The TOTALLY OFF-TOPIC thread :)

[knawes]

As I said earlier, we have two cats, brother and sister.

A few years ago, the male was very lethargic and obviously ill. I took him to the vets, who felt his tummy and said he had a major blockage in his urethra and his bladder was on the point of bursting. She stuck a needle in through his abdomen and drained off loads of pee. The relief on his little face, was a joy to behold, and he purred all the way through. To cut a long story short, he ended up having his penis chopped off, and not once did he complain about having anything done to him. He is a big softie and the vets wanted to keep him as a "training aid" as you can do anything to him and he doesn't mind.

I paid over £2,000 over a period of weeks to get him better. We didn't have pet insurance as I thought it was too expensive! (We still don't!) He now has to have special vetinary diet so he doesn't get struvite crystals any more.

Then a couple of years later, the sister broke her leg and it cost us about £500 to get that sorted!

There was no question about us not getting either of them healed and better.

Kath

[Chrissie]

Kath, one of my other cats, Merlin, started with struvite problems about 7 years ago. Luckily it was caught in time so never had to have any major surgery. He is also on the special veterinary diet. He prefers the Royal Canin one to the Hills & I buy it from Vet UK.

I used to have pet insurance but when you have a multi cat household & both the premiums & excess goes up every year, I've found it best to just put money aside for them every month into their own bank account.

Same here, there would never be any question about getting any of them healed & better - no matter the cost.

[knawes]

Chrissie,

Yes, I buy the Royal Canin (dry) also. I get it online from Nutrecare.

We did have four cats, mum, two daughters, one son. We always had them with us, but had to ask my daughter to look after them at the last job we had (live in) as they didn't allow pets. We went to see them regularly of course, and really the mum and one of the daughters was my daughters originally anyway. So when we moved here and came to get them back, my daughter wanted to keep her two, so now we just have the two each.

So, yes, insurance for four was expensive and we never bothered.

While we had the four, it cost more to feed them as I couldn't say to three of them - "that's his biscuits, you have your own cheaper ones"! They all ended up with the Royal Canin.

Kath

[Scylla]

My internet actually went down. Didn't mean to be crass, Chrissie

scylla

[Chrissie]

Kath, although I don't feed the others Merlin's food all the time, they do all love it.

Lol, I Scylla, I didn't think you were being at all crass

[knawes]

Hope this works - picture of my two when they were little, for Chrissie.



Brutus on the left, Tinkerbell on the right.

[Chrissie]

Oh thank you Kath, they are gorgeous

[jaki]

I thought I would share my furbabies story with you all. About 6 years ago we adopted a 1 year old ex-feral cat (Ruby) and an enormous 6 year old male tabby - Max.

We lost our lovely Ruby last summer - just found her dead in the garden

About a month after her death, I went to collect some rent from one of our tenants and instead of the no pet policy we have on our properties, I found a dog, cat and 4 kittens. The tenant was fairly brutal and should never be allowed to keep pets so I persuaded him to let me take the remaining unhomed kitten home with me. Somehow Hamish came through it unscathed and is the most loving cat. He actually thinks he is a scarf and spends most of his time around my neck, when he can get away with it!

The tenant then moved out and it took us days to clean the house. Whilst cleaning my friend and I heard the most pathetic mewing from a tiny kitten in the garden. The weather was dreadful at the time and she was living under mountains of rubbish in the neighbour's garden - we were worried she would drown. The tenant had managed to smash a hole in the back door and this little kitten had been coming into the house to find leftover food. After a few days she she got used to creeping in after we went home for the evening and we eventually found her curled in our Henry the Hoover bag. Needless to say, she is now at home with us!

It took her a long time to settle in and even now she is still extremely nervous and much more an outdoor cat, and I am convinced she was born a feral kitten, although there was no mum around when we found her. She is still a very small cat and still exhibits puddning and sucking behaviour on her favourite blanket, which she can make quite soggy within minutes.

They both adore Max, and he tolerates them fairly well, although isn't so keen when they snuggle up with him!

In the photo they are in Max's bed, which he overhangs! Hamish at the back, Aggie at the front

[Scylla]

Stories absorbed and blubbed over; pictures stolen

scylla

[Chrissie]

Jaki what a lovely furbabies story & gorgeous photo

[knawes]

Jaki,

Your picture is lovely - Aggie was SO lucky to find you and choose you as her new Mummy!

I watched one of those RSPCA rescue things on TV a few days ago, and I was in floods over the cats and kittens they found at one house in the most appalling circumstances and mess you could imagine. The RSPCA had to put masks on to go in the house, and even then their eyes were watering from all the ammonia. Nuff said? !!

Kath

[Scylla]

Jul 7, 2010 11:39:07 GMT knawes said:

I watched one of those RSPCA rescue things on TV a few days ago, and I was in floods over the cats and kittens they found at one house in the most appalling circumstances and mess

Did you see the one with the skeletons with fur spread over them, and the scratches on the inside of the door of the closed room?

Haunts me

scylla

[Chrissie]

Kath & Scylla, I also saw that program I too was in floods of tears & it still haunts me as well

[Hanow]

Lovely (and sad) to read your stories about all of your fluffies.

I have two rescue dogs. One I brought back from Asia. The Before photos of her reduce peeps to tears. Really appalling. When I found her she was just hours from death - nothing more than bones inside a skin bag, with her rear end appearing paralysed.

But - long story cut short - she recovered, and after six months eventually learned how to walk rather than drag her back legs (she still wobbles). She then had to endure a flight back to UK, followed by 6-months of isolation in UK quarantine!!!! (Don't get me going on that subject!)

She is now home with me and rules the roost. A very fussy eater, who will actually go without eating if what is in the bowl isn't up to what she fancies that day. I don't give in to her, and she knows it.

Her counterpart now is a huge white, semi-deaf rescue boxer boy. I got him in February after he had spent three months in rescue kennels in Shropshire. Apparently everyone visiting to get a boxer bypassed him. He does have a face that only a mother could love, but thankfully I do.

Lovely to hear that there are such kind and caring animal peeps in here. xxx

[Scylla]

What a terrible ordeal for the Asian doggie and for you, Hanow but it all came good in the end

I bet no-one could be happier with their prize-winning pedigrees than you are with your mangled mutts



scylla