The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11

[HairOfTheDog]

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*

This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.

I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!

I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.

So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.

Previous threads:

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[tuffydoodle]

Hair, I'd just sit on it for awhile. Take the pic to the vet but I agree with the saddle club members, no heroic actions for a cat that old. Blind and stuck in the house all the time ain't no way for a cat to live.

[Fawn]

I agree. I'd rather an animal be put down immediatly than let suffer....esp. when it's because the person hopes the cat will get better on it's own rather than spend some money. TO me that's cruel.

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning Fawn... Just by way of letting you know, I don't think he's in pain. He's always been a little ornery, but he seems pretty content most of the time. When he sits with me on my desk he purrs and enjoys attention. He likes to go and explore in the yard and he'll lay out in a sun spot like any other cat. I'm a pretty good judge of whether animals are suffering, thank you, and I don't think he is. Not yet.

But... if you read that I am trying to justify not taking him to the vet, you read my motives wrong and you don't know me. I asked this question because I know it'd be dumb to mortgage the house to do extraordinary measures for this cat, not only because it would cause him a lot of pain and confusion, but because I have two other cats, two dogs and three horses I might need to save that emergency money for. I can't blow my entire wad on one and hope to care for the rest.

My question really boils down to can I keep him happy a little longer at home, or should I take him and put him down now. That's the choice. Not whether you'd mortgage your house and make me feel guilty. I don't think it's necessary to go put him down just because he's getting rather old and confused and his eye looks ugly, but that's the question that is weighing on my mind. I'm not settled on the right answer, if I make the wrong one I'll be haunted by it. Trust me, I don't need to be guilt tripped by you.

[tuffydoodle]

Why don't you go find a breastfeeding thread and complain about nursing mothers? Leave this alone.

[CindyDawg]

IMO, cruel is posting what you just did. Not all of us can go in the back yard and pick off the money tree. Many of us are also knowledgeable enough to treat our animals for some stuff at home too.

[Beaker]

Bitter cold today. 17 degrees but it feels like it's below zero with the nasty wind gusts.

[CindyDawg]

Morning. :')

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice and comfort. I'm still far from settled on this, but I'm leaning towards taking the kittens in for their shots today and having a very frank talk with the vet about our options on whether we need to do something about Cartman. If she thinks there'd be some tangible improvement through some treatment, we'll do that. If she thinks there's not much that is curative that can be reasonably done, we'll make him comfortable as long as we can and we won't let him suffer if we can help it.

[CindyDawg]

I expected better from you. tsk! tsk! :')

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning. :~)

Very pink sky out right now... Red sky and morning and all that.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I don't think this is a matter of the money. But in my opinion, the money spent on pets should ALWAYS be considered. I don't care how rich you are...

IMO, spending any money on this cat other then maybe some type of meds in case there is infection would be a waste, and I hate waste:)

Cruel to me is keeping a pet around that has multiple problems that are incurable just because of sentimental reasons on the part of the owner. I don't believe this cat was there yet, until now, and it is still questionable. I would have it vet checked so I'd know the prognosis, of what is the problem and if it could be fixed with minimal expense. If not, I'd have it put down now before he reached the point of being miserable, because it looks to me that is what is coming. But if some inexpensive meds could fix him for a while longer go for it...but we can't know till it's looked at. Maybe the picture will be enough for the vet to make the call.

Becky

[tuffydoodle]

She was provokin' me.

[CindyDawg]

You misunderstand. How about this. I've seen you on the defense. I was expecting...ah... much worse lol.

[CindyDawg]

Don't know. Don't want to go out side. I just want to crawl back under the covers:')

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks Becky... It seems for every situation there should be a right and wrong answer, but there's always a hundred variables that crop up.

Thinking now about putting him in the back of the truck (canopy, it's carpeted) and having him with us when we go, but that he'd be less stressed there than having him in the office. Maybe she'd come look at him out there if she needs to see to make a prognosis.

[tuffydoodle]

ROTFLMAO!!!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I think that is an excellent idea.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

I'm really sorry to hear about Cartman's problems. I know where you're coming from because I went through something similar 3 years ago with my cat Teddy. He started out with what looked like, and what the vet initially treated as, chronic conjunctivitis, but it just never would get any better no matter what we put in it. So we took him to the veterinary ophthalmologist (big cough) down in Birmingham and had it biopsied and it turned out to be squamous-cell carcinoma. We knew the odds weren't very good but decided to have the eye removed and give him chemo. He was only 10 years old, which ain't young, but it's not that old either, and we just weren't ready to let him go yet. But if I had it to do over again, after seeing all the suffering he went through, I'd have never done it. He ended up having to be put down anyways and it would've been much easier for him to have done it when he was still relatively comfortable rather than waiting until he couldn't see in either eye, because the chemo did that to him, and he didn't know where he was or who we were. Sorry for the long and sad tale, but I guess I still feel the need to beat myself up for it.

[Fawn]

I agree with you..... I'm just very sensitive to animal suffering....I can't stand to see it.

[CindyDawg]

There is no right or wrong answer.