Cats are more problems than they're worth!

[WillParkinson]

Cider, our most active kitty, knows how to open cabinet doors. I woke up tonight to find him trying to get something out of his mouth. I opened his jaws and peered inside. There was a piece of string from a bag of onions wrapped around his tongue and I could not get it off.

So now Paul is taking him to the emergency vet so he doesn't choke on the string.

Oh Cider, I love you but you are a pain in the arse.

[Skittles]

1. I hear you

my cat got a needle stuck in the roof of his mouth - also removed by emergency vet and leaving me feeling like a bad mother :(

[WillParkinson]

2. About 20 years ago...

Our original kitty, "Cat" (gender-neutral name because they did not know what he was) swallowed a needle. Surgery. Fear of peritonitis from the punctured intestine. Daddy's were a nervous wreck.

[Lil Missy]

11. I can understand the feeling. My pooch had emergency surgery once for an infected paw.

He had torn a nail and I thought he was just acting strangely because of fireworks. 4th of July week and I was sedating him because it scares him.

I noticed the nail hanging one day and picked it up to get a look at it. He bit me. I knew something was wrong then, because he'd never do that. Vet came in early to see him right away and he went straight to surgery.

The infection had become so bad that part of his paw was removed, and they said more of his paw might have to be amputated. He wore a cast for several weeks, and I sure felt like shit.

:hi:

[BikeWriter]

34. Faithful dogs will tolerate a lot! Take comfort in knowing the pain...

...made him protest.

[Lil Missy]

36. I knew he was in pain when he bit me. Thus the immediate call to the vet at home.

Fortunately he's a very friendly dog and had gone to the same clinic for several years. So the vet agreed to get him in before office hours in the morning.

Moral of the story is it pays to keep a regular doc for the pets over several years, so they know the pet. And it also helps to have a good payment record.

[BikeWriter]

37. My Chows, and pups from my kennel, were recognized at my vets...

My vet told me he could always tell them by their obedience. I turned down cash offers from buyers who "didn't have the time" to listen to me explain how to raise the excellent puppies I'd bred for.

[kiva]

23. I thought only my cat was that stupid!

Same thing happened to my boy when he was about a year old...and yes, I also felt like a terrible mom.:scared:

I felt better after someone else told me their Himalayan got his tongue impaled on his fang TWICE and had to go to the vet both times.

[badgerpup]

35. They can invoke the guilt without even trying...

My youngest cat Finnegan was limping...sort of favoring his left hind leg. Checked it, found a wee cut on the leather of his paddy-paw, cleaned it with peroxide and didn't think anything more of it.

Three days later, he's lying on the floor in his usual posture, happy as the proverbial clam, but something doesn't look right. I turn on another light and he's got this ENORMOUS wound on his left hind leg. Skin's gone, you can see the underlying tissue, and it looks like there may have been an abcess there too...and I had no clue. :banghead:

I'M SUCH A BAD MOM...:cry:

He hadn't been off his feed, he played, purred, was cheerful...and he didn't seem to realize he had this bloody great HOLE in his leg then, either!

Shoved an amoxicillin (vet gave me some to have on hand for my 'repeat offender' Riktor) down his trusting, unprotesting little throat, irrigated the area with peroxide, and made an emergency appointment with the vet for the next day (it was about 10PM).

Vet was kinda "Whoa...but it looks clean."
I was SO PROUD of my boy...vet had to get out the clippers and shave the area around the wound.
Cats don't like clippers...and that's a massive understatement. Finnegan didn't tense up, or try to run away, or attempt to savage the vet, or even cuss him out. Just his eyes got really BIG...and he behaved like a gentleman.

It's been about 10 days, the wound is all but completely healed. Now I'm just hoping that all his fur grows back and that the scar won't be a bald spot.

[bigwillq]

3. That's why dogs are better!

:P ;) :)

[WillParkinson]

4. Got 3 of those, too...

Bailey would disprove that theory. He's another PITA kid, but he knows how to make it work for him.

[bigwillq]

5. Dogs are a handful too!

I am just part of the "dogs are better" crowd here at DU! :) :P :hi:

[WillParkinson]

8. Dogs v. Cats

I never chose sides. I'm an equal opportunity lover. Who can resist a dog who thinks he's small enough to lay across your lap like a cat? Who can resist a cat who thinks he's big enough to chase the dog? They're both amazing friends.

[bigwillq]

10. I am a huge dog fan.

Cats, not so much.



:)

[Arugula Latte]

16. Not me.

I'd rather have ten badly behaved kitties than one well-behaved dog.

Dogs ... I dunno, I wish them well, but they don't do it for me.

[TZ]

6. And yet we can't live without them

I came home sick early today and crawled into bed to sleep...I had both my cats curled up right next to me one on each side..It was very very sweet...

[Olney Blue]

9. They are always there when you need a hug!

[CreekDog]

33. Cats like our sick days

:rofl:

[Beam Me Up]

7. Cats are the only animals that have ever loved me.

Dogs, now they'll pretend that they do. The way they are always so happy to see you -- it is an obvious ruse.

The cats on the other hand, they're happy to see me when I come home but don't make a big deal out of it. Mostly they just ignore me -- except when they want to be petted or fed. But at night when I'm all alone they come to me completely unbidden and curl up next to me and purr until I fall asleep. Once I'm out they're up doing 'their thing'.

[grasswire]

12. my orange tabby is so loving during the night that....

...I'll be so sad when he's eventually gone. He purrs his heart out, and puts his paws over my shoulder and sometimes pats my cheek. It's as precious as a mother's touch.

[Beam Me Up]

14. Yeah, mine do that too. VERY careful with the claw. n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

25. My orange tabby left us at the ripe age of 18.

From cancer. After we could tell that he was in pain, we had to do something about it.

When a cat that is older than your youngest sibling dies...


It really sucked.

[Skittles]

39. I think with cats, respect and love have to be earned

dogs seems to be born with a love of humans in their DNA

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

13. So very true.

I just got up to pour a glass of milk and when I went back to the bedroom a kitteh cat was sprawled across my pillow. I can't lay down now because there's no room for me.

Reason I don't try to move her? She still has VERY SHARP claws and VERY SHARP reactions.

[latebloomer]

15. Our dear departed kitty swallowed a whole bunch of thread

from a spool that had rolled underneath something. The thread wrapped around his intestine. Vet said we got him there just in time.

One surgery and $2000 later, he was just fine.

Had to carefully hide the used dental floss after that, though. Guy just loved string.

[Arugula Latte]

21. I know! What the hell is this thread fetish the kittehs have?

Mine love thread and ribbon. I have to be very careful if there are any presents around.

A few times I've noticed a kitty chewing on a string or something and I start to pull and pull and pull out a loooooong, soggy piece. x(

Still ... Kitties ... :loveya:

[WillParkinson]

22. There is an old saying....

Anything on the floor is a cat's toy.
Anything not on the floor will be.

[Withywindle]

24. The dog I grew up with ate dental floss once.

It didn't give her any problems and we didn't even notice until she tried to pass it and...didn't, not completely. My mom had to put on rubber gloves and pull it out of her butt. Now there's a Kodak moment.

She also loved to eat my crayons. We'd notice big piles of dog poop in the yard with flecks of...sea green. Peach. Neon pink. Chartreuse.

[WillParkinson]

27. Hm. Interesting color choices.

Perhaps a career in fashion or art. :-)

[grasswire]

29. actually, they say to not do that

Pulling a string or other similar article from a cat's anus can strangle the bowel inside. I know this because it happened to a cat of mine. He was a ribbon and yarn eater.

[WillParkinson]

17. Update: Cider is at the vet...

The string is indeed wrapped around his tongue. They're trying to remove the string now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. They are never more trouble than they're worth

because they're priceless little critters. But they sure can be a lot of trouble. Hope Cider gets his tongue untangled soon.

[WillParkinson]

19. Gives whole new meaning to...

Tongue Tied. (Someone would have eventually said it. I had to get it out of the way.)

[PBS Poll-435]

20. Some may say that it is beer, (Homer Simpson,) but CATS are proof that god loves us

:)

[WillParkinson]

26. Final Update:

Cider had surgery to remove the string. Apparently it was wrapped so tight that his tongue was purple. They snipped the string, gave Paul some pain meds for Cider, and are waiting on him to wake up before the send him home.

$175 piece of string. Should gold plate it.

[PBS Poll-435]

28. Instead of gold-plating, scratch your kitty near the base of either ear very gently

[kiva]

30. Happy to hear Cider is doing well.

And my sympathy about the bill, have had a few of those.

[WillParkinson]

31. Thank you, but...

I don't mind. I love my kids. I'll do what it takes to make them happy and healthy.

[Skittles]

38. Will, I must see a pic of this mischevious little feline

glad she'll be OK :hi:

[WillParkinson]

40. Here you go...

This is Dot and Cider. Cider is the orange and white one.

[Skittles]

41. awwwwwwwwww

beautiful kitties :thumbsup:

[Jamastiene]

32. Dogs do crazy stuff too. I once had a ravenous, junkie dog.

I once had a miniature schnauzer named Little River Phoenix Seiko.

Here is a list of the things he swallowed at various times along with the remedy to undo his damage to himself:

1. He swallowed some Sweet Shrubs that I had brought in the house. My cat played with them and they fell on the floor. River promptly ate them.

Remedy: Had his stomach pumped, listened to the vet tell me that dog was something else, brought him home, and watched his pupils go from super huge, to only one pupil going back down to normal size, then finally the other one went back down to normal size. Seeing your dogs eyes look like this ----> 0.o for 2 days is FREAKY as hell, I must say.

2. He swallowed a 2 inch hat pin.

Remedy: We didn't even know he had swallowed it until we saw the pearly colored ball end sticking out of some of his leavings. Being overly curious, my aunt dug it out, washed it, and marveled at the fact that it made it through his intestines without killing him. We called the vet, and he X-Rayed him to see if his innards had holes. Somehow, they did not. He did fine after that.

3. My aunt had a ziplock bag she carried her MS meds in when we went anywhere. Back then, we took River and Sunday Girl everywhere with us. She always carried them back inside when we got home. Somehow, the bag made it to the floor of our kitchen and River ate a bag of meds including some Tuinol. He ate the pills before I could get to him. There were a few I was able to get scraped off his tongue before he swallowed, but the rest went right on down.

Remedy: Stomach pumped, See Remedy for #1. It was almost identical. His pupils did the same 0.o thing again. Took 4 days after the stomach pump for him to quit looking like a damn stoner. Damn dog took more dope than I did back then.

4. He swallowed a penny. :rofl:

Why is it funny? We are night owls in my household. Whole fam damily is that way. Our vet is not. So, one night at around 2:30 am, I got back from one of the "open all night" stores, put my change on the counter and a penny fell off the counter. River grabbed it faster than I could bend down to pick it up. *sigh*

Remedy: We discussed it and wondered if the penny would kill him or just pass on through his system. After all, it wasn't dope, plants that are hallucinogenic, or a hat pin.

Finally, we decided it would be best to double check with the vet.

Called the vet at about 3:00 am and told him what happened.

My aunt: "Hello, Dr. X. River swallowed a penny. What should we do? Should we worry?"

Then, there was this pause on the phone for a good 20 seconds.

Vet: *very slowly, like he was at his wit's end*

"River swallowed a penny.
*pause*
River swallowed a penny.
*audible sigh*
This, too, shall pass."
*click*

River was a great dog, but he was a raving maniac when it came to swallowing anything that got in his path. He seemed to really go for things that would make him hallucinate or just feel damn good for a few days. I'll never get over his pupils being two different sizes. It's not like we could tell if he had any brain damage, because the dog was nucking futs from the time he was a little puppy. God, I loved that dog though. 0.o


http://web.archive.org/web/20030224160741/

[Skittles]

42. OK Jas, I must ask

why wouldn't you think that dog couldn't pass a penny? It's much smaller than their average crap. :D

[Jamastiene]

44. Well, we were sure it would pass, but we weren't sure if it would poison him.

My aunt had always heard that if a dog eats copper, it'd kill them. The funny thing about it was how the vet said it. It was just hilarious.

[WillParkinson]

43. Paul waited till this morning to spring this on me...

Cider might lose part of his tongue, due to the length of time it was tied off.

Now I'm freaking again.