Well anyway, the night before her neighbor left, my coworker had to go to her apartment to get trained on how to take care of the cats. Yes, trained. Apparently both cats are like 412-years-old and basically on life support. She has to give the cats a mixture of 7, yes 7, different prescriptions, 2 different kinds of shots, an IV and special mashed-up food.
Are you kidding me? First of all, I think it's crazy that the girl would leave her seriously ill cats with a neighbor and ask her to give her cat shots twice a day. I would vomit if I had to do that. Second of all, why are those cats even alive? I mean really, they sound sick! The girl even told my coworker that she wouldn't be surprised if one of the cats died while she was out of town. What?!
I don't mean to sound heartless. I love animals. Ok correction, I love dogs. And it's horrible to see them when they're suffering. Growing up, my family had an English Springer Spaniel named Chelsea. When she was 12 we noticed bumps on her skin, took her to the vet and found out that she had very aggressive skin cancer. After a couple of days, we realized how much pain she was in and put her to sleep. It was so sad, but it would have been worse to keep her alive and in pain.
After Chelsea, we had Maisy, a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier. She was essentially my dog. We got her my sophomore year in high school and I absolutely adored her. But during my senior year of college, my Mom called to tell me that Maisy had been acting very lethargic, so she took her to the vet for tests. The results were devastating (ok I might cry as I type this, why the hell am I telling this story?) Her kidneys were almost completely diseased and quickly failing. The vet said we could put her on dialysis and keep her alive for another year or so, but that would be it. It was heartbreaking. As we saw our little Maisy getting slower and weaker every day, we decided to put her to sleep. And it turned out the day she went down was her 6th birthday. Yeah, she was only 6...
Ok wow, now I'm all teared up over here. Anyway, the point is that I can't imagine watching your beloved pets suffer. The girl's cats are basically on life support and now my coworker is responsible for keeping them alive. She was given an 8 page guide for the cats, including lengthy descriptions of their personalities. One was described as weak, grouchy and old; the other is rickety, skinny and doesn't eat. Hmm...sounds like my coworker is in for a fun time!
But who am I to judge, right? She must be very attached to them. I only hope they aren't suffering too much...
And on a happier note, my parents do have two happy, healthy little misfit mutts right now that keep us all quite entertained. Aww Rufus and Nellie. So cute.
Also, this reminds me that I really need to tell you all the story of how I was asked to proofread a 3-page cat obituary once at work...it was probably one of the funniest moments of my life.
7 comments:
I am not a cat person whatsoever either! I never had allergies, but am now allergic to their fur. A friend asked me to watch her cat, and the nice person I am agreed. It was only for like 4 days, but it was horrible. I had to go over there every day after work and play with it. Which was stupid because she lived in a little apartment and we basically ran around in circles. I don't even know how to play or exercise with a cat. The litter box was disgusting. She said I didn't have to clean it just make sure it was somewhat clean. By the end it was disgusting and smelly. I felt bad, but I didn't know what to do. She asked if I could cat sit again...I totally lied, said I couldn't. I don't like cats. I didn't want to hang with hers!
I am such a cat person - I prefer them to dogs. But wow, yea there comes a point where you have to draw the line. We've put a few of the cats I've had to sleep because they've been old and sick.
a 3 page cat obituary! please do share!
and hope the beach is nice!
I am all for helping out an animal with treatable things like arthritis, or dandruff or something. But those cats need to be put down for their own quality of life.
I'm definitely not a cat person so that proves why they are crazy.
OMG! Our family dog, Siddalee died about a year ago from kidney failure. Apparently by the time symptoms show up it's already too late. Which is what happened with her. Her hair started falling out, she wouldn't eat, etc. Just not her normal self. My parents took her to the vet and we found out. They told us from the start that it's probably already too late but they would still try some stuff. She died 2 ish weeks later. Siddalee was only 6 years old too. It was heartbreaking. Like, I cried off and on for days.
I love kitties! I have a 5 year old cat whom I love dearly, and growing up we had a cat named Bubblegum. She passed away 3 years ago and it was the saddest thing ever. She was only 10, but she started acting really tired and strange, so my mom took her to the vet and she just went downhill so fast. She all of the sudden couldn't breathe on her own, so after a couple days my mom decided to put her down. It was so sad :(
I also have a black lab too, who is 7. I am going to have a break down I'm sure when my pets leave me, but if they are suffering and on their last leg, I think its just better to let them go to a better place instead of keeping them alive with a thousand medications. I love animals too much I think :(
I am so with you on this post. People like that weird me out.
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