Two random Pet Questions

[Mike 03]

1. You have had a beloved pet die for a mysterious reason. Have you ever requested an autopsy, either one you offered to pay for or one your veterinarian offered to perform for free? I had an awesome veterinarian who, out of absolute kindness and curiosity, performed an autopsy on a pet rat of mine that died mysteriously, and I had offered to pay her but she refused and did it anyway. She could describe what had killed him, but had no name for what it was called.

2. Do you care if your pet sees you go to the bathroom? It used to freak me out, but I actually don't care if my cat or dog see me pee. My cat could care less, but my dog and I seem to bond over watching each other pee. For reasons I don't understand, it's really important to him. Besides, I see my pets pee.

[flvegan]

1. It's a necropsy.

And we did have one done on a rescue we couldn't save. Vet did it for us on his own time and dime.

As for peeing, I don't think my dogs care one way or another. I don't care if they see me go to the bathroom though, no.

[Critters2]

2. A) Never had the experience, but my sister did.

Her 8 month old kitten was dead one day when she came home from work, after being fine that morning. She had an necropsy done, and learned he had a congenital heart problem that was slowly causing one valve to not open or something. The little guy's heart basically exploded. She was glad to know the cause, so she didn't have to worry that she had done something to him, left something out where he could eat it, that sort of thing. It was a relief.

Knowing how it helped her, I'd probably request one in a similar circumstance.

B) My critters wander into the bathroom with me all the time. When I'm the only one in the house, I don't even close the door. So, they freak out when we have company and I shut the bathroom door. I have a litterbox in the downstairs bathroom, and Shamu likes nothing better than for him and mommy to be going potty at the same time!

[Deja Q]

3. Answers

1. No. Didn't know of a local bird specialist until last year, which was after when Zoe died.

2. No, but I really don't want to take a parrot into the bathroom and let it risk taking a swim in the blue toilet water.

[Inchworm]

4. Never did a necropsy but...

I won't let my dog pee on top of my pee if we are outside. He used to try. Now he sniffs, looks at me and walks to a safe spot to pee. Yup, I think I may be getting crazy. I never thought about the whole "dance" until you mentioned it.

:D

[DeepBlueC]

12. he was trying to dominate you with the pee stuff

you faced down the challenge.

[Inchworm]

13. So I'm doin big dog properly?

hehe.

So funny that I never gave it a thought.. until this question was asked :P

:beer:

[DeepBlueC]

14. watch how dogs pee on telephone poles

first they sniff. When they detect another dog's they cover it with their own pee. If they can they also try to pee higher on the pole to pass on the message "I'm the Big Dog around here". This I get from I think Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, a Cambridge anthropologist who has written a couple of excellent books about dogs (What Do Dogs Want? and The Intelligence of Dogs) and another about cats, The Tribe of Tiger. All very good reading.

[SacredCow]

5. Answers....

I've never requested an autopsy, but my sister and I both worked summers at the vet clinic near our house, so they would usually offer. Then, my sister worked at the local university vet school, so she could get just about anything she asked for with little to no cost.

As for the bathroom... I honestly never thought about it.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

6. 2) I only care because I don't want them to think it's OK to pee inside like I do.

1) Never had a mystery, I guess. My pup who died in 2007 got a lot of attention and I pretty well knew what happened when he finally went.

[Lil Missy]

7. Okay

1) I can't answer that one.

2) My dog and one cat follows me EVERYWHERE! I don't care if they follow me to the biffy. Or watch me pee. I'm just annoyed that they anticipate my every step and walk in front of me. I have to shuffle slowly, and sometimes give one of them a boot in the hairy asshole and say MOVE!

[ogneopasno]

8. I can't answer No. 1, but as far as No. 2 goes, we took care of my aunt's cat for awhile and he used

to stare in a really pervy way whenever he was in the room and I was getting undressed. When he went back to live with my newly single aunt, he would pee in the shoes of any man who happened to be over. That cat was human.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Yes to (1), no to (2).

1. A few years ago my sweet gray cat Woody developed a neurological condition that got worse and worse until finally he could barely walk. My regular vet couldn't diagnose the problem, so I took him to the University of Minnesota vet clinic, which is a sort of Mayo Clinic for animals. While they were doing tests he got worse and worse and eventually, sadly, I had to let him go. I donated his body to the U. so they could figure out what was wrong, maybe help other cats.

2. I can't even enter the bathroom without at least one cat following me there. So I am always watched.

[csziggy]

10. A) Yes, one of my kitties was dead under my husband's car one morning

My dear husband thought she had been in the engine when he started it, even though he could not see any injuries. So he took her body to our vet for a necropsy. It turned out she had a heart defect that could have killed her at any time from when she was a kitten and we were lucky that she had lived to eight years old.

B) My cats follow me to the bathroom, watch me pee, watch me take showers, etc. It has never bothered me but I do draw the line at letting them in the shower with me because then they want to share the towels.

[DeepBlueC]

11. A cat will often jump into the box when I use the toilet

I don't know whether it is because I provide safety from possible litter box aggression from the other cats or because it feels to them like a companionable thing to do.

[BattyDem]

15. I never had a need for #1 ...

because the cause of death was known.

As for #2 ...

Ozzy always follows me into the bathroom. I call him my "pee pal" - LOL! It doesn't bother me. :)

[nutsnberries]

16. yup...

1)We had a 3 year old doggie that died unexpectedly and we suspected he may have been poisoned. Since we also had 2 other dogs from his litter, the cause of death was really important to us. So, we had an autopsy done and found he died from a heart defect.
2)~never cared about being seen on the potty though!

[wartraceatwork]

17. My dogs & cats think the toilet is my "petting chair".

The minute I go in the bathroom I am usually joined by "all hands" that are in the house. I have six dogs & two cats so it can get crowded in there.