The Vent and Rant Thread

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I have several older friends who no longer own a pet. Too many have seen news stories where a beloved pet has been shipped off to animal shelter or other alternative since none of the heirs are interested in keeping the pet.

Yes, sadly that's very common. When I still volunteered at a shelter, the relatives often wanted to bring such pets to us. If we had a vacancy, we took them.

Unfortunately it's also not uncommon here to just throw the unwanted pets out on the street. Dogs maybe not so much, but cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and so on.

[JSWolf]

Fortunately, we do have family that would take Benji if something happened to us. So we don't have to worry about that.

[neil_swann80]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes, sadly that's very common. When I still volunteered at a shelter, the relatives often wanted to bring such pets to us. If we had a vacancy, we took them.

Unfortunately it's also not uncommon here to just throw the unwanted pets out on the street. Dogs maybe not so much, but cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and so on.

Human's continue to disappoint. I prefer furry critters over most humans.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by neil_swann80

Human's continue to disappoint. I prefer furry critters over most humans.

I often wonder how people can live with themselves after some things they've done to their pets. Normal, rational adults, not teenagers with their emotional instability or psychopaths. I mean, I'm far from a perfect or a morally superior person, and I've done several not-so-nice things in my life, but when I hear or read about some truly horrific ways people treat their animals (not necessarily only pets, but farm animals too), then I wonder about the eventual fate of humankind. Will we ever improve?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I have several older friends who no longer own a pet. Too many have seen news stories where a beloved pet has been shipped off to animal shelter or other alternative since none of the heirs are interested in keeping the pet.

I'm not sure of the rental rules in B.C., but if no-pet clauses in apartments are a thing there then I'd definitely put that as a factor. In my province, many many people have had to surrender pets to secure (or in some cases, keep their existing) housing.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I'm not sure of the rental rules in B.C., but if no-pet clauses in apartments are a thing there then I'd definitely put that as a factor. In my province, many many people have had to surrender pets to secure (or in some cases, keep their existing) housing.

That may be an excuse in Canada, but not here, at least not generally - most people own their apartments here, rentals are a minority (that's one of the remnants from the USSR time, when apartment houses belonged to the state, not to private owners. Now, when a new apartment house is built, all the apartments in it are sold separately. People get a loan from a bank to buy their chosen apartment. Some do buy them for renting out, but most buy an apartment to live in it.)

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I'm not sure of the rental rules in B.C., but if no-pet clauses in apartments are a thing there then I'd definitely put that as a factor. In my province, many many people have had to surrender pets to secure (or in some cases, keep their existing) housing.

In B.C., if you have a pet and the building management changes the rules, current pets are grandfathered in. A couple of my friends have two labradoodles and about 2 years ago, the management for their building changed to a no pets rule and a group of pet owners in the building ended up in court over it. The judge agreed that the mass of previous precedents allowed them to keep their pets.

OTOH, the building one of their children lives in has weird rules such as all pets must weight under 6kgs and no more than one pet per apartment. One of their neighbours complained about another neighbour who had multiple pets in their apartment. It turned out that the neighbour's child had guppies in a small aquarium. Evidently guppies like rabbits tend to count 1, 2, many.

[Rumpelteazer]

My sister's cleaner comes in every other Tuesday from 8am until 11am. Because the apartment is small and I don't want to be in the way I always find something to do on those Tuesday mornings. But for next week I haven't been able to find anything to do yet. The weather prediction is not good, so I can't go out for a walk, ride my bike or go visit something outdoors (I would love to go to the Keukenhof this year). It's early so going to see a movie isn't an option and most local museums don't open until 10 or 11am, plus I've visited a lot of those recently.

I've looked at websites for suggestions but either those aren't fun to do on your own (escape room, bowling, etc) or I don't like to do those things (wellness, swimming).

For now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for better weather next Tuesday, so I can go to the Keukenhof. Otherwise I'll have to go have a leisurely breakfast somewhere and walk around indoors for a while, or go to the library to hang out.

[Sirtel]

It's been a really hellish week. I think I've slept about 2-3 hours a day in the past 10 days.

My oldest kitty Muhv is over the rainbow now. She had acute pancreatitis and didn't get any better after 5 days of medications and fluid therapy. As she was very ill and clearly suffering, we sent her on her final journey on Saturday last week. I miss you, Muhvi.

My other elderly lady Helle is also at death's door, basically. Her tumor hasn't gotten worse, but she is in the final stage of renal failure. Her kidneys were still ok half a year ago. The hormone therapy she had for her tumor probably damaged them, but if not for that, she'd have succumbed to the tumor, so there wasn't much choice. Cancer surgery is rarely successful in older cats (almost never if the tumor is in the intestinal tract) and often seriously reduces the quality of their remaining lifespan. Cats aren't as robust and resilient as humans, they're much more fragile.

As if all that was not enough, my youngest kitty Vallu also fell ill on last Sunday. He refused to eat, vomited and was apathetic, so it was to the clinic with him too. Fortunately there doesn't seem to be anything majorly wrong with him; he's got some blockage in his stomach, presumably hairballs. This can actually be pretty life-threatening for cats, so it's not something to be taken lightly. Anyway, after several days of various meds, hand-feeding and fluid therapy, Vallu is finally feeling better. He has started to eat and pooped for the first time since last week. I'll have to give him a ton of meds/hairball paste/vaseline oil over the next two days. I really, really hope he'll get well.

All this has cost so much money that I'm pretty broke now and had to borrow from a friend to cover the vet expenses. The clinic generously allowed me to pay a part of the bills next month, so I guess it could be worse. I've had multiple pets for many years, but this is the first time all three of them fell ill at the same time. What a piece of bad luck.

[CRussel]

That's really terrible, Sirtel. I know what it's like to lose a much loved cat, but losing two in the same week, followed by the illness of another? I think that pretty much defines a rough week. You have my sincere sympathy.

[Hitch]

OMG, Sirtel....

I am so sorry for you and your companions. I...losing any pet is horrible; two effectively at once is beyond endurance. You have my sincerest sympathies.

Hitch

[poohbear_nc]

Yikes! There are no words for this situation - losing furry family members hurts so bad ... virtual hugs

[DNSB]

You have my sincere sympathy. Losing what effectively were two members of your family in the same week plus the illness of the third would pretty much define a lousy week.

[Martinoptic]

Thinking about you @Sirtel.

[Sirtel]

Many thanks to all of you. It's really heartwarming to read your posts.

Yeah, it's been a bad week, but I haven't had the time to even properly process it all yet. For a few days I was afraid I'd lose all three of them at once. Vallu got better yesterday and Helle is still alive too, of course; but there's no telling for how long she might last - perhaps for weeks, perhaps only for days before her condition worsens. Some cats have lived over a year in the late stages of kidney failure, others go quickly. So I try not to think too much about the future at the moment.