Hopefully pet owners understand (Dedicated to pets) ??

Walrus

Well sooper dooper was diagnosed with cancer when she was 17. That was five years ago. She does need daily IV which I do myself. She may not look to happy right now as I’m trying to get her to move so I can vacuum but she is doing amazingly well considering. I know her time is short but we don’t focus on that as long as she isn’t suffering I do her meds and IV. She has good days and bad days I can tell when she isn’t feeling well by the appearance and feel of her fur at which time I increase her meds and she bounces back.

Walrus

Well thank you but I like to mention sooper dooper and her cancer and the IV thing not for praise but to give others with sick pets hope. I can’t remember how long I have been doing this IV thing, it’s been years though. She really responds well to the hydration. She likes to be brushed so I usually brush her when I do the IV but it’s to the point now where she lays still and purrs when I do the IV. It’s a full size human needle I put in her. Most of the time I can do it and she won’t even cry when I put the needle in put you figure out the best spots for the animal as you go along.

The question I have is she has so much more energy after the IV and she is so docile as I go through the regime of administering it is she able to associate the whole process with feeling better? I don’t know if cats are capable of making that link.

I notice she is developing a few more issues. I prepare myself for that trip to the vet where she won’t be coming home but 21 or 22 years for a cat is a good lifespan

Walrus

I understand it is a very sad thing. My biggest issue with sooper dooper is weight. I feed her constantly as she only eats a little at a time. But yeah larry you did the right thing. I don’t want my animals to suffer. It’s always a tough decision. I think it’s best if we focus on the years of comfort we gave these animals. It is never easy to see them go

Walrus

Well thank you but I like to mention sooper dooper and her cancer and the IV thing not for praise but to give others with sick pets hope. I can’t remember how long I have been doing this IV thing, it’s been years though. She really responds well to the hydration. She likes to be brushed so I usually brush her when I do the IV but it’s to the point now where she lays still and purrs when I do the IV. It’s a full size human needle I put in her. Most of the time I can do it and she won’t even cry when I put the needle in put you figure out the best spots for the animal as you go along.

The question I have is she has so much more energy after the IV and she is so docile as I go through the regime of administering it is she able to associate the whole process with feeling better? I don’t know if cats are capable of making that link.

I notice she is developing a few more issues. I prepare myself for that trip to the vet where she won’t be coming home but 21 or 22 years for a cat is a good lifespan

Dan S

If you have a veterinary school within a reasonable driving distance, you might consider it. While high end imaging and diagnostics have become more widely available locally, the specialist veterinarians and facilities at a full research veterinary center are often at another level. They see things on a weekly basis that most local vets may see once a year, and a board-certified veterinary neurosurgeon can probably do things that most vets can't even imagine. If it comes to that, which I hope it won't.

Over the years, we have had a few occasions to bring our dogs to the vet school that is about a 1.5 hour drive for us. It's a bit of a pain, because vet students are also being trained, so they are involved in the process, which is time-consuming. And if the treatment goes on for an extended period of time, there can be multiple people involved (because students rotate through different specialities). But the quality of care our dogs have received has been very high, and the fees at the vet school clinic are in line with our local vet.

Walrus

Did you lift him up on the table or did he maneuver there himself? He doesn’t look like the most agile beast, and I don’t mean that as an insult, he isn’t fat, he is big boned. I’m sure carrying that head around is quite a workout

janice&fred

When we got him, our kid named him "Tiwawa" as that's how she pronounced "Chihuahua" from watching the movie "Beverly Hills Chihuahua". Guests would visit our home and when my wife would call him for dinner, they expected to see a little lap dog with that name, and were startled when he would come bouncing into the kitchen.