Pets of the expanse!

[nivek]

We just noticed another serious problem with kobi, his left rear leg...There's a massive fluid patch around the knee of that left leg, it floats with his skin and when relaxed goes back around the knee...I felt both rear legs, all the muscles and joints feel the same or very similar so it doesn't feel like something swelled up but I cannot explain the fluid...

This must have happened during the seizures when his legs were extremely tensed up...We have another appointment tomorrow morning to address this...

...

 

[pigfarmer]

We had Pie back last week for a t14 day post-op check on her leg and she was fine.

Yesterday we had to take her back for routine bloodwork so we can get her prescriptions refilled. Why they couldn't have just drawn blood last week I don't know.

Unfortunately yesterday the vet was not on premise. We trust their licensed techs and know them. We were very surprised when a young woman we did not recognize came out and handed us a printed form with all sorts of stuff on it. No explanation, zero personality, a total wet dish rag. All we were expecting was a blood draw and nail clipping.

I walk Pie into the exam room and she asks me to bring her in back. Normally I don't do that, they do. I realized she's probably new and timid so I just suggested she do it - the exam table's only 15' away and there was a licensed tech we know in there. This kid was probably an assistant - same as me not long ago.

We heard a yipe from Pie loud enough to make everyone turn and look. Now she's limping and not using that leg very well at all. We got handed a whopper of a bill too - $360. Jesus, we had to ask the tech we knew to come out and she explained that was going on. Annual shots and tests that simply were not explained to us, I now understand and approve but needed to be told because we hadn't been told anything - literally. In the middle of that front desk explanation the unhelpful kid appeared from in back and just of walked out of the building. I think that was her first and last day - for definitely is for us to deal with any way.

IDK what to do about my dog now. Major setback and a gratuitous one at that. I am pissed. The surgical repair is solid - I've watched them drive in those screws with a nitrogen powered pneumatic gun so they are not going anywhere but there may have been soft tissue damage. Did I mention I was extremely pissed?

 

[nivek]

Kobi passed away this morning, he is sorely missed and deeply loved...

Rest in Peace

September 01 2011 - November 16 2024

...

 

[Standingstones]

We are coming to know the difference between a kitten and an adult cat. It’s been 25 plus years since we had a kitten in the house. Molly is eight months old and has endless energy in her. You don’t need abundant toys either. A couple of feathered wands and a few soda bottle caps are all you need.

She does have a few annoying habits. She loves to scratch on everything. That really pisses me off. My wife doesn’t want to take her to the vet quite yet. So we have to deal with her super sharp nails awhile longer. My wife is a person who falls in love with her pets instantly. Molly LOVES to be petted and petted. She is also a lap cat. We are hoping she will grow out of this phase in a few months more.

She is so small but yet she is a little pig. You can look in her food bowl one minute and 15 minutes later it is totally empty. She just loves to eat and you wonder where it all goes to. Oh well, the joys of owning a pet!!

 

[pigfarmer]

Kobi passed away this morning, he is sorely missed and deeply loved...

Rest in Peace

September 01 2011 - November 16 2024

...

He was a good boy and that's the highest praise

 

[pigfarmer]

We are coming to know the difference between a kitten and an adult cat. It’s been 25 plus years since we had a kitten in the house. Molly is eight months old and has endless energy in her. You don’t need abundant toys either. A couple of feathered wands and a few soda bottle caps are all you need.

She does have a few annoying habits. She loves to scratch on everything. That really pisses me off. My wife doesn’t want to take her to the vet quite yet. So we have to deal with her super sharp nails awhile longer. My wife is a person who falls in love with her pets instantly. Molly LOVES to be petted and petted. She is also a lap cat. We are hoping she will grow out of this phase in a few months more.

She is so small but yet she is a little pig. You can look in her food bowl one minute and 15 minutes later it is totally empty. She just loves to eat and you wonder where it all goes to. Oh well, the joys of owning a pet!!

Cardboard boxes, crinkle paper and one of those round scratchy pads with the ball that goes around the outside in a track. The lads have never scratched the furniture.

 

[pigfarmer]

I got a call back from the lead vet tech and she was very reasonable. She offered that she was going to look through the camera footage because they have the room covered.

The orthopedic surgeon that did the knee repair makes a circuit of several clinics. Tuesday 0900 is when Pie sees him.

I bet anyone a dollar her meniscus has torn. She's 3 weeks and 2 days out of her second surgery and I am sure as God made little fishes that a third one will now be needed. My own tore through 20+ years ago and it was absolutely no fun.

I bet anyone another dollar they'll tell me this can happen after a CBLO and it was merely coincidental that it happened on their table during a routine procedure. That's actually plausible and I like this vet and don't need a kerfluffle right now but to myself and anyone here on AE I feel the need to let out a Primal Scream that would quail a Bigfoot.

 

[pigfarmer]

Long relatively sleepless night but it gave me time to ponder what's going on and see what can be done. A soft tissue injury like a meniscus can be repaired using arthroscopic surgery. An injury of that nature following a CBLO is uncommon but not rare, about 8%.

I imagine when we see the surgeon on Tuesday or more likely, have his findings relayed to us by our veterinarian, it's a question of timing. She just had surgery and I don't know how soon anything might be done. Sooner would be better than later as it's stressing the recently repaired joints.

Arthroscopic surgery is not some painless Joy filled solution but it's less invasive than what she just had and faster. Been through that myself and didn't like it much.

Did the inexperienced tech somehow cause this? Possibly but we'll never know and I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because I am more concerned about my dog than their staffing. I simply said that my pets won't be seen by that young girl again. In that respect, she's a kid that didn't know any better and doesn't know how to communicate. She should not have been in that position in the first place without better supervision.

Then there's my own structural issues. I just started the ball rolling to get my left hip replaced and that takes time, I can't imagine having it done any earlier than January. I've been holding off to get Pie through this and simply can't anymore. She can't walk right and neither can I. Forget about the damned shoulder - it hurts like hell all the time but isn't a lick compared to this damned hip. THAT thing is a Red Alert Right Now kind of problem.

I prefer using mechanical pencils to write. You click one too many times and the lead just falls out. Last night my stress level was off the charts. Now it just fell right out and that's actually positive. In all that, having this on my mind since my eyes popped open at 0130, I figured it's best to dispense with being that upset because it's not only useless but detrimental. Fix dog, fix hip, don't worry about anything else.

I'm the type that usually has other people's problems straight up my ass, and brother do I right now. For the next few weeks they'll just have to take a number and get in line.

 

[pigfarmer]

FWIW something a little amusing.

We had an elderly kitty Miss Louise who became diabetic. When our vet explained we'd have to give daily injections we both just sort of blanked and were unable to process that information. The idea of injecting a cat was an alien concept to me at the time.

We both had to go home, turn in circles, make little squeaky noises and then return to the vet the next day for instruction. Turns out it's as easy as falling off a log but it unhinged us temporarily.

 

[Standingstones]

Long relatively sleepless night but it gave me time to ponder what's going on and see what can be done. A soft tissue injury like a meniscus can be repaired using arthroscopic surgery. An injury of that nature following a CBLO is uncommon but not rare, about 8%.

I imagine when we see the surgeon on Tuesday or more likely, have his findings relayed to us by our veterinarian, it's a question of timing. She just had surgery and I don't know how soon anything might be done. Sooner would be better than later as it's stressing the recently repaired joints.

Arthroscopic surgery is not some painless Joy filled solution but it's less invasive than what she just had and faster. Been through that myself and didn't like it much.

Did the inexperienced tech somehow cause this? Possibly but we'll never know and I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because I am more concerned about my dog than their staffing. I simply said that my pets won't be seen by that young girl again. In that respect, she's a kid that didn't know any better and doesn't know how to communicate. She should not have been in that position in the first place without better supervision.

Then there's my own structural issues. I just started the ball rolling to get my left hip replaced and that takes time, I can't imagine having it done any earlier than January. I've been holding off to get Pie through this and simply can't anymore. She can't walk right and neither can I. Forget about the damned shoulder - it hurts like hell all the time but isn't a lick compared to this damned hip. THAT thing is a Red Alert Right Now kind of problem.

I prefer using mechanical pencils to write. You click one too many times and the lead just falls out. Last night my stress level was off the charts. Now it just fell right out and that's actually positive. In all that, having this on my mind since my eyes popped open at 0130, I figured it's best to dispense with being that upset because it's not only useless but detrimental. Fix dog, fix hip, don't worry about anything else.

I'm the type that usually has other people's problems straight up my ass, and brother do I right now. For the next few weeks they'll just have to take a number and get in line.

As I hit the big 7-0 I find the physical problems starting to pile up. I am up to around 5 operations that need to be done. It just isn’t possible to do it all. The eye doctor says I need to have an operation done on my eyes. I told him that on my list of priorities the eyes come last. He gave me that stupid look that said I should bump my eyes up to number 1. He is in for a big shock.

I am getting to the point where I want to say screw it and have none of the operations done at all. My teeth are really bad. I need dentures. The dentist says this will run me only $10,000. I just picture me having the teeth pulled and then I pass on to the great unknown. I can picture my wife coming after me from the grave! So many operations and so little money to do it all. Oh my!

 

[pigfarmer]

As I hit the big 7-0 I find the physical problems starting to pile up. I am up to around 5 operations that need to be done. It just isn’t possible to do it all. The eye doctor says I need to have an operation done on my eyes. I told him that on my list of priorities the eyes come last. He gave me that stupid look that said I should bump my eyes up to number 1. He is in for a big shock.

I am getting to the point where I want to say screw it and have none of the operations done at all. My teeth are really bad. I need dentures. The dentist says this will run me only $10,000. I just picture me having the teeth pulled and then I pass on to the great unknown. I can picture my wife coming after me from the grave! So many operations and so little money to do it all. Oh my!

Agreed, that sucks. A lot.

FWIW I just hit 60 and need a total hip replacement, total left shoulder replacement and am probably looking at the second hip in a few years. The arthritis is getting in my spine I can feel it. Somehow I went from Mr.In Shape to Mr.I Can't Walk in such a hurry I can't believe it.

C'mon Elon - 'powered exoskeleton' .... just mentioning it.

 

[pigfarmer]

I've had cats for years and this is a product I had never encountered before and it's been such a problem solver I thought I'd pass it along.

We have two male cats that are brothers and are 10 years old, roughly 12lbs give or take. Typically they have completely different eating habits; one is a tank and the other rail thin. Male cats can get blockages in their urinary tract if you're not careful about what they get fed - I really want them on wet food but supplement with a little dry.

Well, over the past year this has been a torture. We had to get their teeth cleaned, have several pulled and get them in order again. We have cycled through more types of cat food than I care to remember. The type of food and portion control was literally maddening.

My wife found this in the supermarket and I call it 'cat dick'. It's marked in sections like a stick of butter. I slice the whole thing up at once and the quarter the sections. Then I toss it all in a plastic bag in the fridge and only take out what I want.


Not so fast, it couldn't possibly be that simple - these are house cats we are talking about. Devious little furry bastards. They won't eat it cold.

My answer to that was to take however many pieces I want to feed them and put them in a separate sandwich bag and seal it, drop that in a cup of water and nuke it for 30 seconds. It comes out blood warm and they love it.

So Louie gets 1.5 pieces, Frank gets 3-5 pieces depending on his behavior. If he's interested while I'm making it he gets more, if he's ignoring me less. They each also get a very small amount of dry food.

So far this has virtually eliminated any waste of food due to their unpredictability, we have the portion control and weight management spot on plus their teeth and poop are totally normal.

That'll all work until one day they decide it doesn't but for now we're going with it.

 

[Standingstones]

On a Sunday November 17 I was sitting in my recliner. I smelled the odor of the cat passing gas. She has these hellacious farts for such a small cat. Her farts got worse. I had my wife check more closely. Here Molly had pinched a loaf on the inflatable bed we had set up in the dining room. My God that was rank! My wife scooped up the poops and then she washed the blanket.

We aren’t sure what caused that little episode. She had plenty to eat in her bowl. We are writing it off for the moment. Oh boy or should I say girl??

 

[pigfarmer]

Maybe try a different food.

My old dog Max could eat a small piece of chicken and an hour later turn it into an area denial weapon, like a minefield. Ooooofta.

 

[pigfarmer]

Yeah, well 0900 I bet we just drop her off. Tuesday is 'procedure day' at that clinic. At some point though we had better have an actual veterinarian explain what needs to be done.

We have a hole card. The actual veterinary hospital in the area that saved her life once hasn't moved and that's where we'll be if we don't hear what we need to, if for nothing else but a second opinion. We'd prefer not to but damn, we're already in this deep and can't just stop.

 

[Standingstones]

Maybe try a different food.

My old dog Max could eat a small piece of chicken and an hour later turn it into an area denial weapon, like a minefield. Ooooofta.

Unfortunately she seems locked into the food they fed her at the shelter. This happened to previous cats we had. We tried other foods and the cats turned their nose up the new food.

 

[pigfarmer]

Unfortunately she seems locked into the food they fed her at the shelter. This happened to previous cats we had. We tried other foods and the cats turned their nose up the new food.

Try one of those 'cat dicks' I mentioned, ours were finicky as hell but flip out over that stuff

 

[pigfarmer]

The surgeon that did her knees travels a circuit of several clinics and we don't normally even see him. Today was the first time we met him and the man is excellent, very reassuring.

Most likely it's a torn meniscus but it's difficult to diagnose for lengthy uninteresting reasons. They took an x-ray ( that we didn't have to pay for ) and the knee repair and recovery is excellent. He gave us the time we needed for questions and back & forth.

No reason to go to the other hospital as he said even an MRI is not always sufficient to diagnose this and it's ungodly expensive. In this case we put her on different NSAIDs and are keeping her restricted. If two weeks of rest don't do it then on Dec 4 he'll go in arthroscopically and have a look and do any repair. Apparently that's just removing the torn parts.

After that we'll see but she should make a good hopefully full recovery, knock on wood.

 

[Rick Hunter]

Kobi passed away this morning, he is sorely missed and deeply loved...

Rest in Peace

September 01 2011 - November 16 2024

...

I'm very sorry to read this. We have lost two this year and it never gets any easier.

 

[Rick Hunter]

I've had cats for years and this is a product I had never encountered before and it's been such a problem solver I thought I'd pass it along.

We have two male cats that are brothers and are 10 years old, roughly 12lbs give or take. Typically they have completely different eating habits; one is a tank and the other rail thin. Male cats can get blockages in their urinary tract if you're not careful about what they get fed - I really want them on wet food but supplement with a little dry.

Well, over the past year this has been a torture. We had to get their teeth cleaned, have several pulled and get them in order again. We have cycled through more types of cat food than I care to remember. The type of food and portion control was literally maddening.

My wife found this in the supermarket and I call it 'cat dick'. It's marked in sections like a stick of butter. I slice the whole thing up at once and the quarter the sections. Then I toss it all in a plastic bag in the fridge and only take out what I want.
View attachment 21029

Not so fast, it couldn't possibly be that simple - these are house cats we are talking about. Devious little furry bastards. They won't eat it cold.

My answer to that was to take however many pieces I want to feed them and put them in a separate sandwich bag and seal it, drop that in a cup of water and nuke it for 30 seconds. It comes out blood warm and they love it.

So Louie gets 1.5 pieces, Frank gets 3-5 pieces depending on his behavior. If he's interested while I'm making it he gets more, if he's ignoring me less. They each also get a very small amount of dry food.

So far this has virtually eliminated any waste of food due to their unpredictability, we have the portion control and weight management spot on plus their teeth and poop are totally normal.

That'll all work until one day they decide it doesn't but for now we're going with it.

Ours get Purina One urinary formula dry food as our boy has had problems with blockages. Every cat I've ever had will waste wet food and I've tried just about every one of them available locally. Yes, that includes the really pricey ones that might as well be served at a five star restaurant. The cats will eat a few bites of the food then never touch it again and it turns into a fly farm. I can usually get 15 years out of a cat so I'm not the worst pet parent that ever lived!