My cat has had an operation on the 11th of June

[Eadwine Rose]

Yep, same with Doerak.

Long ago when Rakker and Doerak were still young I tried giving them some raw food.

His brother?? YAYYY! Nomnommunch.

Doerak? What's that, ew, that's not kibble.





I do soak about 6 or so overnight to give him in the morning as the very first food, I put his painkiller meds (fluid) over them. Then hope he eats the soakies, and if not, oh well then not. He's been handling that open nerve in his mouth for months, he can handle this pain as well.

This morning he ate all those, licked the bowl clean and then thought that was it.

"Hey.. food??"

Wait, what? I am getting more?

Doofus

[jackdanielsesq]

Vets are very special people - spent more money on my dogs healthcare than mine - dont need any.
Good luck - your cat is very fortunate - mostly they are simply euthanized

Regards

Jack

[Eadwine Rose]

I am not a cook, but I am now the proud owner of this thing:

9200000002757140.jpg

My fingers were not handling the crushing with a spoon well, so I had to get a different solution. Works great in the small end, and it is MUCH faster too





My mate always said: when I die I want to come back as a cat and live with you!

My cats were insured, Doerak went into a better plan when his brother passed away (I had to euthanize him, it was awful to do, at such a young age but it was best for him), so this operation should be at least partially covered. They already paid out quite a sum on Rakker back when, he had loads of issues. Glad I got the insurance alright!


People said I was nuts, insuring two healthy kittens, what would happen you know.

Yeah two years later Rakker had earned back his premiums for until he was 6 years old.. best decision ever. Doerak's premiums were pretty much always thrown in the bin, until this year

[JayM]

Vets are very special people - spent more money on my dogs healthcare than mine - dont need any.
Good luck - your cat is very fortunate - mostly they are simply euthanized

Regards

Jack

We're such "frequent fliers" at our vet clinic that the owner invited us to their company picnic* and beach party a few years ago. They were sporting T-shirts that listed all of the things that veterinarians had to specialize in: pre-natal, ob/gyn, pediatrics, orthopedics, internal medicine, oncology, geriatric care, trauma, opthamology, dentistry, you name it. There were enough medical specialties listed to cover the entire shirt. And all for patients who are unable to describe their symptoms (and owners who are often too upset to be able to do so clearly and in detail.)

*featuring two lechon baboys. charcoal-roasted suckling pigs done Cebu-style, which Anthony Bourdain said is "the best pig in the world", plus loads of side dishes. Nobody can put food away like a Filipino (especially if it's free)! We ate at around noon then everyone went back for more at around 3PM. (I did my best to keep up.) :)

[Eadwine Rose]

Wow haha, gotta loooove the food



Thank goodness my clinic has specialists in pretty much all areas. They don't care for just pets but also the larger animals, like horses and cows and such.

Doerak's regular vet is specialized in dermatology and internal medicine (hence perfect for the allergic reaction). The vet who assisted on my cat Stuffie's dental operations back in the day (some ten years ago) is now the main dental vet there.

It's good to know your vet, that is for sure. Just the reason TO know your vet is often less pleasant


I do know the regular vet we visit (mostly for shots and such, I always ask for him, he's nice and good with my cats) knew about MY condition. EDS is more well known in the veterinary area than the human docs know about it, amazingly enough. I asked him once about it back when I had just gotten the diagnosis. "Oh yeah I now about that" went on to describe loads of things and then "but I never met a human with it though" to which I extended my hand and said "nicetameetcha!" His eyes about popped

[JayM]

Vets in the US normally only do dogs and cats but there are some who specialize in large animals to fill a needed niche. My (ex) brother in law was one. Once when I was around 16 or 17 and my mother and I were visiting their home he got an emergency call and invited me to ride along (he had a van equipped as a mobile clinic.) The patient was a nanny goat who was giving birth, on a goat farm owned by an older Dutch woman and her middle-aged son. I was just standing off to the side keeping out of the way when kid #1 was born. The two owners took it off to the nursery stall that they'd prepared, but were gone for quite a long time. Meanwhile kid #2 popped out and Don had to have me hold this newborn goat while he was busy delivering #3. The owners still hadn't returned, so there I stood with a newborn goat in each arm while Don was busy with #4. I was looking toward where the owners had gone, thinking "I hope they hurry up, I'm running out of arms!" Luckily they did and took the babies away, followed by the mama.

[AK-47]

My cats were insured, Doerak went into a better plan when his brother passed away (I had to euthanize him, it was awful to do, at such a young age but it was best for him)

And alas, despite one's best intentions, the poor thing has to go at some point. It's never an easy decision, you made a brave one. It sounds like he went the best and easy way, so you really ought to ask yourself: is what I did really "awful?" I'd suggest that letting the alternative occur would have been the awful thing to do.

People said I was nuts, insuring two healthy kittens, what would happen you know.

They might suddenly reveal themselves to be Robin Food and Claude Bodde, CIA, and that's when the insurance will really pay off.

Yeah two years later Rakker had earned back his premiums for until he was 6 years old.. best decision ever. Doerak's premiums were pretty much always thrown in the bin, until this year

I've never taken out any kind of pet insurance myself, but another option would be to just put some money into an account or somewhere such, and only take it out when you need it. That's basically what an insurance scheme is anyway, but you get a large chunk of your savings cut out.

"Oh yeah I now about that" went on to describe loads of things and then "but I never met a human with it though" to which I extended my hand and said "nicetameetcha!" His eyes about popped

The way you described that sounded like you shook his hand from a distance of about 10 meters with go-go-gadget arms.

[Eadwine Rose]

Vets in the US normally only do dogs and cats but there are some who specialize in large animals to fill a needed niche. My (ex) brother in law was one. Once when I was around 16 or 17 and my mother and I were visiting their home he got an emergency call and invited me to ride along (he had a van equipped as a mobile clinic.) The patient was a nanny goat who was giving birth, on a goat farm owned by an older Dutch woman and her middle-aged son. I was just standing off to the side keeping out of the way when kid #1 was born. The two owners took it off to the nursery stall that they'd prepared, but were gone for quite a long time. Meanwhile kid #2 popped out and Don had to have me hold this newborn goat while he was busy delivering #3. The owners still hadn't returned, so there I stood with a newborn goat in each arm while Don was busy with #4. I was looking toward where the owners had gone, thinking "I hope they hurry up, I'm running out of arms!" Luckily they did and took the babies away, followed by the mama.

That is the advantage of a large clinic on the edge of a lot of farmland area. They also handle the emergency calls, which is nice, because ICE then I will likely already know who the vet is.

[Eadwine Rose]

My cats were insured, Doerak went into a better plan when his brother passed away (I had to euthanize him, it was awful to do, at such a young age but it was best for him)

And alas, despite one's best intentions, the poor thing has to go at some point. It's never an easy decision, you made a brave one. It sounds like he went the best and easy way, so you really ought to ask yourself: is what I did really "awful?" I'd suggest that letting the alternative occur would have been the awful thing to do.

It was not awful for the cat. Not at all. The alternative was two operations on his knees and each time after that 6 weeks on bench rest. This is a cat that was VERY easily scared, VERY easily spooked by even my helper (he sat behind the tv all day the first time she had been here, didn't come out until the evening), and he LOVED being outside in the enclosure and just plain doing his own thing. It was a hard decision for ME to make. The chance of success with the operation was pretty much 100%, but I had to weigh his quality of life vs that bench rest. He was in pain, so I had to do something... I chose his quality of life, even though he might have lived for 10 more years after... cats don't live in "yeah but in 12 weeks this is all over". They live in the now.. and having an utterly unhappy cat.. no. Life needs to be enjoyed, not suffered, and he was just not the cat that could handle it.

It was awful for me, and for his brother who had to live without him. That night I let Doerak into the bedroom (cats normally do not come into the bedroom, but leaving him to fend for himself like that.. no) and he cuddled up against me. The night after that he jumped on the window sill, fell down and smacked his body into the pointy end of the bed, with no injury.. or so I thought.. well.. now I know that is how long he's been having this tooth thing going on.

Needless to say: the bed got a bumper the next day, and there has been a stool since then to make the jump easier.

The way you described that sounded like you shook his hand from a distance of about 10 meters with go-go-gadget arms.

I am bendy and stretchy, but not THAT stretchy!

[Eadwine Rose]

Tomorrow afternoon is checkup time, if all is ok he will get his shots and then we can go home again. Hopefully that'll be the last of it.

His insurance paid me back half the bill as per coverage, which is good :)



Here he is.. cleaning himself, just like some people drink tea: with that sticking out pinky

pinky.JPG