Orgasms, away?

Hmm, I’m not sure! No one’s ever mentioned it. I suspect we can’t be sure – some cats do very well with quite bad murmurs (can’t remember what part his murmur is in) and it’s not consistent at all.

Oh, and when Raymond came into the SPCA they graded it 4/5. After his time was up, because stress can make a murmur sound worse than it is they listened again and still rated it about that high. After I took him I got him bloods and one vet said he had no heart murmur – but he’s dodgy, I can’t trust that. Another vet I trust more thought 2-3/5.

When I first saw him I was sure he was 15 or so. After time on better and more food he looks better, and of course I can’t tell any more! So he could be anywhere from 12-17 at this stage.

Last year he started vomiting and losing weight, generally down, wasn’t improving. Bloods all fine. Got a cardiac ultrasound. Seemed fine. Eventually it rectified itself. Shrugs all round. So… we’ll see.

Cassandra – or like Hrovitinir said, maybe she wanted to do medicine for humans and ended up in veterinary studies as second-best. Though the lack of empathy would be a red flag generally, you’d think. (Biased? Me? Just because I like animals a lot better than humans overall? Never say so.)

That’s what I meant. If someone can go “oh well, old, may as well be put down” about an elderly animal I wouldn’t be surprised if they had the same attitude towards elderly people.

It also suggests they have no empathy with the client, if they are unmoved by or don’t even think of someone’s distress in such a situation.

WARNING WARNING CREEPY VET DETECTED

lol Creepy is right! It’s like how people ask why you don’t just put your animal down, or why aren’t you over it yet, or my favourite, joke about your pets dying (if you have rats and cats you’ll get that a lot)… I can’t understand how they don’t just think this, but SAY IT. Wha?

Also, despite liking animals much more than people, it is so much harder euthanising pets with loving owners there. Shit, I must be feeling emotional because I’m slightly tearful right now just thinking of the last poor bastard who brought his cat in with snuffles and he turned out to have a massive tumour and got PTS. :/

Oh lord, the massive tumour thing. 🙁 That happened t our Thomas. He was to be taken to a cattery this day and we were flying to London the next. He came inside with a huge swelling on his neck. He had a thick neck and thick fur and we thought he must have been in a fight and had an abscess blow up. Cancel cattery booking, get him to vet, they said they’d need to do a biopsy. Fax at the hotel in London (this was the early 90s) with the news it was a malignant tumour and there was nothing they could do except put him down before he was in pain. We didn’t get to say goodbye, which I think made it even worse. He was only eight.

Again, it makes me very grateful that my experiences/interpretations of them say “Yes there is a life to come and it is SWARMING with kitties.”

Aww. That’s awful. We two longstay boarders, and regulars, get really sick and have to be PTS while their owners were away a wee while ago. That would suck so much.

Another client’s young cat was hit by a car. Paralysed from the midback down. Not in pain, tried steroids and waiting but no go. He was the most amazing cat, and he was so freaking happy rubbing all over you with his back legs just lying there. It took them about 10 days to be able to do it.

All my experience with vets is through James Herriot.

I do not see this as a poor situation at all.

(is playing with roommate’s rats RIGHT NOW!)

Some Gal – echoing what hrovitnir said!

Oo, shiny black kitty. The BEST kind. *cough*biased*cough.

Yay rat playtimes LBT!

Cassandra: I hope your kitty is OK. The last time Lil got a bladder infection (she is prone to crystals and all that entails), she would NOT give up the pee, even overnight at the vet. She finally did at home, on that black plastic grit they gave us for the box.