The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2018

[arouetta]

Whoof. I am so sorry.

 

[Blakeney Green]

Whoof. I am so sorry.

Thanks. Despite everything he's a cheerful, happy kitten enjoying life.

 

[Alicia88]

That's what matters. A short, happy life is better than no life at all.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Sorry, I didn't remember that I hadn't explained that.

Froggy has a disorder called megaesophagus. It's an enlargement of his esophagus that affects his ability to swallow and keep food down. He was born with it, and his case is extremely severe; the deformity affects his entire esophagus and surgical repair is not possible. Aspiration pneumonia is a huge risk for him.

I try to keep his pneumonia risk as low as possible by feeding him small frequent meals. (He normally eats 5-6 times a day.) Then I hold him in an upright position for 20 minutes after each meal so gravity can help the food reach his stomach. He eats a mixture of wet food, KMR, and water.

Froggy came home with me as a short-term hospice placement back in April. At the time he was only expected to live a couple days and I wanted him to have the comfort of a home instead of the shelter. He pulled through and is still kicking. He probably won't have a long life, but he seems happy for now.

You are a wonderful, loving and caring person.

 

[Blakeney Green]

You are a wonderful, loving and caring person.

Thanks, but he's an awesome kitten and I'm lucky to have him.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Omg, I'm going to murder the cat.

I haven't taken him out on a leash lately, did so two days ago. And it triggered something. Late that night he was meowing loudly so I took him out at 10pm at night.

Yesterday I didn't have time to take him out. Plus he's fat and he's a boredom eater and apparently on a see-food diet as every time he walks by his dish he stops and eats. So yesterday I didn't fill the downstairs bowl, if he got truly hungry he knows there's food upstairs but otherwise food isn't in his face tempting him. So all day "MREOOOW. MREOOOW." This wasn't a loud meow, he's yowling. Plus, to make sure he had my attention, every time I got up he'd run to be right under my feet. He got accidentally kicked more than once but that didn't deter him the next time I got up.

Went to work, got home, my husband was still up. He looked at me and said "You've got to do something about that cat." I did take both the boys out, the little girls next door were coming home from church, so he not only got to eat grass, he got some attention. Back in and "MREOOOW. MREOOOW."

5am this morning, it's been only 4ish hours since I took the Seroquel, I'm still knocked stupid from it and I'm woken by "MREOOOW. MREOOOW." downstairs.

I wake up from 10am. Silence. Peaceful, wonderful silence. I started moving around upstairs, laundry, bed, stuff like that, and then I heard "MREOOOW. MREOOOW."

I've got most of the blinds open so he can see the great outdoors. He started clawing at the blind not open to see out of it, even though it's touching one that is open (the windows have a shared side sliding mechanism). Right now he's sitting in the living room next to me and "MREOOOW. MREOOOW."

I can't take him out on demand. Taking him out has to fit in my schedule since I'm the leash holder. And why does he do them in sets of two? Even though it's just a second or two, there's a pause after the second one before he does it again and again and again.

Has he calmed down yet?

 

[Katie M]

One of the kitten's littermates.

I am so glad I decided my cats would be strictly indoor. I'd hate to hear that something happened to one of these little guys.

 

[nansiludie]

Blakeney Green They sell little special high chairs if you will, for dogs with that condition would it be an option for froggy? https://www.baileychairs4dogs.com/ Maybe they could make a tiny one for froggy?

 

[Blakeney Green]

Blakeney Green They sell little special high chairs if you will, for dogs with that condition would it be an option for froggy? Bailey Chairs for dogs, canine megaesophagus, megaesop Maybe they could make a tiny one for froggy?

Interesting you should bring that up, because I actually contacted that company earlier in the week in my professional capacity on behalf of our shelter. They do donations to rescue organizations, so I inquired about the possibility that they might consider donating one for Froggy. I haven't heard back yet.

If that doesn't pan out, I'll probably just save up to buy one for him. I'm not really supposed to be spending large amounts of money on him because he's a foster, but I'm attached to him and if that would help him, I'm willing to do it.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Sad part, I know the law, I know I could have asked one more question, I could have legally asked her what it was trained to do. Good luck with improvising a lie for that question

She was holding it because it didn't have a leash, and she didn't appear to have any physical issues.

arouetta , while I'm perfectly sure that you got that right, the answer might easily have been "She alerts when my blood sugar drops too low" or "She alerts before I have a seizure." No way to prove the animal is trained for that if the blood sugar is normal, or there isn't a seizure coming on. HOWEVER...I have never seen an actual service animal trained by a reputable firm who wasn't fitted with a vest for public places. ESAs are a whole different ball game, but they don't have the same freedom of movement that service animals do.

That's what matters. A short, happy life is better than no life at all.

Isn't that the truth! Or a long one filled with utter misery, come to think of it!

 

[Willowy]

No way to prove the animal is trained for that if the blood sugar is normal, or there isn't a seizure coming on.

The business is only allowed to ask what the dog is trained to do, not require a demonstration. Like you mentioned, many things Service Dogs are trained to do kick in only when the owner is in crisis, so a demonstration is out of the question.

I have never seen an actual service animal trained by a reputable firm who wasn't fitted with a vest for public places

Many Service Dogs are trained by their handlers, not an organization. And not all legit Service Dogs wear a harness/vest. It's not required.

I "knew" (online) a woman who had a severe anxiety disorder, and her dog was trained to "de-panic" her, and get her out of the building if she had an attack. But she didn't like for him to wear a harness, because that would draw unwanted attention when they were out on the street, which isn't exactly what someone with a social anxiety disorder wants in their life. She wanted him to look like every other dog out there. Sometimes she'd put it back on him when she went into a store, but not always (because it's not really pocket-sized).

It's a complicated topic. There aren't a lot of ways to crack down on fakers without hurting disabled people, and the big-box stores usually would rather allow a few fakers in than risk a big scene by denying a legitimate Service Dog. So on a legal lever there's not much to do. But on a personal level, it is definitely despicable to fake Service Dog status just to be able to tote a pet around.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Interesting you should bring that up, because I actually contacted that company earlier in the week in my professional capacity on behalf of our shelter. They do donations to rescue organizations, so I inquired about the possibility that they might consider donating one for Froggy. I haven't heard back yet.

If that doesn't pan out, I'll probably just save up to buy one for him. I'm not really supposed to be spending large amounts of money on him because he's a foster, but I'm attached to him and if that would help him, I'm willing to do it.

If they won't donate maybe a gofundme or such like. As to spending money on him, it's not like the chair couldn't be used by another needy critter.

 

[Blakeney Green]

If they won't donate maybe a gofundme or such like. As to spending money on him, it's not like the chair couldn't be used by another needy critter.

I discussed the possibility of a gofundme with the shelter director, but the board would have to approve it. I would think they might be fine with it? But who knows.

When I say I'm not supposed to spend money on him, I don't mean I'm not allowed to - I mean that I am not required to incur expenses that deduct from my personal budget to care for a shelter animal I'm fostering. I'm not financially responsible for him. If I want to spend my own money, though, that's my choice. Obviously I would donate the chair to another animal when he no longer needs it if I end up buying it myself.

 

[dustydiamond1]

I discussed the possibility of a gofundme with the shelter director, but the board would have to approve it. I would think they might be fine with it? But who knows.

When I say I'm not supposed to spend money on him, I don't mean I'm not allowed to - I mean that I am not required to incur expenses that deduct from my personal budget to care for a shelter animal I'm fostering. I'm not financially responsible for him. If I want to spend my own money, though, that's my choice. Obviously I would donate the chair to another animal when he no longer needs it if I end up buying it myself.

 

[arouetta]

arouetta , while I'm perfectly sure that you got that right, the answer might easily have been "She alerts when my blood sugar drops too low" or "She alerts before I have a seizure." No way to prove the animal is trained for that if the blood sugar is normal, or there isn't a seizure coming on. HOWEVER...I have never seen an actual service animal trained by a reputable firm who wasn't fitted with a vest for public places. ESAs are a whole different ball game, but they don't have the same freedom of movement that service animals do.



Isn't that the truth! Or a long one filled with utter misery, come to think of it!

Those are actual answers, yes. But if you are simply an owner of a pet and just want to take Puddles everywhere, chances are you won't think fast enough on your feet to come up with an answer, and that will weed out a lot of the liars.

 

[Alicia88]

Looks like I'm calling the vet for an appointment tomorrow. Mickey was limping and it looks like he either got something in his foot pad or a claw grew too long and broke off in it. But he's really good about using the scratching post and keeping his claws trimmed down. He never goes outside so I don't know what it could be. John's aunt came over and we tried to get it with tweezers but we couldn't. It's kinda scabbed over. I feel like I should have noticed it earlier, but you know how cats are. They instinctively hide pain because in the wild, if they appear weak, they die.
He wasn't scratching but he was squirming and trying to get away while we were checking him out.
We have a little money set aside that we were going to use for the fair, but I can't let Mickey hurt just so we can have a night of fun.
Not the best pictures cuz he was pretty annoyed.

 

[Margret]

Continuing the spine saga-

I had an appointment with my PCP on Friday. My mother had gone to WVU's Spine Center and gotten a referral form. I asked my PCP if he would be okay with referring me. He was quite happy to

He couldn't believe it when I told him what had happened with that doctor a few months ago. He's going to see to it that something gets done this time.

As an aside, I would just like to say how much I appreciate my doctor. I switched to him after my previous one retired, and in this entire mess, he's the only doctor who seems to genuinely care.

Oh, good! I've been worrying.

Froggy came home with me as a short-term hospice placement back in April. At the time he was only expected to live a couple days and I wanted him to have the comfort of a home instead of the shelter. He pulled through and is still kicking. He probably won't have a long life, but he seems happy for now.

Bless you, and bless Froggy!

Blakeney Green They sell little special high chairs if you will, for dogs with that condition would it be an option for froggy? Bailey Chairs for dogs, canine megaesophagus, megaesop Maybe they could make a tiny one for froggy?

Oh! Great idea! I hope it works out. Let us know, please, Blakeney Green .

Margret

 

[dustydiamond1]

Looks like I'm calling the vet for an appointment tomorrow. Mickey was limping and it looks like he either got something in his foot pad or a claw grew too long and broke off in it. But he's really good about using the scratching post and keeping his claws trimmed down. He never goes outside so I don't know what it could be. John's aunt came over and we tried to get it with tweezers but we couldn't. It's kinda scabbed over. I feel like I should have noticed it earlier, but you know how cats are. They instinctively hide pain because in the wild, if they appear weak, they die.
He wasn't scratching but he was squirming and trying to get away while we were checking him out.
We have a little money set aside that we were going to use for the fair, but I can't let Mickey hurt just so we can have a night of fun.
Not the best pictures cuz he was pretty annoyed.
View attachment 242587 View attachment 242588

Good luck, let us know how everything turns out.

 

[Alicia88]

Just got back. Mickey is fine. Something sharp got stuck. The vet said maybe a weed seed but he couldn't tell for sure. He got it out and gave him a shot of antibiotics. $27.50. That's why I drive 30 miles to get to him. The other vets around here will charge $50-60 just for walking in the door.
The paper actually just did a story on him. He's in his 80's but hasn't retired because he just loves what he does. Lord help me when he quits practicing!

 

[dustydiamond1]

Just got back. Mickey is fine. Something sharp got stuck. The vet said maybe a weed seed but he couldn't tell for sure. He got it out and gave him a shot of antibiotics. $27.50. That's why I drive 30 miles to get to him. The other vets around here will charge $50-60 just for walking in the door.
The paper actually just did a story on him. He's in his 80's but hasn't retired because he just loves what he does. Lord help me when he quits practicing!