Comments on: Our Cat Didn’t Die! Our Cat Didn’t Die!

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 21:55:28 +0000

@Sarah Smith – Oh cool!!! I didn’t know that’s what you were studying :) Thanks for the tips! I learned real quick about the checkins a couple times a year, and good food and all that, but man – just the routine stuff adds up over time… and while Bob didn’t pass this time around, he’s already acting up again :( We’re literally giving him IV fluids at home now, each day, in hopes of leveling him off. I know my wife def. wants to keep doing it and I’m totally fine with that, but we’re not too sure how his quality of life will actually be if we keep it up. Only 1 week down, but keep sending happy thoughts! :) Glad your little guys are safe and sound. (And good luck in school! I saw a recent tweet about getting an A in something? Woohoo!)

@Briana @ 20 and Engaged – Awwww, well glad you guys appreciated them while you could :) We’re def. in the “he can go any day” phase so every morning and night (and day) we’re loving up on him thinking it could be our last. So glad we have that option now though, cuz the dying out of nowhere route is the worst :(

By: Briana @ 20 and Engaged

Briana @ 20 and Engaged — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:35:17 +0000

That happened to us a couple years back. Our Rotweiler Buster had a huge tumor and it was going to cost too much for non-guaranteed results. We had to let him go :( Same with his big brother, our German Shepard King. He had some health issues too that were going to cost a few thousand dollars to fix, and he was already up in age. It hurts when you lose a pet, but cherish the time you have together. I now have a 5 month old Jack Russell Terrier / Chihuahua mix, Frankie, and he’s a fur ball of fun. Like you said, you know the number when it comes up.

By: Sarah Smith

Sarah Smith — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:44:29 +0000

P.S. I’m glad Mr. Bob is doing better!!! He is a cutie!

By: Sarah Smith

Sarah Smith — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:43:40 +0000

I’m a bit biased, because I am studying veterinary technology after all, but I would pay pretty much anything to keep my kitties healthy. I think the most you’ll pay (avg) for a procedure is $3,000, but it’s how many of those you’ll need that gets most people scared. And most pets don’t require that kind of care. It’s one of those things you need to take into account when you agree to adopt a pet, and when you decide what type of food to feed him/her. If you want to buy cheap, dry food, you’re sacrificing your pet’s health and will likely wind up paying for your choice later on (literally). Folks also don’t realize this, but a cat, dog, rabbit, or any other animal, needs a check up just like we do. Vets recommend a physical exam & diagnostic (fecal, blood, urine) tests once every 6mos – year, especially for a senior animal. A lot of the time it’s the only way you will catch something before it is too late.

And let us not forget the importance of pet insurance. I just bought policies for my fur kids on gopetplan.com, who have great customer service & rates, even for older animals.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:27:47 +0000

@Stephanie – Hah! They go up your shirt?? There’s a lot of jokes I can make right there but I’ll stop ;) Glad you found some pets you adore though, that’s awesome. I didn’t even know owning a hedgehog was legal???
@Yana – You guys are making me hungry!!! Haha… I could use some scrambled eggs (and cheese) like woah up in here.
@Molly – A chicken x-ray?!!! Hahaa.. you don’t hear that every day, that’s for sure ;) Smart move trying it out yourself though – never thought about eggs getting stuck? Poor chickens! (and again – y’all are making me hungry!)

By: Molly

Molly — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:19:23 +0000

When I called my vet about the health of my chicken she wanted me to take her in for an x-ray to see if there was an egg stuck. Sorry to the animal lovers out there but I did not take her in for an x-ray. She did recover (I put her in a hot bath and got the egg out myself!).
Growing up my Mom would only buy cat food for all the animals (she’s a natural streamliner) and their cats and dogs would live to be an average of of 17 years old! As an adult when I got my first dog she made fun of me for getting the ‘fancy’ kind of food (and species specific).

By: Yana

Yana — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:41:13 +0000

Stephanie – I use the Fresh Pet Select as a daily treat. I originally got it to bribe Maggie into letting me trim her toenails – what it turned into is a daily diced slice of treat at 4:30 pm :) She always has a bowl of dry dog food as her regular food.

I cracked up at your story about Elvis eating the plain apples from the peanut butter association! Maggie is supplemented with the best of what we eat, as I don’t consider some things we eat to be good enough for her.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:57:50 +0000

@Yana, thanks for the dog food recommendation! I’m always looking for new ways to spoil my pup. ;-) And actually, Elvis does like broccoli, too. And cooked spinach (but not raw, he’ll chew on it a bit and spit it out), or just about any cooked veggie, really. He also looooves crunching on raw carrots. And his passionate love affair with peanut butter extends to peanut butter on apple slices (one of my favorite snacks, he always begs for me to share), to the point that he’ll eat plain apples because he’s come to associate them with peanut butter. He’s such a weirdo. ;-)

By: Yana

Yana — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:16:29 +0000

I’d expect that most dogs like scrambled eggs, but I don’t really know if that goes for broccoli. The point of the broccoli was to get water in Maggie, since it is very watery when cooked soft, and we only give her a couple of florets. She happens to love broccoli. I also tried the canned pumpkin that I’d heard recommended by a friend whose vet suggested it, but I did not really like the results of that – although had Maggie been eating more and constipated, maybe it would have been a good thing ;) Putting the eggs on top of her regular dog food encouraged her to continue eating past the eggs, and we salted the eggs lightly so that she’d want water. Also, if I haven’t mentioned this before, I highly recommend Fresh Pet Select chicken and vegetable refrigerated dog food/roll. Maggie has been dancing for that for years now. True love :D

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:10:09 +0000

J.Money – They really are adorable. Like someone crossed a squirrel and a chinchilla and miniaturized it. They like to climb inside my shirt and take naps and it kind of makes my heart melt.

I’ve always loved rodents. My parents got a couple of hamsters for me when I was about 3 years old to teach me responsibility, I don’t think they realized what they were getting themselves into. I’ve had hamsters, a hedgehog, rats, degus, and at one point I had a total of 14 gerbils!

And Yana’s right, my dog goes NUTS for scrambed eggs. And they’re actually quite good for dogs, they’re a great source of protein and help keep their coats shiny and healthy. My dog’s a very active English pointer and we have trouble keeping weight on him even with high-protein dog food, so he gets plenty of eggs and peanut butter to supplement the kibble.