Thinking about acquiring another owner

wrote in message
...
Yowie wrote:

On 20/10/2011 4:26 PM, Phoenix wrote:
In our Saturday paper (the Oregonian), there is always a focus on pets
and pet issues, and there is always a column in which they feature an
animal in need of a forever home.

This past Saturday, the local no-kill shelter (Cat Adoption Team) had a
picture of an older, longish-hair black cat.

Who looked so much like Belle (my heart cat, RB) that I burst into
tears. I miss my kitties!

Since, DH and I have been discussing if, and how, we might make a go of
it with another animal. We paid the pet deposit on the apartment, so
that's not an issue. But can we really feed and appropriately vet a new
owner? I want to be sure, because I don't want to be in the position of
"she seems sick, but we can't afford the vet". That's why we rehomed
all
our other animals more than a year ago.

But oh, I miss my kitties.

Whilst being able to afford 'any' vet bill that might arise would be
ideal, think of all the unwanted pets that will be euthanized simply
because they are 'excess to requirements'.

And then compare that tragic death to a loving but financially
challenged home where kitty is cherished, fed generic kibble and vet
care can only be up to a small, set amount and no more.

Neither is ideal, but one is far FAR better for kitty than the other.

The bigger question is: if kitty does get sick and needs expensive
treatment that you can't afford, could you cope with the thought of
having to look into your kitty's eyes and know that s/he will either
have to suffer or be euthanized because you don't have the money to fix
whats wrong? Or could you comfort yourself with the idea that kitty may
have lived a short but it was a life full of love, she was safe and
warm, she didn't want for a meal (even if it was not the 'best' food) or
fresh water, and that even that short but loved life was better than
being stuck in a shelter, out on the street, or worst of all, killed
because kitty was unwanted, go ahead and acquire an owner. If you
couldn't cope with the former, its not time yet, if you could do the
latter latter - even though there may well be tears and heartbreak at
some point - then go ahead.

Many of us have had to make tough decisions like that - there's not an
infinite bucket of money out there, and alas is a decision between the
hip pocket and quality of life for the beloved critter. I don't regret
not giving Fluffy the oncological treatment that I could have, had I had
far more money than I did (and do). Fluff had had a good life, she was
loved and loved us back. Euthanasia once her quality of life became too
poor was the only realistic option we had. Do I wish I had all the money
in the world to treat her? well, that would have been nice I guess, but
considering she was only minutes away from death when we got her and she
was with us for 12 years before we had to let her go, I suspect she got
a good deal with us.

As usual, Yowie, you have not only expressed a view very similar to my
own, but you have done so very eloquently.

--
Joyce

I agree. There is also the fact that most of the treatments we can't afford
would put the poor critter through some very difficult times, and there is
no guarantee it would have saved them. Sometimes euthanasia is actually the
kindest thing for the animal, as well as the only choice possible
financially,

Joy

On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:02:30 -0700 (PDT), Sherry
wrote:

On Oct 21, 10:14*pm, Kajikit wrote:

If that was the case, we'd never have got one cat, let alone ended up
with our crew... we've been fortunate that none of them have ever
needed much vet care. We don't have a thousand dollars to spare for
HUMAN care, let alone the cats. That doesn't mean we love them any
less! When they need to go to the vet, we take them and expect it to
cost $150 or thereabouts - one cat's been in once for hairballs, one's
been twice for minor infections (lord only knows how she catches them
being inside-only and a scaredycat to boot), and the third has never
needed the vet in six years. They're healthy, youngish inside-only
cats, and allowing $500 a year for vet care between the three of them
is more than adequate, barring emergencies.

If you have a reliable roof over your head, enough money to keep your
furbaby in store-brand kibble, litter, and canned food without having
to starve yourself to pay for it, and enough time and attention to
look after it, I'd say go for it. Just don't adopt a geriatric or
special-needs kitty if you know you can't afford to pay for the vet
care that they'll need.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Karen, is Tessie the one you speak of that you have had six years???
That
can't be! It just seems a short time ago when you took her in. I
remember
how apprehensive you were about it. (now I bet you can't imagine NOT
having her!) She's a lucky girl. I still can't believe it's been six
years.

Yep. We'll have been married seven years come December. Scout and
Silver are eight, and Tessie came along a year later. It really
doesn't seem that long...

Yowie wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes:
Many of us have had to make tough decisions like that - there's not
an infinite bucket of money out there, and alas is a decision between
the hip pocket and quality of life for the beloved critter. I don't
regret not giving Fluffy the oncological treatment that I could have,
had I had far more money than I did (and do). Fluff had had a good
life, she was loved and loved us back. Euthanasia once her quality of
life became too poor was the only realistic option we had. Do I wish
I had all the money in the world to treat her? well, that would have
been nice I guess, but considering she was only minutes away from
death when we got her and she was with us for 12 years before we had
to let her go, I suspect she got a good deal with us.

Agreed Yowie.

I've adopted mostly the 'unadoptable' sorts. True ferals, semi-ferals,
high ferals, medical issues dogs and most recently 'Aunti Mabel' a deaf
14 year old then beagle who wasnt house broken (had never been in a
house best we can tell). Aunti Mabel will be 15 come Thanksgiving.

I don't believe in extreme measures to have 'fluffy or whatever' last a
few more weeks. When it's time to go, let them go. Sammy, 17 Yo dog
we fostered last year passed with no pain after 9 months with us.
Simple age but as he faded (rather fast over a 2 week period) he went
to the vet several times to name sure he was not suffering.

You've done well.


--

On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:02:30 -0700 (PDT), Sherry
wrote:
Karen, is Tessie the one you speak of that you have had six years??? That
can't be! It just seems a short time ago when you took her in. I remember
how apprehensive you were about it. (now I bet you can't imagine NOT
having her!) She's a lucky girl. I still can't believe it's been six
years.

Those are the kinds of enslavement soap operas that we love. I've
learned since then that sometimes integration takes months.

On Oct 22, 2:07*pm, Yowie wrote:


Many of us have had to make tough decisions like that - there's not an
infinite bucket of money out there, and alas is a decision between the
hip pocket and quality of life for the beloved critter. I don't regret
not giving Fluffy the oncological treatment that I could have, had I had
far more money than I did (and do). Fluff had had a good life, she was
loved and loved us back.

Excellent Yowie says what I think- there are people here who say you
should never adopt a cat or dog if you're not sure you'll always be
able to pay for everything. On that basis Bonnie would be my first
cat but then who knows what the future brings? When I got Speedy Joe
we didn't have a lot of money, Fugazi and Isis lived through me being
made redundant,and both of us being redundant Isis lived through me
being redundant again . Yes that was a struggle but we got through
somehow but if any one of them needed serious vet treatment could we
have afforded it? (we set up a savings account for Sarsi and Dunzi)
yes I could have begged help from my brother a cat lover and well off
and would have if I;d had to but most people simply don't have those
options (and my brothers been out of work for a while now and is
eating into his savings)

And sometimes it's not just about money when Redunzel was sick between
us we could have paid out a lot of money (things change but right now
I have savings so I could for the first time honestly say money wasn't
a problem) the vets quoted £600-£800 just for a start and I;d have
paid that and more if after looking at it she'd have had a realistic
chance but when the vet says she had a 25-30% chance of getting to the
emergency clinic I had to say to myself "Why put her through that?"
50-50 I could cope with but the 25-30% was the chance to get her
somewhere for surgery so if she'd made it that far there'd still be
more treatment. So the one time in my life when money was really not
an object I still went ahead and sent her over the Bridge. Yes I
still wonder if I had not whether she would have made it....

I console myself with the thought that for a kitten who nearly ended
up in a pet shop or a shelter she had the very best life

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

"Lesley Madigan" wrote in message
...
On Oct 22, 2:07 pm, Yowie wrote:


Many of us have had to make tough decisions like that - there's not an
infinite bucket of money out there, and alas is a decision between the
hip pocket and quality of life for the beloved critter. I don't regret
not giving Fluffy the oncological treatment that I could have, had I had
far more money than I did (and do). Fluff had had a good life, she was
loved and loved us back.

Excellent Yowie says what I think- there are people here who say you
should never adopt a cat or dog if you're not sure you'll always be
able to pay for everything. On that basis Bonnie would be my first
cat but then who knows what the future brings? When I got Speedy Joe
we didn't have a lot of money, Fugazi and Isis lived through me being
made redundant,and both of us being redundant Isis lived through me
being redundant again . Yes that was a struggle but we got through
somehow but if any one of them needed serious vet treatment could we
have afforded it? (we set up a savings account for Sarsi and Dunzi)
yes I could have begged help from my brother a cat lover and well off
and would have if I;d had to but most people simply don't have those
options (and my brothers been out of work for a while now and is
eating into his savings)

And sometimes it's not just about money when Redunzel was sick between
us we could have paid out a lot of money (things change but right now
I have savings so I could for the first time honestly say money wasn't
a problem) the vets quoted £600-£800 just for a start and I;d have
paid that and more if after looking at it she'd have had a realistic
chance but when the vet says she had a 25-30% chance of getting to the
emergency clinic I had to say to myself "Why put her through that?"
50-50 I could cope with but the 25-30% was the chance to get her
somewhere for surgery so if she'd made it that far there'd still be
more treatment. So the one time in my life when money was really not
an object I still went ahead and sent her over the Bridge. Yes I
still wonder if I had not whether she would have made it....

I console myself with the thought that for a kitten who nearly ended
up in a pet shop or a shelter she had the very best life

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

***

I learned long ago that, while playing the "what if" game is fun, if you're
thinking about the future, when you do it with the past, it is always
painful.

You made what seemed to be the appropriate decision at the time. That's all
anyone can do. Even if she had lived long enough to have the surgery, and
lived through the surgery, she would have been in pain for some time.
Anyone who has ever had surgery knows that. Putting her through all that
trauma and pain still might not have done her any real good.

When Nanki-Poo was diagnosed with cancer, I made the decision (and had the
money, with help from friends and family) to take him for the five weeks of
daily radiation treatments the feline oncology specialist recommended. He
lived for only about six months after the treatments ended. We had to drive
about 45 minutes each way for the treatments, and he hated the drive. I
still don't know if I did the right thing, but it seemed like the right
thing at the time.

Joy

Lesley wrote:
One of our local shelters offers elderly/cats with medical problems up
for adoption under a scheme in which you take kitty in and provide
feed/litter etc but if there are any problems requring vet attention
you bring kitty to their own vet for free treatment and
medications...

Yes, in fact the no-kill shelter just a few miles away (Cat
Adoption Team) does this, and that is what we are talking about
mostly...either fostering or adopting an older cat who may have
medical problems. Goodness knows we've had enough experience with
cats with some weird problems over the years. We can do a lot of
things (blood sugar tests, insulin administration, sub-q fluids,
etc) ourselves.

Any event, thanks everyone for the feedback. We aren't going to
make an emotional decision, I just hadn't quite realized how
*much* I miss the animals.*

Deborah

*not really missing the hairballs, litterbox smell, or morning
wake-up bladder exercises. Or fur, really.

"Phoenix" wrote in message
...
Lesley wrote:
One of our local shelters offers elderly/cats with medical problems up
for adoption under a scheme in which you take kitty in and provide
feed/litter etc but if there are any problems requring vet attention
you bring kitty to their own vet for free treatment and
medications...

Yes, in fact the no-kill shelter just a few miles away (Cat Adoption Team)
does this, and that is what we are talking about mostly...either fostering
or adopting an older cat who may have medical problems. Goodness knows
we've had enough experience with cats with some weird problems over the
years. We can do a lot of things (blood sugar tests, insulin
administration, sub-q fluids, etc) ourselves.

Any event, thanks everyone for the feedback. We aren't going to make an
emotional decision, I just hadn't quite realized how *much* I miss the
animals.*

Deborah

*not really missing the hairballs, litterbox smell, or morning wake-up
bladder exercises. Or fur, really.

LOL! I think I know what you mean, but I think deciding to adopt or foster
an animal *is* an emotional decision. It's smart to think things through, I
can't imagine adopting an animal I didn't feel emotional about.

Incidentally, I have all of the above except the wake-up bladder exercises.
My two don't seem to care how late I sleep. Of course, the fact that dry
food is available all the time might have something to do with that. ;-)

Joy