Let's put all the bad news in this post
Again, it's been just months since I posted last. Things have been quite crazy around here.
On New Year's Eve, we had to have our other cat put down, just six weeks after Chester's death.
Jolson was my Hubby's almost-17-year-old black-and-white Maine Coon cat. Back in his day, Jolie was the biggest cat I'd ever seen, weighing in at 25-30 pounds. He hated dogs, but he tolerated ours. He would spend all day on our porch, greeting visitors and attacking any strange dog foolish enough to enter our yard. He had been really slowing down and showing his age, but he went downhill quickly after Chester died.
Finally, on New Year's Eve, he refused to eat, and when he tried to walk, he staggered and stumbled. Hubby had that cat from when Jolie was a little kitten, and he was deeply heartbroken. Hubby says he can't stand to feel the life go out of one more animal, so I took Jolson to the emergency vet to be put to sleep. I just couldn't stand to post about one more animal's death; in fact, I didn't have the heart to tell many of my friends at first. I'm so tired of losing our precious pets!
Then one of our dogs started having diarrhea. He's got kind of a tender tummy, so it wasn't that worrisome at first. But I was having to clean up diarrhea--often obviously explosive diarrhea--from the kitchen floor every morning, so off to the vet went Casanova, our French bulldog.
As I've said, I'm getting really tired of telling these sad stories about our pets. So, I'll try to cut to the chase here. Casanova is alive, but he has cancer. We tried a few different meds to help the diarrhea, but when nothing worked, we did an x-ray. They thought they saw a lump in his belly, but it was hard to see. So they wanted a fasting x-ray (so his belly was empty), so we did that, and then an ultrasound. We found a four-centimeter mass in his intestines. It did not look operable, and the vet advised us to just enjoy what time we have remaining with Cass. So that's what we are doing.
I still clean up diarrhea some mornings (and afternoons, and evenings), but he's on a bland diet now, so it's not quite as nasty as it was. He's losing weight, perhaps from the diet, more likely from the cancer, or maybe both. The whole thing really sucks, and this one will really rip out Hubby's heart. I've never seen him so in love with an animal, and believe me, he is a true animal lover.
So as painful as all this is for me, I guess I at least have the distraction of needing to care for someone else. And Casanova still seems to feel good. He's happy and wants to cuddle and love us up still. Sometimes he still even wants to play, but he is 11 years old, which is getting old for a Frenchie.
Finally, since this is the "Bad News" post, my daughter did not get into her college of choice. It's a bummer, but now she'll go to a college in town. So maybe I don't mind her staying near home a little longer.... :-)
On New Year's Eve, we had to have our other cat put down, just six weeks after Chester's death.
Jolson was my Hubby's almost-17-year-old black-and-white Maine Coon cat. Back in his day, Jolie was the biggest cat I'd ever seen, weighing in at 25-30 pounds. He hated dogs, but he tolerated ours. He would spend all day on our porch, greeting visitors and attacking any strange dog foolish enough to enter our yard. He had been really slowing down and showing his age, but he went downhill quickly after Chester died.
Finally, on New Year's Eve, he refused to eat, and when he tried to walk, he staggered and stumbled. Hubby had that cat from when Jolie was a little kitten, and he was deeply heartbroken. Hubby says he can't stand to feel the life go out of one more animal, so I took Jolson to the emergency vet to be put to sleep. I just couldn't stand to post about one more animal's death; in fact, I didn't have the heart to tell many of my friends at first. I'm so tired of losing our precious pets!
Then one of our dogs started having diarrhea. He's got kind of a tender tummy, so it wasn't that worrisome at first. But I was having to clean up diarrhea--often obviously explosive diarrhea--from the kitchen floor every morning, so off to the vet went Casanova, our French bulldog.
As I've said, I'm getting really tired of telling these sad stories about our pets. So, I'll try to cut to the chase here. Casanova is alive, but he has cancer. We tried a few different meds to help the diarrhea, but when nothing worked, we did an x-ray. They thought they saw a lump in his belly, but it was hard to see. So they wanted a fasting x-ray (so his belly was empty), so we did that, and then an ultrasound. We found a four-centimeter mass in his intestines. It did not look operable, and the vet advised us to just enjoy what time we have remaining with Cass. So that's what we are doing.
I still clean up diarrhea some mornings (and afternoons, and evenings), but he's on a bland diet now, so it's not quite as nasty as it was. He's losing weight, perhaps from the diet, more likely from the cancer, or maybe both. The whole thing really sucks, and this one will really rip out Hubby's heart. I've never seen him so in love with an animal, and believe me, he is a true animal lover.
So as painful as all this is for me, I guess I at least have the distraction of needing to care for someone else. And Casanova still seems to feel good. He's happy and wants to cuddle and love us up still. Sometimes he still even wants to play, but he is 11 years old, which is getting old for a Frenchie.
Finally, since this is the "Bad News" post, my daughter did not get into her college of choice. It's a bummer, but now she'll go to a college in town. So maybe I don't mind her staying near home a little longer.... :-)
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