the hole from the shot had not closed up properly. So I took him to the emergency vet and it turned out his bone marrow had pretty much shut down and stopped producing blood cells. They gave him a transfusion and kept him alive that way, but couldn't figure out what exactly was wrong.

Over the next eight days I took him to various vets and specialists. Eventually they pretty much gave up and said to take him home and see how he did. Within a few hours he was crying on his side, unable to get enough oxygen into his bloodstream to move, so I took him back to emergency and had him put to sleep as quickly as possible.

It ended up costing a total of around $25,000. I would have spent five times that or more if it meant I'd still have him alive and well. My pet's life is my responsibility, and if I can preserve it, I will. I'm not saying everyone should bankrupt themselves for their cat's health, but I honestly cannot put a spending limit on a living thing that I love.

I hope your cat makes it okay. I still miss mine four years later.

[Athryn]

We paid around $3000 or more when I was a kid to save a cat of ours that had gotten caught in a fence and had to have a leg amputated and some other reconstruction work on the other leg, this was almost 20 years ago, so you can imagine how much that would cost with inflation taken into account.

That cat lived longer with 3 legs than she had with 4. There was a little bit of a question, but my dad decided that she was too much a part of the family.

If one of my cats got sick, I would do what it would take, but I wouldn't keep it alive if it was in too much pain. There are some people out there that don't understand when it's time to say goodbye, and keep their pets alive too long, keeping them in pain. (Edit, I was writing this while MattKeil posted his, I was not referring to you at all Matt.)

Of course, there are also people out there that take their pets in to be euthanised because they shit on the floor, or are too "inconvenient."

Part of owning a pet is knowing that you may have to have vet bills. Pets are a responsibility, an animal you're waking into your home to take care of, and not just a living stuffed animal.

Just my opinion of course, from my time in vet tech school, and interning.

[Hanzii]

You've probably spent more than I would... on the other hand I don't really know how much I'd spend if I actually saw my cat in that condition (most of my cats ended up hit by cars).

[Pogue Mahone]

Tman, I had a long post prepared to put here but I don't want to bore everyone so I bailed out. Let's just say that I had a cat I loved (and yes, it's the same cat I wrote about in Tom's MGS thread in this forum) that eventually reached the end of its years. Granted, once a cat hits nineteen or so, as mine did, you are prepared that this pet has probably lived a full life and its existence should probably be allowed to run its course. And I did; I put the cat out of its misery, which I'll mention in what I hope isn't painful detail.

She, my cat Bandit, had hidden herself in my mother's closet. We realized after taking her to the vet that she was in renal failure, and was looking to hide herself away to die. While we respected that, it didn't seem fair to just leave her to die (not to mention, my mom kept her shoes in that closet. OK, that was probably unnecessary levity, but there were other considerations).

Since Bandit was considered my pet, I took her to the vet to end her life. And I'll bare my soul here: one of my deepest regrets is that I couldn't see Bandit through this. I dropped her off at the vet late at night and was too broken up to handle this; I dropped her off and left her to euthanization. No doubt there are people who don't think much of this, and I can't really fault them. But in my mind, I abandoned a lifelong (at the time) companion to death at the hands of strangers. Not that I assume her death was painful or inhumane; but it was not with friends. It was alone, in a clinical setting.

Do you laugh at my guilt? Honestly, I can't blame you for that either; maybe this seems pointless. There are so many crimes against humanity to carry the weight of, who cares about this? But each of us tries to support our network of friends; if your buddy needed five dollars, you'd hand if over no questions asked. Well, Bandit was my friend and I couldn't stand by her in her last moments. And I feel guilt. Oh man, do I feel like I let her down. I've not had the heaviest burdens to carry in life, no more than the average dude. Why does this weigh on me? I don't know, but it does.

Anyway I hope I haven't brought down the mood too much. Just wanted to maybe fend off the inevitable posts that would ask why the hell someone would drop a wad of cash to keep their pet in good health; those of us who understand will understand. There's not much else to say. But at some point you let your friends go, and hopefully you can see them through their time of need.

edit: Ha, in editing to avoid a long post, I wrote a long post. I apologize.

[MattKeil]

Do you laugh at my guilt?

Nope. I'd feel the same way, although I honestly don't think I would have been able to leave my cat there alone. That would be harder for me to do than to be there and see it happen.

When my dad's cat was 17 (I was 13 at the time) we took her in to be put down (renal failure...old cats' circulatory systems and kidneys are fragile things), and my sister and I weren't allowed in because my dad was so upset he didn't want us to see him like that. It still kind of bothers me that I wasn't with the cat I'd known since I was born when she died, but she was really his cat more than anyone else's.

[Moore]

I'll spend any amount of money possible so long as quality of life will be sufficient. Pretty much feel the same about myself if anything happens to me.

[Sarkus]

Don't beat yourself up to much Pogue. We all have regrets and all you can do is learn from them. When I was in college I used to walk a lot at night for excercise and to clear my head, and one of my common routes was through an area that was being redeveloped for offices, following a walking path by the river. One night I saw a young stray cat on the trail, and it ran and hid from me in some large rocks that had been dumped on either side of a central stairway up to the front door of an office building under construction. I spent about an hour coaxing the cat out, got him/her to play with me, and petted the cat for an hour. It was getting late, and it was dark so I said goodbye and headed back the way I had come. As I walked off, I heard the cat meowing and crying, and turned back to see it sitting just inside the circle of light created by the sole lighted lamp along the trail, watching me go. I smiled and continued on my way.

The next evening I returned, looking forward to seeing the cat, having spent the day thinking about whether I should take it home and then turn it over to a shelter. When I got to the area, I realized that the rocks on either side of the building steps had been buried under a huge amount of dirt. I was convinced, and still think it likely to this day, that the cat hid in the rocks when day came and was buried alive.

The fact that I've had two cats since that were terrified of being forced into tight spaces hasn't helped me feel any better. And I'm not sure I believe in reincarnation.

So, just remember that you did what you could and that you were remembered fondly by your cat.

[Pogue Mahone]

I'd feel the same way, although I honestly don't think I would have been able to leave my cat there alone.

I hear you Matt, and I imagine that at the core of my guilt what really bothers me isn't so much that I left a cat to be euthanized; it's that I bailed out on a friend in a moment of crisis. I thought better of myself and this moment really exposed what may be, in my opinion, a serious character flaw.

Anyway this thread isn't about me and my flaws (no doubt that's a volume worthy of cataloguing by the likes of Shelby Foote) but rather to point out that while yes, pets are animals -- they're our friends. Sure, not in the sense that our closest relationships are, but who else loves you like your dog, or snake or what have you? They rely on you and you hope to care for them as best you can. What that means to each of us is as individual as our taste in games and political leanings (wow, do I cast my net wide?) so I imagine you have to take the position of what's best for the animal.

I'm going to sidestep on a slight tangent again (sorry, bear with me) but this has stuck with me for some time. My mom took me to visit a friend of hers at her parents' house; this was a long time ago, I was just a kid. But the parents of my mother's friend had two poodles of an advanced age -- no idea how old, but seriously, they were pretty sad. Well while we were visiting, one of these poodles died -- just fell over and ceased to be. The father of my mom's friend grabbed an oxygen tank and revived the poodle. I'm talking mouth-to-snout resuscitation, after which he put the mask on and brought it basically back to life. It was seriously strange; this definitely falls under my personal category of taking heroic efforts a little too far. But I wouldn't presume to make that call for another person, even if I goggle inwardly at the memory.

[Midnight Son]

I spent $1500 for radioactive iodine treatments for one of our cats. Would do it again.

[Equis]

Do you laugh at my guilt?

Absolutely not. Sometime ago, I made a post here about my dog Angel being sick, coughing and vomiting blood. We took her to various vets, for a series of multiple opinions and I was willing to pay any amount to get her better. She was in serious pain and she couldn't breathe, walk, or do anything she would normally do for a 9 year old dog. We eventually brought her to a vet in which we had to leave her overnight for observation.

She didn't make it.

It feels very weird, and very downbeat to have that last memory of her. Trying to wag her tail as we left her in an unfamiliar place. My family was praying for her to get better, and my brother was even making a trip down from his dorm to visit her. But that weird guilt of leaving her to pass away in an unfamiliar place was incredibly depressing for several weeks. I don't know if we could have done anything else to have made it better and we've dealt with the passing away already.

The point still stands though, we would have paid a substantial amount for her to get better, or just pass away more peacefully in the company of family.

[JD]

My cat turned 20 this year. She is part of the family.
Do you laugh at my guilt?
Surely not. Wouldn't want to be in your situation, but I'm not sure if I understand how you were able to leave her in that situation.

I hope my cat dies while sleeping or something. Should I/she not be so lucky, should there be anything that requires her to be put to sleep because she's suffering, then I'll order a vet to come to my home and do it there. Costs a bit more, but it's a price I'm willing to pay because everything would happen at a place she knows, with people she knows. Because the last thing she'd feel would not be the stress of being hauled to some other place.

-Julian

[Hanacker]

My cat turned 21 this year. I think she's suicidal because she's taken to sleeping right underneath cars / in the middle of the driveway. She never used to do that. At this point she's old enough to die, I think. She's definitely not in great shape.

[Robert Sharp]

Almost 10 years ago now (wow, seems like it was much more recently!), my wife had two cats that needed to be put down. She was only my girlfriend then, but we had been together a couple of years. Anyway, she knew it needed to be done, but she couldn't do it. So I had to take them to the vet. I had gotten to know these cats, and I loved them as she did. When the vet asked me if I wanted to stay with them as they went to sleep, I did. Because they were scared (being at the vet), I loved on them the entire time, keeping them calm and such as they drifted into sleep. It was incredibly hard, but I didn't cry until after it was done. Then I cried for about a day or two. In fact, I sat in the lobby of the vet and cried for about half an hour before I could activate my macho training well enough to drive home.

Incredibly hard, but I'll probably have to do it again. We have six cats (we've taken in strays because the wife has a soft spot, and apparently so do I). One of them is already 15 or 16, so any year now she could get sick. In fact, she's already showing signs of arthritis. We're looking into some home remedies (a lot of herbal stuff noticeably works on cats, oddly enough). But some day...

We did have another cat who got sick with some sort of visceral infection. Doctor couldn't do anything. It probably cost us around $1000 before we told the vet to just put him down. We really felt he was suffering through the entire ordeal and the prognosis was very grim.

[jerri blank]

A few years ago I got a credit card called "CareCredit" that one of the local vets accepts just so I would be prepared if something catastrophic happens to one of my dogs. All our dogs live inside, so we're not likely to have an animal attack or a car accident, but one of my big dogs is getting pretty old, and we have a three-legged dog we adopted from a shelter about 18 months ago whose age is unknown.

My partner spent a lof of money a few years ago on her two small dogs who were suffering from various old-age afflictions - her Sheltie had developed a seizure disorder, and her little poodle-terrier had renal failure from heart meds she'd been taking. At some point, it was not the money but the complete lack of quality of life that made us decide it was time. Damn, those were two of the hardest days of my life.

By the way, Tom, you need a policy here that posting of the "Rainbow Bridge" poem brings an instant ban.

[Jamie Madigan]

I'm actually considering murdering my 14 year old cat because he keeps pissing on the carpet, no matter what we do. Mabye I need to get a pet coyote and things will just work themselves out.

[fox1]

I sold my first car, a 1982 Datsun 280zx, to fund in-patient care for a stupid, people-hating iguana, so, that should lay my feelings on the subject out.

Basically, if it doesn't reduce quality of life for my kids (notice I didn't say myself), and there's a reasonable chance of returning the animal to its own decent quality of life, I'll spend what it takes. That even applies to the damn cats that my wife got, after we agreed on not getting cats, if I let them into my home, they're my responsibility.

[Ephraim]

If you search Qt3 for sick cat threads, you'll quickly learn that I've dropped about $4500 on Pixie, my cat. She's seems to occasionally, inexplicably come down with a mysterious lung problem that leaves one of her lungs filled with blood. The vets have unproven theories, and the second time around was a lot less expensive (and the care was 100x better), but the origin remains a mystery. If she got sick again, I would do whatever it took to return her to health, as long as she wasn't suffering through the process.

Having a good, trustworthy local vet is important. All too often the "Emergency", 24 hour vets are ripoffs. Oh, and don't bother with pet insurance. I had it. They denied my claim on spurious grounds. It's just as bad, if not worse, than your own medical insurance.

[id4698]

I'd spend anything on my two dogs. I know that some people can make the mental separation between "pets" and "family", but I can't.

Contrary to what people like the Dog Whisperer and such say, I tend to humanize my dogs. Especially the older. He is incredibly creepy in his ability to rationalize and work out situations, as well as his response to the way we talk.

As a matter of fact, I would take my dogs over most of the people I have met in life. They are way more interesting.

Thus, I am biased on this one.

But on the other end, as you said, the cat sounds like it survived a pretty intense event. He tried to survive...and made it in. Give him the benefit man and back him up :)!

[BennyProfane]

I've had to have two cats put to sleep in the past 2 years--both over 18 years old. One with renal failure, the other had a stroke that paralyzed the back half of her body. I'm sure between treatment for the two as they aged we spent well over $5k. Mojo's last two weeks alone cost between $2-$3k, as we tried to get his kidneys to function again. (and by the way, we have another over 18 now, and the vet told us about 16 months ago that Pepper had maybe a month or two to live, due to kidney failure. We started giving subcutaneous water to her ever day, and she's going strong now 16 months later--in fact her blood tests are better now than they were in the beginning.)

But the part I want to add, given what I've read above, is to let you all know that many vets are willing to make house calls to euthanize a pet. They will certainly charge extra for it--I think we paid around $150 for the service--but they will come to the house, and talk to you about the procedure, and you can sit with the pet and stroke or hold them up to the very end if you want. I find this much much better than the sterile environment of the vet's clinic. It still hurts like hell, and I cried like a baby both times, but at least we didn't confuse and scare our poor babies in their final moments the way a trip to the clinic would have. Maybe that is silly to care about, given that a few moments later it doesn't matter anyway, but I don't see it that way.

[Brian Rubin]

Honestly, I'd spend $3,000 on my cats, probably more. To me, they're worth it. They're my family, and they give me so much in terms of love and companionship that I'd go to the ends of the earth, money or otherwise, for them.

[Athryn]

I'm actually considering murdering my 14 year old cat because he keeps pissing on the carpet, no matter what we do. Mabye I need to get a pet coyote and things will just work themselves out.

Why don't you try asking the vet first? Pissing places they're not supposed to is usually a sign that they have a uriniary tract infection.

[Tankero]

Our dog, Cyrano, a basset hound, lived for thirteen years, the last three of which he had problems with absesses under his skin breaching. Really nasty stuff, which was a detriment to his general health, sure, but he had constant treatment and a good quality of life. He was certainly a part of the family, and pretty much everyone involved would help keep him comfortable. This meant cleaning his wounds, bandaging him and so forth. We managed to keep this going for three years, going to the vet every week for about 50 bucks a pop. He was happy while this went on, but eventually he had a couple of crisis where he started suffering from other problems. We knew his time was coming to a close, so we dug a grave in a hill next to our terrace. This was a building built into the side of the mountain. We were on the fourth flooor, the back terrace was level with the hill. Basically a massive back yard. It was his own playground back there.

When the time finally came, the vet agreed to make a house call. He passed away on the terrace table while I was holding him. That has to be one of the worst weeks of my life, but I've no regrets. We spent a lot of money, though Colombian Pesos so I can't properly relate the price. Over the years, we must have spent somewhere near the equivalent of 5k-6k dollars over a protacted period of time, but it was all worth it.

[Balasarius]

For fuck's sake man, do NOT let your cats outside!

How retarded do you have to be after the first two disappeared?

[Matthew Gallant]

I have two cats, well actually I've had 4, two of which disappeared and we never heard from again. We always thought it was coyotes.
How much should you pay to save your pet? At minimum, the price of a litter box and a 15 year supply of Tidy Cat.

If two of your cats never come home, it means that you have something that is really good at killing cats for a neighbor. And I'll tell you what it is: the outdoors. House cats are not masters of the wild; in fact, they are very easy prey. They were bred to hunt small things, not to escape being hunted themselves. They are, to put it bluntly, somewhat suicidally focused on looking for something to kill. They do not have good survival instincts, and they are too small. If a car doesn't get them, any decent-sized animal could. Fairly easily.

Your choices are to keep the cats inside, put a harness on them and take them out (which is not likely to be enjoyable for them), or to value their "freedom" over any guilt you might feel about shortening their lifespan by an average of ten years. Those are the facts, and sorry if it makes you feel bad, but you ought to know, as should everyone. House cats are not outdoor animals.

[Sol Invictus]

I think many people have this Hollywood fantasy dreamworld idea where cats are these supposedly really intelligent animals that outsmart predators like dogs, coyotes, owls, night jars, hawks, flocks of crows or ravens, falcons, sparrowhawks and psychotic neighbours, reckless drivers or malicious little children in humorous fashion, while taunting their would-be predators.

Oh, those crazy cats! Who will they outsmart next?

Reality: Cats are fairly stupid animals that are prone to suicidal behaviour.

[fox1]

Plus the fact that an "outside cat" is basically an invasive species that kills the fuck out of native fauna to the tune of, like, hundreds of millions per year.

[Ben Sones]

Your choices are to keep the cats inside, put a harness on them and take them out (which is not likely to be enjoyable for them),

Actually, one of our cats has been going out on a harness for years. He loves it. We can't let him roam for a variety of reasons, but he enjoys going out on his leash and "inspecting the territory," as Karen calls it. Our other cat is deadly afraid of the outdoors, and refuses to have anything to do with it.

[Matthew Gallant]

I did say it was merely unlikely, not impossible.

[Joel]

What is a "night jar"?

[Karen]

A few years ago I got a credit card called "CareCredit" that one of the local vets accepts just so I would be prepared if something catastrophic happens to one of my dogs.


CareCredit is a great thing to have if you have a sick pet.
I call it the "Sears Card for vet bills". The interest rate is exorbitant, but if you can work out the no payment for a year on big purchases it works out well.

We got one last year when our 10 year old cat, Grendel was in acute kidney failure due to a kidney infection. He survived, his one remaining kidney is functioning at an adequate level, and he should have a good long life with fluid injections twice a week.

The five days at the emergency vet cost us $2300. We put it all on CareCredit 0% for a year, and should have it paid off by the end of the grace period.

I guess the answer should be - I'd pay anything if it made sense. With Grendel, the week of IV antibiotics and fluids, plus two additional weeks of oral antibiotics and fluids twice a days worked. I don't think I would have paid for a kidney transplant (the donor moves in with you) or dialysis, since the outcomes were not that great, and Grendel is very skittish. Thankfully, we didn't have to make that decision.

[Karen]

I'm actually considering murdering my 14 year old cat because he keeps pissing on the carpet, no matter what we do. Mabye I need to get a pet coyote and things will just work themselves out.Why don't you try asking the vet first? Pissing places they're not supposed to is usually a sign that they have a uriniary tract infection.

Take him to the vet - have his thyroid levels checked. Hyperthyroidism is senior cats is very common, and a side effect of it is increased marking.

We can tell when our cat Ozy's thyroid levels are out of whack by the increase in territorial marking. And howling, and weight loss - hyper cats are not fun to live with.

The young cats in the neighborhood drive him nuts (Hey kids! off my lawn), and when his metabolism is not right, he takes his irritation out on the house.

Another suggestion - invest in nature's miracle.....

[charmtrap]

While I'm pretty sure I would have chosen the quick end had I been under different financial burdens, I'm not 100% sure. What do you think you would do?

Quick, cheap end. There were a lot of animals around when I was a kid, and we tended not to sentimentalize too much.

This thread is why vets can afford sports cars.

[id4698]

Quick, cheap end. There were a lot of animals around when I was a kid, and we tended not to sentimentalize too much.

This thread is why vets can afford sports cars.

There were lots of animals around...as in you had pets or for some other reason?

[Athryn]

Quick, cheap end. There were a lot of animals around when I was a kid, and we tended not to sentimentalize too much.

This thread is why vets can afford sports cars.

Sportscars (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos076.htm), eh?

According to a survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association, average starting salaries of veterinary medical college graduates in 2006 varied by type of practice as follows:

Large animals, exclusively $61,029
Small animals, predominantly 57,117
Small animals, exclusively 56,241
Private clinical practice 55,031
Large animals, predominantly 53,397
Mixed animals 52,254
Equine (horses) 40,130



It doesn't go up much from there, to be honest, and caps out around $75k. Keep in mind you also have to go to as much school as you do to be a human doctor, with all the same kinds of expenses.

Vet techs on the other hand (roughly equivilant to a human nurse), which is the field I'm working on going into, only make about $25-30k a year.

Medicines and medical technology are still expensive things, especially considering pets use many of the same drugs that humans do. If you want to claim someone is getting rich, blame pharmaceutical companies.


I had plenty of animals around as a kid too, ranging from rabbits to horses to dogs and cats and birds, but they were part of the family.

[Hanzii]

How much should you pay to save your pet? At minimum, the price of a litter box and a 15 year supply of Tidy Cat.

If two of your cats never come home, it means that you have something that is really good at killing cats for a neighbor. And I'll tell you what it is: the outdoors. House cats are not masters of the wild; in fact, they are very easy prey. They were bred to hunt small things, not to escape being hunted themselves. They are, to put it bluntly, somewhat suicidally focused on looking for something to kill. They do not have good survival instincts, and they are too small. If a car doesn't get them, any decent-sized animal could. Fairly easily.

Your choices are to keep the cats inside, put a harness on them and take them out (which is not likely to be enjoyable for them), or to value their "freedom" over any guilt you might feel about shortening their lifespan by an average of ten years. Those are the facts, and sorry if it makes you feel bad, but you ought to know, as should everyone. House cats are not outdoor animals.

Come on. The house cat is a pretty new invention. Perhaps you should turn it around and say that modern pampered cats that live inside tend to outlive their mouse hunting farm brethren by up to ten years.

But inside/outside is a choice you make and both have benefits and drawbacks - most inside cats I know are crazy pampered creatures that I wouldn't like to live with (I've had two apartment dwelling catladies as girlfriends and even though I love cats and grew up sorrounded by cats I never grew fond of theirs).
I grew up in the country. Cats were pets but also a way to keep vermin population down. We were sad when one died and would always pay the vet to have one put down when necessary (most would just do it themselves where we lived). But we were also fairly unsentimental when one died of natural causes (cars mostly).
I'm not judging any of you spending thousands on your pets. It's your pets and your money... but try not to judge people with a different view either. To some, they're just cats.


As an aside some students from my former school just made nationwide headlines for a week when they cooked and ate a cat to put focus on how we treat the animals we breed for food compared to our pets. I can't link to the pictorial, because they used their Facebook page and that was closed down.

[Athryn]

Come on. The house cat is a pretty new invention.

Not true. According to a book I have on the subject, (Divine Creatures, Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt, by Salima Ikram,) Cats have been leading pampered lives for thousands of years, and were considered the living embodiment of the goddess Bastet. Of course, you could also purchase a cat to have killed and mummified as an offering to her, but those cats led pretty nice lives up until the point they were killed, living in several temples across Egypt. Obviously viewpoints towards cats have changed over the years, as they were also burned along with witches during the middle ages.

I should also add, in fairness, there are many other kinds of animals that had their own sacred temples. Bulls were another animal that were very much worshiped, as well as several other animals.

It is very true that farm cats are a different beast (so to speak) to some degree from their indoor brothers and sisters. It's like the difference between having a working sheepdog and a dog that hangs around the house. What Matt was referring to, I think, was keeping cats indoors in an urban/suburban setting. I had outdoor cats as a child, but I lived in the country, where death from car was a relatively rare thing.

Yes, we treat pets differently than animals we eat for food, and I find no hypocrisy in that. I grew up in the country, so I've seen where my food comes from, and have been present for the slaughtering of a cow, as well as helping to slaughter rabbits. There is a growing trend, going hand in hand with the organic movement in this country, that is trying to push towards more humane animal treatment in this country.

[Tman]

I'm grateful for all of the stories everyone shared. It helps with perspective. And for those of you who have had to put a pet down, I share in your grief. I had a 18yr old dog who went off to die and barely made it to the edge of the lawn. I had the vet come out and put him down while I held him in my arms. It's not something that everyone is prepared for nor could I fault anyone for not wanting to be there during that time.

Keeping cats inside is simply not possible. I live out in the country on 12 acres, my nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away, as is the road. I have two teenage boys and a 5yr old. Good luck keeping doors shut. There is no way you can keep them inside. They hide in the shadows near the door and as soon as it's opened they're gone. They love to hunt and leave "presents" on the front porch.

For the first 25 years of my life, I was a cat-hater. They always seemed so stand-off-ish, but then out of desperation to keep the mice at bay, we got our first cat. She lived to be 12 years old before she never came home and she was an inside cat who loved to be outside, especially at night.

As I said, we've lost two cats, suspiciously in the years following the deaths of our two large dogs (who lived to be 18/19 years old). Our new dog, who is a wire haired terrior (and tough as nails), we believe is not big enough to keep the coyotes at bay and we've been thinking of getting another larger dog.

But now with the evidence on the latest attack that it was an owl, my wife is exasperated. "How can you protect them against an owl?"

[SpoofyChop]

For a crisis I think I would spend $400 max. I'm not much of an animal lover.

Matt, your story about spending $25,000 just boggles my entire mind. Everybody has different priorities and stuff and I'm not trying to tell you you made a bad choice but I have to admit that I absolutely can't even begin to comprehend that decision.

[Sarkus]

I'm grateful for all of the stories everyone shared. It helps with perspective. And for those of you who have had to put a pet down, I share in your grief. I had a 18yr old dog who went off to die and barely made it to the edge of the lawn. I had the vet come out and put him down while I held him in my arms. It's not something that everyone is prepared for nor could I fault anyone for not wanting to be there during that time.

Keeping cats inside is simply not possible. I live out in the country on 12 acres, my nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away, as is the road. I have two teenage boys and a 5yr old. Good luck keeping doors shut. There is no way you can keep them inside. They hide in the shadows near the door and as soon as it's opened they're gone. They love to hunt and leave "presents" on the front porch.

For the first 25 years of my life, I was a cat-hater. They always seemed so stand-off-ish, but then out of desperation to keep the mice at bay, we got our first cat. She lived to be 12 years old before she never came home and she was an inside cat who loved to be outside, especially at night.

As I said, we've lost two cats, suspiciously in the years following the deaths of our two large dogs (who lived to be 18/19 years old). Our new dog, who is a wire haired terrior (and tough as nails), we believe is not big enough to keep the coyotes at bay and we've been thinking of getting another larger dog.

But now with the evidence on the latest attack that it was an owl, my wife is exasperated. "How can you protect them against an owl?"

You can try different breeds of cat to see if they do better. I know some people who switched to siamese and feral kittens and said they live a lot longer in their area, where they previously lost cats to predators all the time.

That said, I don't think your less of a cat lover just because you live you let the cat go outside when it wants to. While it's true that indoor only cats live a long time (I've had a few now), for a lot of cats, being indoor only can be hard on them.

[id4698]

I eat meat out of the store, and often reflect on the strange disconnect that we have with the process.

I am all for humanely treating livestock and other animals. I think that we should respect what we eat. I think that there is a necessary balance there. Plenty of times in the military I had to kill animals for food...at SERE and at cold-weather mountain training and also while deployed in shit-holes of the world.

While others at those courses and those places tortured the animals thinking it was funny or got a kick out of it, I did it out of necessity and with respect (killed and ate them).

At the special forces medic course, they pair you up with a goat that you take care of for several months. They then shoot the hell out of it and you have to rescue it...already having formed that bond. I haven't done the medic course but I do know that it tears some of those guys up. Others, not so much.

I think it probably comes down to background. People are either raised to respect wildlife and pets or not. In my family, dogs (and one cat) was always part of our family, with their own distinct personality and character. When my brothers--all hunters--head out, I know that they give a lot of respect to the process and to the animal.

Call that holier than though, I don't mind. I actually think it's pretty sad when people don't give a shit about animals. I think that it reflects their character and who they really are.

That doesn't mean that I expect one to be an animal lover. Far from it. I just hope that they can have a bit of respect.

[Moore]

anyone have insurance? One of our dogs is getting older (7, and the breed usually goes to 18) and we are considering it. It isnt very expensive, it only really helps in those catastrophe 25k situations, but it'd take care of those almost entirely.

[id4698]

anyone have insurance? One of our dogs is getting older (7, and the breed usually goes to 18) and we are considering it. It isnt very expensive, it only really helps in those catastrophe 25k situations, but it'd take care of those almost entirely.

I keep thinking about it. I see it advertised at my vet. I would be interested to hear any pros or cons from people.

It is probably one of those ironic situations where you get it, and nothing ever happens. Then you cancel it and wham!

[Erik J.]

I view pets as essentially family. I do not think there is a limit to what I would do to keep them alive. The one time I had to put down a cat was when he had cancer from head to toe. I had him put to sleep and stayed with him while he was sedated and finally put down. He looked amazingly happy to be surrounded by his family while his life ended, and it was one of the most difficult things I have gone through. We had him for about 17 years, and he was amazingly intelligent and protective. If there was a way at that point to get rid of the cancer, it would have been worth any price.

Erik J.

[Karen]

Mammals are mammals, companion mammals enjoy the niceties of modern living as much as we do.

The cat that we spent $2300 on was a stable kitten. He came in from the barn at 4 1/2 weeks and has no desire to ever go back. He has his quirks, is shy around strangers - loves financial shows!, but is a great house cat.
He definitely enjoys the creature comforts - he's the one that we turn the air conditioning on for, and complains when breakfast is late.

As an omnivore I have great respect for the meat I eat. Wasting meat to me is a horrible thing - some create gave their life for our protein. So we shouldn't take it lightly.

I recently started buying local beef and pork from these guys... http://www.sevenbridgesbeef.com/
I have to admit, the first time I cooked a steak, I thought Oh no! I'm eating a neighbor.

[noun]

For me, it's a balance of cost versus the possibility of success. We recently put down our seven year old white tabby because she developed Leukemia. Not the feline kind, but the hardcore bone marrow cancerous kind. By the time she was correctly diagnosed she had a white blood cell count of 198,000. Cats are supposed to only have 2-3,000. The disease had progressed to the point where she had almost no red blood cells and was having seizures. I was ready to pay for the treatment but she only had a 10% chance of survival. I couldn't bring myself to spend the money for something not 100% guaranteed to work.

[Drunkagain]

I've spent close to $3000 on my 13 year old golden retreiver this year so far. Found out right after Xmas that he had cancer adn needed surgery. So far it hasent helped at al and I fear I'll be putting him to sleep this summer since he seems to just be getting worse.

The bills for this couldnt have come at a worse time and were a struggle financially. But I look at it like this, I took on the responsiblity for owning a pet. He depends on me for for his food and care. Thats not something I can easily put aside when it becomes inconvient. He's been a good and loyal friend for 13 years and I couldnt just turn my back on him when he got sick even though it was financially painful.

[Robert Sharp]

Those of you with easily agitated cats might try Feliway or a similar pheromone-based relaxer:

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/behaviortraining/a/Feliway.htm

It seems to have helped our cats make a move recently. We also gave them some herbal relaxation juice for the trip, which cut down on incidents (and it was an 8 hour drive!). It can help keep them from peeing on the carpet, if they are doing so from stress. There are also cheaper alternatives at any Pet Smart or similar store (we used a knockoff, for example).

[Fugitive]

Actually, one of our cats has been going out on a harness for years. He loves it. We can't let him roam for a variety of reasons, but he enjoys going out on his leash and "inspecting the territory," as Karen calls it. Our other cat is deadly afraid of the outdoors, and refuses to have anything to do with it.
Our old family cat would let you put the harness on him, and then he'd happily wander ahead of you a bit as you walked down the sidewalk. For a block or two, and then he'd flop over on his side and give you the "Okay, you may carry me back to the house now" look. It worked well for keeping him tethered to the back yard, though, to at least give him some outdoor time. (He was an outdoor cat to begin with, having grown up in a very tiny little town, but then we moved to the city. A stint where he went missing for three months and suddenly showed up again much thinner, cold, and a bit scared cured him of most of that desire to wander, I think.)

As for the original question, I think I could drop $3000 on a pet's care fairly easily. Once you get up to the tens of thousands, it would start to depend a lot more on just how close a relationship it is, their age, my finances at the time, and so on. It would be hard to pin down a hard limit, but I probably wouldn't go so far as to bankrupt myself.

[Jakub]

Too much. I'd pay far, far too much. It's why I don't have a pet.

[Hanacker]

Your choices are to keep the cats inside, put a harness on them and take them out (which is not likely to be enjoyable for them), or to value their "freedom" over any guilt you might feel about shortening their lifespan by an average of ten years. Those are the facts, and sorry if it makes you feel bad, but you ought to know, as should everyone. House cats are not outdoor animals.

Our cat made it to 21 years old (and still going) being an outdoor cat, so ymmv.

[soondifferent]

anyone have insurance? One of our dogs is getting older (7, and the breed usually goes to 18) and we are considering it. It isnt very expensive, it only really helps in those catastrophe 25k situations, but it'd take care of those almost entirely.

I definitely recommend insurance. It's dirt cheap for cats if you start early (~$20 a month, although I think it's quite a bit more expensive for dogs.) A while ago my cat decided to eat something she shouldn't have, and long story short -- hospital stay, complications and $5000 later, she's back to normal. Insurance paid for $4000, and I've been a big pet insurance advocate ever since.

[Sol Invictus]

What is a "night jar"?
http://www.fieldguides.com/_birdpix/AustralianOwletNightjarDC_s.jpg

[Rob_Merritt]

I would spend a couple of hundred.

[Athryn]

What is a "night jar"?

http://www.birding.in/images/Birds/grey_nightjar.jpg

[wumpus]

After reading this sad, sad thread, I'm gonna go pet my cats now.

[John Many Jars]

I think many people have this Hollywood fantasy dreamworld idea where cats are these supposedly really intelligent animals that outsmart predators like dogs, coyotes, owls, night jars, hawks, flocks of crows or ravens, falcons, sparrowhawks and psychotic neighbours, reckless drivers or malicious little children in humorous fashion, while taunting their would-be predators.

Oh, those crazy cats! Who will they outsmart next?

Reality: Cats are fairly stupid animals that are prone to suicidal behaviour.

No shit, man. One time I saw this cat get a fucking safe dropped on his head by these two mice with Southern accents. And this other black and white cat --- a mouse stood behind him and suddenly yelled in Spanish, and he jumped up and rammed his fucking head right through the ceiling. Never talked right again, spitting saliva all over the place. But in all my experience of stupid cats the proverbial cake was taken by a full-grown puma, who actually accepted an offer of tea from the rabbit he was trying to kill, not once but several times. Whole lotta lumps, motherfucker.

[Rimbo]

This is a vexing question. I once had a niece (she was a child of a man my sister once was married to) and was so stretched beyond her means I was dumbounded when I heard she spent $3,000 on medical expenses for her cat.

I have two cats, well actually I've had 4, two of which disappeared and we never heard from again. We always thought it was coyotes.

Anyway, i couldn't imagine spending $3,000 for a cat, when it's competing with my food and house payment, or gas to get to work. I have always loved my pets very much, but there is a point at which I have always thought I could weigh in logically.

Well, this past friday, I'm finishing up my last day of work, last 8am meeting for the next two months, and I turn around and our youngest cat (he's about 11mos old) is laying on the ground in my office, obviously in very bad shape. I yell for my wife, we put him in the cat carrier and off to the vet we go.

I could tell there was some sort of damage, some matting of fur, and he was obviously in a incredible amount of pain. At the vet, they proceeded to shear around all the matting and I coulnd't believe my eyes. He had puncture and tears from his neck almost down to his ass. Two large chunks, about the size of a fifty-cent piece where his skin is flapping back. The vet reached for a pair of pliers and ripped out one of his canines that was hanging by a thread.

This cat had been to hell and back.

The vet laid it out, this could easily go to $1,500 ... we decided to take x-rays to see how bad internally he was and then would make our decision. He made us sign a consent form, understanding this first part could be $800-$1,000. The x-rays turned out very good. No internal bleeding, no broken bones. Hospital stay is $80/night. We decided to go till Monday to see if he's improving.

At each point, I've been ready to euthanize him if it looked grim. The amount of money is weighing heavily on me. I mean, this is likely what happened to my other cats - they just didn't escape.

But the fact that he somehow managed to drag himself back into our house and collapse, literally at my feet is something I can't ignore and the money part isn't going to put me in the poor-house.

As I look back on my niece, I can see how she would spend that money. At that point, she had no kids and I know how it is to love a pet like your family, but I have kids and I know there is no way a pet even comes close to my children.

While I'm pretty sure I would have chosen the quick end had I been under different financial burdens, I'm not 100% sure. What do you think you would do?

BTW - We're pretty sure it was an owl (the talon punctures and scrapes on his back) but not positive.

For a cat so young, with its life ahead of it... and given that it came BACK for you?

To me, this is a no-brainer... $1500 is small potatoes by comparison.

[Rimbo]

Do you laugh at my guilt?

Not just no, but fuck no. When my cat (we had 3, but this one was MINE, and I was her human) passed away, it happened while I was at college. That was a good 15 years ago, and I still feel badly that I wasn't there. My Dad stayed with her while she was put to sleep, though.

[Marcus]

I'm glad this thread came up because I was actually going to start my own thread on something similar to this. My story takes place over the past week and at this point it is not even done yet. Its been a pretty rough week all in all.

So anyways the girl that I am with came into possession of 4 4 day old pit bull puppies that their mother rejected. Now you ask why did the mom reject these puppies? Well its somewhat of a longish story that I won't bore you with but it mostly has to do with the owner being an asshole. The litter started out with 12 puppies and the 4 that she took control off were all that were left. Lets just say that the owner is not much of a human being for letting the other 8 die because god as my witness the others could have lived if he had taken a few easy steps.

Back to the story though we take possession of the puppies that are really just tiny little things. Before this week I had no idea what it took to hand raise puppies but now I can say for a fact that its one of the hardest things I've ever done. Its so close to raising a child that its not even funny. They have to be fed every few hours and they pretty much require constant supervision.

The 4 that we had were doing great for the first day but at the start of the second day one of them started to get sick. I had no idea what was wrong with him other then he pretty much stopped eating and started to become a little lethargic. We monitored him for a day to see if he came around and attempted to force him to eat and do what we could for him. This morning though he started to get worse so we took him to a 24 hour vet that was in the area.

When we get to the vet they tell us that he is in critical condition and that he needs emergency intensive care. As someone else said in the thread the 24 hour vets are more expensive but when things happen on the weekend you just don't have a choice. I knew that if we waited this puppy had no chance at all. So the doctor explains that they need to put an IV in him and take Xrays to figure out what was going on. They send in one of the techs with a break down of the costs and the total for one day comes down to $1100.00 and $300.00 each day after to monitor him.

Now at this point it comes down to what you feel is the right thing to do. You have a puppy that's 4 days old that literally could have anything wrong with him and no way of knowing for sure if they can do anything to help. On the other hand you can do nothing and you know for sure that the puppy will die. So we talk about it and quite honestly for her there was no other choice besides doing whatever we could to take care of the puppy.

We tell the Vet to start the treatments at about 10am and they let us know they'll call us if anything happens. We still have the other 3 to take care of so my attention is still mainly on them. At about 2pm we get a call from the vet informing us that the puppy had died of phenomena ( I think thats how you spell it). The Vet said that its almost impossible for a puppy to recover from something like that because they are so small and vulnerable to infection.

Now we are down to three but the three that I have now are very strong and lively. I'm doing everything I can to make sure they are taken care of but honestly you just don't know when they are this small. I can just hope that they make it and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure they do. They are our responsibility now.

Here's a crappy phone picture of them.
http://www.bloodelf.com/images/puppies.jpg

The puppy in the pink is Chico the smallest of the boys.
The puppy in the red is Rocko the largest boy.
The one with out a ribbon is Roxy the only girl to make it. At this point she is actually bigger then the boys and she loves to eat every chance she gets. She sure as hell lets me know when its time for her to eat.

[Rimbo]

Your choices are to keep the cats inside, put a harness on them and take them out (which is not likely to be enjoyable for them), or to value their "freedom" over any guilt you might feel about shortening their lifespan by an average of ten years. Those are the facts, and sorry if it makes you feel bad, but you ought to know, as should everyone. House cats are not outdoor animals.

This is probably a point where you should say, "YMMV." For example, I grew up in the suburbs of Amarillo, TX. The largest natural predator in that environment is the rattlesnake, which does not tend to hang out near human-settled environments. The mother cat herself was a good 2 years old or so by the time she made it to our place; it wouldn't be any more proper for her to live indoors than it would be to keep a wild badger indoors. We had both a back and side yard that were the size you'd expect from suburbs in the middle of nowhere, and was always safe. (A pellet pistol we kept near the back door helped to ensure it remained that way from the only other threat they faced: Other strange cats.) And in a neighborhood that quiet, you could hear a car coming a mile away, so cars weren't such a threat. The cats knew when to run, and had plenty of warning.

Now I wouldn't be so cool about letting a cat out where I live now, where there are coyotes, hawks and many more cars.

[Brendan]

I've really bonded with my cats having tamed them from completely feral six month old wildcats to cuddly lap cats. Having said that I'd pay whatever my financial situation will comfortably allow, but within reason. If the choice comes down to the humans in my family or them, the humans take precedence.

I'll also never pay to keep an animal going if it will be in constant pain and discomfort for selfish sentimental reasons. That is crueler than putting the animal down.

[wumpus]

Matt, your story about spending $25,000 just boggles my entire mind.
For reference that's about what our "shared risk" in-vitro fertilization program is costing us; insurance never covers infertility, so it's all out of pocket.

I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much on a human baby.

[Hanzii]

This is probably a point where you should say, "YMMV." For example, I grew up in the suburbs of Amarillo, TX. The largest natural predator in that environment is the rattlesnake, which does not tend to hang out near human-settled environments. The mother cat herself was a good 2 years old or so by the time she made it to our place; it wouldn't be any more proper for her to live indoors than it would be to keep a wild badger indoors. We had both a back and side yard that were the size you'd expect from suburbs in the middle of nowhere, and was always safe. (A pellet pistol we kept near the back door helped to ensure it remained that way from the only other threat they faced: Other strange cats.) And in a neighborhood that quiet, you could hear a car coming a mile away, so cars weren't such a threat. The cats knew when to run, and had plenty of warning.

Now I wouldn't be so cool about letting a cat out where I live now, where there are coyotes, hawks and many more cars.

Good points. I've always just accepted the ten years claim as face value, but where I livew/grew up the only real danger to a cat is cars.
Our largest predator is the fox and I've yet to see one go after a cat.

[Lietgardis]

I spent $2500 to fix up one of my cats when she broke her leg in a freak accident with a stool. This covered a weekend at the emergency vet, surgery to put a metal pin in the leg, lots of checkups and x-rays at the surgeon's, a few additional emergency vet visits when she chewed the bandage off (including anesthesia because she was hard to handle), and surgery to remove the pin. She had to live in a dog crate the whole time. She was not a happy kitty.

She's a perfectly happy kitty these days, though. It's like nothing ever happened. I was worried she'd have behavioral issues after living in a box for three months, but she didn't. I'm glad I spent the money.

[Pogo]

I love my dog, and I think he's awesome, but I've seen friends deal with their injured animals enough to know that even the most expensive healthcare and/or surgery will not prolong their lives very long in the face of really bad accidents (the kinds that cost thousands of dollars).

I certainly wouldn't drop more than 10 bills on him. Dealing with disease or sickness I would probably pay up to that much in medicine if I knew that he had a very good fighting chance and that his lifespan would not be shortened. When it comes to something like a life-threatening animal attack or car accident, I would most likely have him put down.

My friend's dog had hip surgery after a car accident and that cost thousands of dollars. The dog was considered to be a pet of half a dozen really close friends and we all loved him and were happy to see that he would live a bit longer, but he was never the same after the accident and died 12 months later for what was apparently no real reason (I saw him the day before he died and he was eating a lot of grass and regurgitating).

[Jason McCullough]

Isn't the answer mostly determined by how much you make?

[Anaxagoras]

Marcus - That's really touching what you're going through for those puppies. My male Akita's mother died in childbirth, and the breeder went through hell & back keeping as many of the litter alive as she could. She fed them every 2 hours for a couple weeks because that's what Akita puppies need, apparently. Also, she spent a lot of time teaching them basic behaviour and socializing them. And even with all of her hard work & knowledge, only 4 of the 8 puppies died.

To this day, Matteo is kind of a weird dog. He *loves* people, which is really strange for an Akita. (His half-sister is a more normal Akita: she has begun treating non-family as if they don't exist.) But he's not that good at communicating with other dogs, and he never learned how to wag his tail. Akitas don't wag much, but Matteo honestly doesn't know how. I think it's a behaviour that they pick up by watching their mothers.



Isn't the answer mostly determined by how much you make?

Not really, no. Obviously, if I don't have the money, I can't spend it. But I would go to the same lengths for my dogs that a parent would for their human kids. But paying money to extend their lives when they're going to have a low quality of life just doesn't make sense... not for dogs, nor for humans. At that point, putting them down (or assisted suicide for humans) is the only humane solution.

Do you laugh at my guilt? Honestly, I can't blame you for that either; maybe this seems pointless. There are so many crimes against humanity to carry the weight of, who cares about this?
Yeah... but you haven't personally caused those crimes against humanity. You did, in a certain sense, fail your companion. The guilt makes a lot of sense. However, dealing with death in such an intimate manner is something a lot of people aren't ready for. My wife & I have discussed what we're going to do when we have to put our two dogs down. I'm resolved to be there for them, no matter how painful it is for me. My wife understands herself well enough to know that there's a good chance it'll be too painful for her to follow through. So she's doing everything she can while they're alive to let them know that she loves them & cares for them. Fortunately, she has another 12 or 13 years to show them.

[Rimbo]

must have update from Tmanpdx

[Tman]

Well, the cat is doing OK, eating & drinking and walking a bit. He's off the drip and onto oral antibiotics. Vet wants another 24 hours to make sure. He did recieve a radiologist report that said both scapulas were broken, but vet says he's not sure and wants to look at the x-rays again because the cat is moving about.

We're down about $800 so far. I'm more for quality of life and want to make sure the cat will be back to 80% or better.

So tommorrow, I may be bringing him home if all goes well.

[Anaxagoras]

Good to hear, Tmanpdx.

[Rimbo]

yay! go cat go

[DennyA]

Good to hear, Tmanpdx. Any chance the cat would be content to be an indoor cat? Given the investment in him, it would significantly increase the possibility that you could amortize the money spent over quite a few more years.

I know some cats that are used to indoor/outdoor can't adapt, though.

[MatthewF]

One of my cats is severely allergic to fleas. Two weeks ago I started noticed she was scratching a lot, and knew she had them again. Started her back on Frontline, but a couple days went by and I saw a large wet spot on her cheek. Looking closer it was basically just raw flesh. I cleaned it, but the next day it was even larger and she was losing fur all over the area, and it looked really bad -- all green and infected. Spent a few hundred getting her fixed up. She's prone to getting sick so I've probably spent over $3k on her already, but no big deal. I'd spend as much as I had to if she needed help.

[Tman]

Sneakers is home. He can jump up, but not too good jumping down.

http://www.tmans.info/etc/S_IMG_1070.JPG

If you want to see the bad side, click here (http://www.tmans.info/etc/S_IMG_1071.JPG).

Thanks again for your stories!

[TomChick]

Aww, what a cute little guy. From that angle at any rate. :) Glad he's doing well.

Also, Marcus, take better puppy pictures when you get a chance. Because based on the quality of that picture, I hate to tell you this, but I think someone's pulling your leg. As near as I can tell, you have three hamsters or something.

-Tom

[Rimbo]

AWWWWWW!!!!

[Brian Rubin]

Aawwwwww, goodie! :)

[Marcus]

Well its been a rough few weeks. Not gonna go all emo blog here but needless to say there is only one puppy left. The other two got really sick really fast and there was no saving them. We had to put the other one down yesterday. The problem stems from the fact that these puppies did not get the vital anti bodies from their mother for the first few days so they are more prone to catching something.

The one that is left is also sick but I think she might be able to pull through as she is a bit bigger and I think should be able to pull through. We do have her on meds for the next 10 days so we are just crossing our fingers at this point. Its kinda the shits to come so far only to have them not make it. The last one here just turned 3 weeks old and we are starting her on a solid puppy mush which she really enjoys. All told so far we've spent a good 2k trying to keep them all alive and I just hope this one does pull through.

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/5985/teethingep2.th.jpg (http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=teethingep2.jpg)

This is her sister Barbie

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/816/barbietr3.th.jpg (http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=barbietr3.jpg)