Tolkien

Tom Dunlap

Tom Dunlap

Here from the beginning
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Retired in Minneapolis
My nine year old cat lost weight quickly so I took her to the vet. The vet said that she would have to run tests to find out exactly what was wrong. The tests would cost $500+ dollars. It seemed like her kidneys weren't functioning. After talking with the vet I concluded that it would be a matter of spending lots of money but Tolkien wouldn't recover. I decided to bring her home and keep her comfortable. Over the past few days she lost more weight and got pretty wobbly. She was awake this morning but died just a little while ago.
 

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Thanks guys :)

Scourge seems ok now. If I was settled into a new job I'd go out and get a couple new cats from the same litter. That's going to have to wait for a while unless Scourge starts going crazy.

Has anyone been around Maine Coon Cats? I think they're the coolest looking cats. But I'd have to pay for them, and dearly too. There are too many cats and dogs looking for homes to consider paying for a pet.
 
I'm sorry, too, for your loss. I'm dealing with a similar thing with my 12-year-old Husky, Banjo, and have been spending the winter nursing him.

Banjo was diagnosed by my local vet with kidney failure and he said there wasn't anything short of a kidney transplant that would keep him going, but we could buy some time by flushing him out with IV fluids.

I brought Banjo home and transfused 6 liters into him in two days and he perked up and got a little appetite back, though he hasn't regained the 10 lbs he'd lost.

Then I found a holistic vet (very pricey) and after dropping $500 there and putting Banjo on 8 different supplements and feeding him baby foods by syringe, I've managed to keep him relatively stable and comfortable for three months.

He did just tear his anterior cruciate ligament in his left rear leg (I made a flexible brace for him) and he's shedding all his winter coat in a matter of a couple of weeks. But he's eating better and still enjoys romping in the snow.

I'll have to give up on my plan to hike the Long Trail with Banjo this summer (I had just bought him a new backpack and sleeping pad), but he might hang in there long enough for a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters.

If anyone wants the name of the holistic vet in Vermont (he does phone consultations all over the country), email me. This guy is apparently famous for improving the quality of life for pets that other vets have written off.

- Robert
 

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Sorry to hear of Tolkien's loss, Tom. I know the difficulty of weighing your cherished pet's life against a stiff veterinary bill, and in Tolkien's case, considering his age, it seems the right decision. Last year I spent $1200 on an ACL reconstruction on our rescue Pit Bull, Squiggley, and just last week I spent another $1400 on another ACL reconstruction on her other leg. Our vet tells us Pit Bull's have a congenital tendency toward poor ACL development.

http://www.chuckdaniels.com/index/squiggley.html

The first reconstruction was a total success, leaving her leg far better than 100%, and we expect the same for her other leg. But Squiggley is a very dear dog to us, and only about 4 years old, so we think the operations were worth it.

Rescueman, Bango is 12 years old, so I'm not sure you'd want to invest this kind of money in him, but I can attest in a younger dog, an ACL reconstruction actually makes the leg better than normal.

I do want to say, Rescueman, I'm very skepical of so-called "holistic" practitioners of veterinary medicine. I've had an experience with one, and from the research I've done on "holistic" therapies, I think it's very dangerous to entrust your pet's life to one of these people. Just as in the "human" realm, most of the "therapies" these people prescribe for your pet are unproven and unscientific, and act more as "feel good" remedies than true, proven therapies. You might want to take a look at this link for a further understanding of so-called "alternative" veterinary medicine.

http://www.vet-task-force.com/

Chucky
 
Tom,
Sorry to here of your loss. My mom has an old cat named Boomer, and I'm sure we will all be sad when his number comes up. Here is a pic of the big boy (he's 22 lbs). Later, Roger.
 

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Here is a picture of the cat door and deck my dad built for the cats. That is the other cat (Sissy) sitting on the deck. She's only 15 lbs.
 

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[ QUOTE ]
I'm very skepical of so-called "holistic" practitioners of veterinary medicine...I think it's very dangerous to entrust your pet's life to one of these people. Just as in the "human" realm, most of the "therapies" these people prescribe for your pet are unproven and unscientific, and act more as "feel good" remedies than true, proven therapies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Chucky,

I couldn't disagree more. Western medicine, in spite of its high tech look, is one of the most primitive of all healing modalities (it's also very young compared to more traditional approaches). Many of the traditional and ancient healing arts are far more "proven" than what we call medicine today. And they far better meet the healer's dictim "do no harm".

There are quacks in every field, including medicine, but this vet is a DVM with all the conventional medical credentials who takes a holistic approach - which means that treats the whole being, not just the symptoms. He incorporates the best of many healing traditions, including homeopathy, herbal medicine, nutrition, and acupuncture. His diagnostic skills are light years beyond any conventional vet I've ever been to and he is apparently widely known for bringing pets back to health that other vets have given up on.

With pets, as with humans, a holistic approach to health is far less invasive, has few or no side effects, and is focused on supporting the body's natural ability to heal rather than on attacking symptoms with toxic drugs.

A good friend of mine, when he was diagnosed with advanced cancer in his 70's, went to Mexico for holistic therapy which included laetrile (the banned in the US extract of apricot pits). He was cured within a year - not in remission, but cured and lived to be 94.

My uncle, a professor of medicine and life-long practicing physician (who was on Pres. Kennedy's medical advisory staff), whose wife and three children were also physicians, who kept on top of all the cutting edge medical research everywhere in the world - died of cancer. After trying the latest and most promising experimental neutron radiation therapy, he went home to eat a macrobiotic diet and learn to meditate so that, at least, he could die well. The last thing he said to me before he died was, "we (the medical profession) just don't have any idea what we're doing."

And he was, sadly, right.

- Robert
 
Yeah, there's nothing like paying someone for 2 hours what you make in a month, just for them to experiment on you. I don't mind the experimentation so much in and of itself, but they ought to be paying us for it.

Back to the original topic; Tom, I lost my little Maine Coon buddy last summer. It was under similar circumstances in a way. I didn't feel like dropping several hundred dollars on him to extend his life another week, maybe. I helped him as best I could. He was laying on the couch next to me, I reached over and grabbed his paw. He looked at me and gripped my fingers for a few seconds, then flopped down onto the floor, put his head on my foot, and passed. I took him out, buried him by one of his favorite firewood stacks, and planted a chinkapin oak by his head.
 
Sorry about Tolkien, Tom. You did the right thing. Not just the $$$ aspect, but sometimes the 'cure' is worse than the ailment.

I got a Maine Coon kitten at a pet shop in Cedar Grove (south of the river on Cedar.) Curry. She was nasty. She slept apart from all the other cats. She didn't like to be picked up, really fiesty. She would 'tolerate' me when she was young....barely. She hated guys. She moved from Mpls to Richmond, VA and back with me....5 or 6 different homes. She'd always be in the same room with me, but never did the 'rubbing' thing. It was so cool though, as she got older....she'd wait for a quiet moment and THEN she'd grace me with her touch. Beautiful cat.

As hard as it is to lose a pet, it sure is worth it for all the love they give you. And vice versa.........
 
Che,

I've heard that Maine's can be a bit cranky. With their size it is a whole different experience getting swatted by them.

After being gone for six days, Scourge is pretty snuggly. She's not psycho but I can tell that she's lonely. I might be going to the humane society to try and find a cat. That can be dicey though since they might not allow each other the space.

My folks had a cat that they rescued and called Hidey, not Heidi, because she would hide from the other cats and then ambush them. When I adopted her she would harass Sting. It got so bad that Sting would peek into rooms to see if Hidey was around. In the end I put up a screen door between the kitchen and living room so that they could have seperate spaces. Hidey would sit around a corner then lever her head sideways just a tiny bit so that one eye could see what was going on.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm very skepical of so-called "holistic" practitioners of veterinary medicine...I think it's very dangerous to entrust your pet's life to one of these people. Just as in the "human" realm, most of the "therapies" these people prescribe for your pet are unproven and unscientific, and act more as "feel good" remedies than true, proven therapies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Chucky,

I couldn't disagree more. Western medicine, in spite of its high tech look, is one of the most primitive of all healing modalities (it's also very young compared to more traditional approaches). Many of the traditional and ancient healing arts are far more "proven" than what we call medicine today. And they far better meet the healer's dictim "do no harm".

[/ QUOTE ]

"General impressions are never to be trusted. Unfortunately when they are of long standing they become fixed rules of life, and assume a prescriptive right not to be questioned. Consequently, those who are not accustomed to original inquiry entertain a hatred and a horror of statistics. They cannot endure the idea of submitting their sacred impressions to cold-blooded verification. But it is the triumph of scientific men to rise superior to such superstitions, to devise tests by which the value of beliefs may be ascertained, and to feel sufficiently masters of themselves to discard comtemptuously whatever may be found untrue."

—Sir Francis Galton
 
[ QUOTE ]
In the end I put up a screen door between the kitchen and living room so that they could have seperate spaces.

[/ QUOTE ]

sorry tom for the momentary hijack here....

thats just funny /forum/images/graemlins/laughabove.gif /forum/images/graemlins/laughing.gif
 
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