May 10, 20179 yr Author Hard to believe it's been nearly 7 years since I first asked about feline diabetes. For pretty much all of it, we've managed his diabetes with 2 insulin shots each day along with certain dietary restrictions. However last week we noticed he wasn't eating as much, so took him to the vet. Was diagnosed with kidney disease and pancreatitis. Doc gave him an antibiotic, and we changed from dry food to moist. He seemed to rebound and was back to his normal self for the next 5 or 6 days. But sometime on Sunday he stopped eating again. When I got home from work yesterday, my wife and I discussed our options. There really wasn't much choice this time, so we planned on taking him in (together) on Wednesday. But after hearing him moan throughout the night last night, I knew we had to move that up. Unfortunately my wife had a work obligation that she couldn't get out of, so it was just me. I'm not going to lie, it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and balled like a baby after the doctor left the room. We rescued him 9 years ago (when he was already 5), so he had become a member of the family. Was hard on my son, who's the same age and has pretty much grown up with the cat. We spent the time while burying him telling God everything special about our Baxter. Helped us both remember the good times. But, I had to choke back even more tears when my son said he won't have a buddy waiting on him when he comes home from school. Today sucks.
May 10, 20179 yr Hard to believe it's been nearly 7 years since I first asked about feline diabetes. For pretty much all of it, we've managed his diabetes with 2 insulin shots each day along with certain dietary restrictions. However last week we noticed he wasn't eating as much, so took him to the vet. Was diagnosed with kidney disease and pancreatitis. Doc gave him an antibiotic, and we changed from dry food to moist. He seemed to rebound and was back to his normal self for the next 5 or 6 days. But sometime on Sunday he stopped eating again. When I got home from work yesterday, my wife and I discussed our options. There really wasn't much choice this time, so we planned on taking him in (together) on Wednesday. But after hearing him moan throughout the night last night, I knew we had to move that up. Unfortunately my wife had a work obligation that she couldn't get out of, so it was just me. I'm not going to lie, it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and balled like a baby after the doctor left the room. We rescued him 9 years ago (when he was already 5), so he had become a member of the family. Was hard on my son, who's the same age and has pretty much grown up with the cat. We spent the time while burying him telling God everything special about our Baxter. Helped us both remember the good times. But, I had to choke back even more tears when my son said he won't have a buddy waiting on him when he comes home from school. Today sucks. Keep your head up CSF.
May 11, 20179 yr I've got to say...with pets, I stand as a firm believer that they're animals and not humans, and should still be treated as animals when it comes down to it. I completely understand the connection to your pets - I've had several family pets of my own over the course of my life, and its hard to let them go, but I have to say in the end that I think there are a lot of ways to better spend $70-80 a month... I don't mean to go all Sally Struthers on you, but I donate to Food For The Poor, and $36 will feed a hungry child for a year. That's more or less 2 hungry children being fed for an entire year, or one month of insulin for a sick house cat. I don't intend any offense to pet owners or animal lovers here...just trying to put a little perspective on things. Thanks for your perspective...but not really. Fortunately, valuing our non-human friends doesn't preclude us from also donating to charity. I am sick of the pathetic argument whereas one judges people who care for their animals who ARE family to them in many cases and judges their value against their own values. You just made a person who values their family member feel bad about providing continued care. IMO that is insensitive, judgemental and uncalled for. BTW - Why don't you find out how much of the $36 actually goes in the child's mouth.
May 11, 20179 yr Author Thanks for your perspective...but not really. Fortunately, valuing our non-human friends doesn't preclude us from also donating to charity. I am sick of the pathetic argument whereas one judges people who care for their animals who ARE family to them in many cases and judges their value against their own values. You just made a person who values their family member feel bad about providing continued care. IMO that is insensitive, judgemental and uncalled for. BTW - Why don't you find out how much of the $36 actually goes in the child's mouth. In all fairness, that was 7 years ago. I've moved on (obviously not taking his advice), as I estimate we've given probably close to 5,000 shots of insulin over that time. Time and money well spent, in my opinion, in exchange for the pet we enjoyed. I respect his opinion, as well as those who would never let an animal live in the house with them in the first place. To each their own.
May 11, 20179 yr CSF, I'm glad that you got to spend another 7 years with your beloved pet. You are a far better person than I would have been in that situation.
May 11, 20179 yr Author CSF, I'm glad that you got to spend another 7 years with your beloved pet. You are a far better person than I would have been in that situation. In retrospect, I can't imagine the past 7 years without him. As I said, our son has practically grown up with him. He truly had become a part of the family. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
May 11, 20179 yr In all fairness, that was 7 years ago. I've moved on (obviously not taking his advice), as I estimate we've given probably close to 5,000 shots of insulin over that time. Time and money well spent, in my opinion, in exchange for the pet we enjoyed. I respect his opinion, as well as those who would never let an animal live in the house with them in the first place. To each their own. I just read through the rest, and you have my deepest sympathies. Clearly you fought the good fight. I do not respect his opinion, nor how it was delivered. I have no reservations about that. To share it in this thread was inappropriate IMO. I'll admit, the attitude strikes a nerve with me. I agree there are people who don't value the contributions that pets make as family members, and they have that right to act any way for themselves they see fit. Being involved in rescue, it is saddening to take on placing a pet that someone had for years, then decided they couldn't or didn't want to take care of them anymore, and the pet ends up in a shelter. Stuff happens, but it seems to be an easy target for the "well-doers" to throw their judgements at animal lovers when in fact there are a lot of easier targets: alcohol $162 billion pets $60 billion cigarettes $80 billion video games $25.3 billion lottery tickets $70 billion eating out $55 billion charity $268 billion not to mention the biggest income redistribution taxes $1.4 trillion just to the IRS. The real issues is not only what people spend their money on, but why are people going hungry in this day and age? It is not just economics or welfare, it is often politics, agenda, greed and abuse.
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