And there's one BIG worry off my chest for a little while. I just got back from the vet's. My cat Kasumi started showing pretty much all of the signs of imminent serious organ failure (probably the kidneys). She was at the vet's all day for blood tests, and from my very limited experience with this sort of thing, I didn't have very much hope for her seeing the weekend.

Well, we're home now. It's the liver (that's the bad news, but (slightly) better the liver than the kidneys...), and while it's serious enough, it's not terminal yet. (One month at a time.)

She's also showing signs of some sort of infection (which is apparently why she'd gone from managable to very bad in a matter of days). That part is treatable with antibiotics, and I've gotten used to giving her pills without too much trauma for either of us. Our early efforts with pills were more than a bit comparable to a Spy Vs Spy sketch.

The vet also strongly recommended a low-protein food to ease the burden on her liver, and she (the vet) carried it in a brand Kasumi's quite familiar with and generally tolerates fairly well.

Better is that the moment Kasumi got home, she immediately started drinking on her own, a pleasant surprise as I'd been force-feeding her water lately, and immediately tore into the new food. And that's the best news of all.

Oh lordy, I'm going to sleep like a log tonight.

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And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Ah! Well, glad to hear it. My childhood cat had to be put down last week. It was sad, but I had the dogs when I moved out so it spent the last 2 years at my parents.

Was diabetic (didn't know cats could be), but also had a bladder infection, kidney trouble, and brain cancer. But he was 15 years old, so it was just his time. I was kinda relieved that between the time that I found out he would be put down and the time he actually was I didn't get to see him. I know that sounds odd, but I think it would have been really hard knowing it was the last time I was going to see him. Now I can have my last memory as that of playing with the still frisky and not sick version of him while I was checking in on him while my parents were out of town.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Wow, Moose, when I read your first paragraph I was sure you were going to say you had been a victim of the poisoned pet food debacle. I'm glad it wasn't that, at least.

Hope Kasumi makes as much of a recovery as possible under the circumstances!

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Relight the Firefly!

"It is quite clear that Occam's razor does not sharpen in your pyramid." (Nicolas)

"Still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." (Paul Simon)

Fazor, I'm really sorry to hear that. You're right though, it does make it easier. It's a nice luxury to have when you can get it. I still have some painful memories of my previous cat's end. A necessary experience, but not an easy one.

Donnie, thanks. I'd looked up the recall in detail as the very first thing I did when I'd heard. Nothing Kasumi has ever eaten has had Menu's name on it. (The vet did ask, too.) Kasumi's symptoms predate it by a long while, though.

(Oh geez, she's licking her butt right in front of me. [dry] I needed to see that. Really. Muchos tacos, Kitten. [/dry])

__________________
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Congratulations! I know how worrisome sick kitties can be. (D got a worm shot yesterday, and wasn't he thrilled!) And they do give back an awful lot for their investment; it hurts when they're not well.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Best of luck for your cat, Moose. Dontcha love when they do that kind of licking stuff?

Our new cat has settled right in as though she has owned us for years. She will wait until I sit down in the old overstuffed chair, then jump up on the back and drape herself around my neck like a choker, which I find warm, but a bit wierd.

And something I've never heard before. When she sees something outside the window that excites her, she makes little clicking noises with her mouth. Anyone else ever heard their cat do such a thing?

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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.

Oh yeah. They seem to go out of their way to do it in front of company, too.

Mine will lie on the arm of the lazy boy (leaning heavily on my arm) whenever I'm sitting in it. There really isn't anything like a purring cat against one's arm and some Dr. Who to ease a very stressful day.

Yup. None of mine ever clicked, but reports of that sort of thing are pretty common among the cat groups. Many will make a sort of churruping sound when looking at birds or similar out the window. My previous cat would converse with me that way, a sort of trilling Mrrrrr sound. This one's a real chatterbox, but she'll talk in quiet 'miaa's.

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And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Monkey noises! We've had several cats do that. D does it at the ducks in the pond behind our apartment.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Yep, I've heard all kinds of weird noises from cats stalking something. We had a cat when I was a kid who would sit in the window and make this very quiet little "ra ra ra ra" noises at the birds. My dad called it "kitty cursing".

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Update: Bad news, Gang. It's the Big One. Kasumi's liver failed last night. She barely has the ability to walk today. I've talked it over with the emergency vet, and I've made the decision to have her put down. The appointment is in two hours. Just long enough for me to regain some semblance of composure for both our sakes.

It was a helluva run. I'd been afraid this day would come before Christmas. My goal was to see her make it to spring so she could spend a little time outside in the sun. Well, we made it. She's enjoyed a few minutes of sun and fresh air on just about every warmish sunny day since the middle of March.

It seems appropriate, in a way, that we got so much snow and grey last night. It wouldn't have seemed right for it to be sunny today.

Mods: I'd appreciate it if someone could update the thread title with the edit I've made in the OP?

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And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I'm sorry to hear that Moose. It's never easy to lose a close companion. Those who have not had pets don't understand just how close you can become to your furry friends, and they are definately a member of the family.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Done.

I haven't had cats as an adult, but I appreciate the difficulty of the choice. I'll be thinking about you today.

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Forming opinions as we speak

I'm terribly sorry, Moose. I won't try to console you: it'll just seem hollow.

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Tough one, Moose. Spent a weekend night in the pet ER ourselves last week with our dog. They teach you stuff.

I'm home folks. The vet found a large tumor on her liver. She's not suffering anymore.

I'll check in later...

__________________
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I'm sorry and understand, Moose. I currently have a cat that I sometimes refer to as a "catdog" - he's obviously a cat, but will run to greet you and understands "No!" I'm not going to be happy whenever he reaches his end.

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

I'm so sorry Moose. I really do feel your pain. My cats are my friends.

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Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

My condolences also Moose,I know how you feel ,in the last coupla years we've gone from 3 cats to none,one was 18 & it was his time,the other 2 victims of an owl or coyote (one was 9 years old,we thought he knew how to avoid the local predators!).

We still have 3 dogs,who get insulin shots & thyroid pills 2x a day.One's gone completely blind,the other 1/2 blind & their Mama has dysplasia so bad she can hardly walk.The things we do for our pets

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"An armed man is a citizen
An unarmed man is a subject"

Robert A. Heinlein

sorry moose.

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If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.
Contact Carl Sagan

http://davidsuniverse.wordpress.com/

My sympathies, Moose. We've been through it several times, cats and dogs. It's never easy.

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Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
Isaac Asimov

Long-distance hug. That's no fun, though at least the pain is over . . . though not, of course, yours.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I'm so sorry Moose. I have a 15 year old, Samantha, with some health problems, but otherwise doing ok. They are such a big part of our lives. When Gillian is done with hugging, I'll give you one too.

And hhEb09'1, I hope your dog is doing better too.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

As a fellow cat-owner, my sympathies.

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"4th Law of Modern Thermodynamics: Where Mihoshi is, Chaos Reigns." ~W. Hakubi
"Gun control is hitting your target; Recycling is reloading your brass." ~ Lex of Dirty Work.

Poor kitty.

At least she had a good life with a caring owner.

Hang in there.

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

I just want to thank everybody for the support. I very much appreciate it. Like the theme song thread, "I'm Still Standing" and it would appear I will continue to do so for the forseeable future (although I am sitting at the moment). Knowing there are sympathetic people here who genuinely understand what it means for a pet person to lose one... well, that helps. A lot. Thank you.

Kasumi was the second cat I've had to personally make this decision for, and personally see through. It seems to be getting easier with practice, and I don't think I like that. It might be that Kasumi was so much more obviously in severe distress than Furball had been. Still, I don't think I'll need quite as long before I feel up to opening my home again.

__________________
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I think it gets easier because you can look back on the others and realize what it would mean to postpone the decision. Though easier, it will never become easy.

You also realize that letting a new cat into your life is not a betrayal of the feelings you had for the old one, because it will be a new experience rather than an attempt at replacing her.

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‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

Moose - I can not begin to express how very sorry I am to hear of your loss. I never had children and the two cats my wife and I have are as dear to us as kids are to most parents. The only thing I hate about pets is they don’t live long enough. We are even thinking of having some tissue frozen when the time comes, so that we might have a cloning option when the technology becomes commercially feasible.

I hope that soon you will feel the time is right to bring the tremendous joy of a new kitten into your lives. It will never be the same but a little kitten can go a long way towards escalating life’s happiness.

I don't think getting a "replacement kitten" to try to ease the loss is any better an idea than a replacement child. When the time is right, you may find a kittie that you belong to, but forcing it can make things worse, because everything the new kittie does differently is a reminder of the old one.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Yeah. When my last one passed away, (the feral), it was a full six months before I felt ready to open my home. I'm pretty sure I won't wait that long this time, but it's much much too soon for me. Maybe when I can't remember her eyes quite so vividly.

I will say this, however. I've decided (last year, actually, this isn't that recent a decision) that I'm interested in getting two cats this time around. Preferably six-months-to-a-year-old (a very flexible age, not too dependant, and not too territorial (yet)), preferably female (much more experience with females cats than with males), preferably siamese (if I can find em), preferably littermates (to make the introductions easier all around). Although I'm nowhere near as picky about these sorts of things as I'm sounding right now.

We'll just have to see. I may put feelers out as early as June. I'll almost certainly post photos when I do adopt a pair.

__________________
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I have had similar ideas when next I go 'cat-shopping'. Sounds like a reasonable plan. One thought - I grew up with several siamese. They are great cats, but not for everyone. They are very vocal for one thing. But they also seem to be very social too.

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple