MaryL wrote:
"Bill Graham" wrote in message
...

MaryL wrote:
"Bill Graham" wrote in message
...

Well, we picked up another cat yesterday. When my wife and I stopped
at the little filling station down near the highway, the owner told
us about a cat that was picked up in the middle of the highway by the
police who were called by a nearby neighbor when she saw it huddled
by the double yellow line in the middle of the road. She couldn't
keep it, so we waited while the owner ran over to her house and got
her and the cast to come to the station and give it to us. It is a
male Siamese that is about a year old, and is still unfixed. A sweet
cat, but with no collar, and we now have five cats again!

~~~~~
Concatulations! It has been awhile since you wrote this message, so
please update us and let us know how everything is going for you and
your new kitty. What is his name?

MaryL

I have sad news about George. On Monday evening, he wasn't feeling
well. We knew the signs of poisoning. so we rushed him to the
emergency vet. They did some blood tests and found thast he had
ingested Ethylene Glycol, or anti-freeze. There was no way to save
him, so we had to put him down. He was only about a year old. We are
not going to get another cat. This environment is too dangerous for
them. In the last two years, we have lost 4 cats. Two from natural
old asge, but two from being poisoned by stuff people are careless
with in this neighborhood. And, its always the most intelligent and
inquisitive cats that get into trouble. The less intelligent ones
stick close by the house and don't mess with the neighbors. The
gregerious ones explore the neighborhood and get poisoned by idiots
who use weed killers and other chemicals and throw them into the
environment. We are going to stick with the three cats we have left
and not get any more. The saddest part is the effect it has on
Meggie, our other intelligent female. She wonders what happens to the
firends she makes soon after we bring them home. Every time the cat
door flaps, whe perks up and goes to see who came in. Maybe it was
her buddy? Then, when she sees that it isn't, she goes back to sleep.
It breaks my heart, but there is no way to tell her that he is gone
forever. When we lost B-K two years ago, a strange dog traced him
back to our house a month after he died. The dog sniffed his way to
our driveway, up to our front porch, and then, much to my surprise,
he came into the house. (I had the front door open) He looked at me
long enough to see thast I wasn't hostile, and then explored the
house, before going basck out to the front porch and laying down on
our front door mat which was B-K's favorite place to sleep. Then,
after about ten minutes, he got up and went bsck down the block, and
I haven't seem hom since. B-K lived with us for 6-1/2 years, and
during that time, he made friends everywhere for blocks around.
Strange people would tell me that he came into their house in the
middle of the night and be there when they woke up in the morning.
George was much the same way. Had he lived, he too would have made
friends everywhere he went. We will not get any more cats. I am tired
of watching them die.
~~~~~~
Oh, this is so sad. Ethylene Glycol truly is a deadly poison. Tragically,
far too many cats and dogs have access to it. I remember
reading some time ago about proposed legislation to add something to
it that would make it taste so bad that animals would not consume it.
I wish that were done with all these deadly household chemicals that
appeal to pets. Thank you for taking the time to give us all this
information. RIP, George.
MaryL

The emergency room vet told us that it's almost always the Ethylene Glycol
that poisons them, because all the other chemicals taste bad and the pets
(especially cats) won't eat or drink them. But the anti freeze tasts sweet,
and cats w2ho are used to eating human food will sometimes lap it right up.
George was one of these. He ate pretty near anything we gave him. He even
liked asparagus.... Especially with mayonaisse. The more intelligent the
cat, the more subseptable he is to easting something like this that isn't
good for him. In his experience, he never got anything to eat from a human
that wasn't good. Until this last stuff, which killed him.