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Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets
This is the place for casual discussion about our pets.
Photos are welcome, show us your pet(s) and tell us about them!
This is the place for casual discussion about our pets.
Photos are welcome, show us your pet(s) and tell us about them!
https://imgur.com/a/ItAX7Yn
This is Florence - my newly-ish adopted ex-racing greyhound (been with me almost a month now).
She was found as a stray in Ireland, presumably having been "retired" from racing, then transferred to a Dogs Trust shelter near me and I had her within a week of her getting there.
Shes estimated to be around 5.5 years old, and she has a few scars, one on her head, and one on her leg, but that adds to her uniqueness imo. Otherwise, she seems really healthy and fit.
So far, I've learned she likes belly rubs, nuzzling her head into somewhere warm (like my arm pit or behind my back if I'm sat next to her), and she goes crazy for banana. Every other food I've kept her away from, shes accepted, but banana she just cannot control herself around.
She doesn't like loud noises, hedgehogs, or having her feet touched unless she's muddy, at which point she doesn't seem to like the mud and is fine with me wiping her feet.
Slowly her personality seems to be coming out and I'm super lucky to have such an animated, expressionate yet relaxed adoptee!
Very cute!
Shes honestly such a loving soul, and she made a massive impact in my family already, despite being part of it for a little less than a month.
Oooo what a photogenic girl!!! ❤️
She honestly doesn't mind the camera too much, and it's really interesting to see her different ear positions convey different emotions!
In the above picture, she looks super confident and photogenic, but her default is she puts her ears right back to her head, which makes her look sad and solemn!
This is difficult update to write.
Despite our vet's and my best efforts, the ongoing health issues with my dog Quincy, which I've written about before, have continued to get worse. Even after several rounds of different antibiotics and high doses of steroids, a new regiment of daily allergy pills, a strict hypoallergenic diet, foot spray/shampoo/ointments treatments, epsom salt soaks, etc... None of it worked. His inter-digital cysts have come back with a vengeance, and his ear infection (which never fully cleared up) has gotten steadily worse again too. His feet now have open sores all over them, and his ear canal is almost completely swollen shut again from the infection.
The vet said our only options at this point is probably surgery to remove his ear canal, and laser hair removal on his feet and/or surgery to remove the webbing between his toes. She said she honestly wouldn't recommend the surgeries though, because the odds of him even surviving them are not great because of his advanced age, and bulldogs typically not handling general anesthesia well.
So we've finally come to the heartbreaking decision to have him put down due to how much pain he is in, and has been in for the last 4 months, with seemingly no end in sight. We scheduled the vet appt to have it done for tomorrow. I know in my heart it's the ethical and humane thing to do, but I still feel like absolute shit about it. I don't want to lose him, and it feels like I failed him somehow. We've had to put other dogs down before due to serious health issue, but this feels like it should have been solvable. :(
p.s. My favorite photo of Quincy being his typical lazy self.
cc: @patience_limited since I figured you might want to know too. :(
It's hard to part with an old friend. It sounds like you did everything possible to help Quincy hold on. The impacts of aging and breed-specific ailments are impossible to predict. Antibiotic-resistant infections happen to our pets as well as people; cartilage or bone infections are dire conditions in the best of circumstances. There aren't good diagnostics for underlying immune problems in animals.
It doesn't sound like this was necessarily a solvable problem. When you solve systems problems for a living, it's easy to fall prey to the illusion that there's always one more thing to try. That mindset can betray you where sickness and death are concerned - life has entropy built in.
We don't have the ability to communicate that we're making our companion animals suffer for their own good. Even if further treatments had a better chance of success, Quincy has been in pain for a long time, with an impaired quality of life, and you mentioned he was increasingly resistant to the handling needed to care for him. You're making the best decision that you can based on professional advice, and it sounds like he's ready for an ending.
I hope that you can be gentle with yourself through Quincy's passing, and celebrate the time you've shared with him.
Yeah, I think working in IT for so long my brain just naturally defaults to "how do I fix this?" which works well for computers, but not always so well when it comes to living things and illness. :(
Yeah, his behavior has changed a lot over the last 4-5 months. Most nights be sleeps on the floor or in his cage now, instead of on the bed with me like he has most of his life. He's also gotten bitey, growly, and won't even let me do his nails anymore, despite doing them regularly since he was a puppy. So I really do think he's gotten to the end of his rope. That does make the decision a bit easier, but I still feel conflicted and depressed about it. :(
It's natural that you'd feel depressed and even guilty when Quincy's life has been in your care. A dog is a dependent family member, even as an independent adult animal.
When I was in med school, I knew I'd never become a pediatrician. You'd have to hurt children, who can't consent or even understand what's happening to them. As a doctor, you can't stop causing suffering to cure or extend life, even past the point of hope.
I've felt the same awful guilt and horror with every pet I've had to care for through chronic and terminal illness, worst being a cat with cancer that I was told was treatable. I imagine you're in a similar situation, where your reasons for hope have gradually diminished to the point where all's that's left is more pain.
I don't know if there are any words to make this easier, and it might not be a good thing for choosing a death to be easy under any circumstances. But you are making an ethical and kind choice for Quincy, and owe yourself some kindness as well for all the years you've cared for him to the best of your ability.
I'm so sorry for Quincy's pain and your loss. : (
It sounds like you are doing the right thing for him.
Thanks. I hope so. It feels so hard to tell though. :(
Medicine isn't magic. We get used to being able to get most things treated effectively but that isn't always possible and it hurts like hell.
Grief takes time. Take good care.
I'm so sorry this is happening, I enjoyed seeing your pics of Quincy. I'm conscious of when this was posted, so I hope you've both had a really good day together.
Thanks. We actually did have a good last few days together. Melancholic, but we spent the previous few days mostly just sitting outside in the sun in the back yard, which he loved doing. We also spoiled the shit out of him, and gave him tons of his favorite treats and foods, which we haven't actually been able to give him for the last few months because of him being on a strict hypoallergenic diet in an attempt to fix his inter-digital cyst issues.
It was unfortunately rainy yesterday though, so we couldn't spend it outside, but we still got in lots of play time, and kept spoiling him right up until the end. The vet also even gave him a bunch of his favorite treats (liver ones) when we arrived, and we used cheese whizz (which he loves) on a popsicle stick to distract him while they gave him the first sedative injection. So he went out relaxed, and happy, enjoying one of his favorite treats.
The house feels so empty now though. I keep walking into rooms expecting him to be there, and I almost called him to bed last night. It's going to take a while to get used to him being gone. :(
cc: @patience_limited, @boxer_dogs_dance. Thanks for all your kind, supportive words. It definitely helped me get through it, and feel slightly less shitty about the situation. I really do appreciate it.
This was the hardest part for me when we had to say goodbye to our Harris last year. He was known for his room-clearing toots his snore that you could hear from across the house for most of any day. Then, suddenly, our house was quiet and smelled nice. Never thought I’d miss snoring and farting so much.
I’m so, so sorry for your loss. It’s the toughest decision a person could make, but it sounds to me like you treated it (and every step leading to it) with love and compassion. Quincy was a lucky pup to have you!
LOL, yeah Quincy was known to clear a room with his farts too. His drooling was also legendary as well. The reason we nicknamed him "bubbles" is because every time we gave him treats, he created these giant drool bubbles which hung from his jowls. And they would often form a chain of bubbles, drop to the floor eventually, and not even pop most times because the saliva was so thick. He was also a bulldogge in the most literal sense too... he would bowl headfirst into people whenever they were standing in his way, almost knocking everyone over. And he would also open doors by ramming his head into them so hard they would just pop open, even when fully shut.
I'm gonna miss the farty, drooly, bullheaded, lazy lump. :(
Just wanted to add a voice of support. Furry friends are forever, even when they aren't. Be secure in the knowledge that Quincy lived the best love because you loved him. He was safe, secure, and loved; that's a good life by my count.
All the best, friend. Please take care of yourself and the rest of Quincy's family.
My beautiful boy got his KC Good Citizen Dog bronze award today. I don't have a photo to hand but I'm very proud and relieved that he passed the assessment with no issues, he's slowly on his way to becoming a very good dog!
Congrats to the goodest of boys!
So of course the pale cat is attracted to rolling in dirt on his leash walks.
Dash is also insatiably curious about human activities and happy to lend a hand with household projects. Lily is not amused.
I'm traveling and find I can't sleep without Miscreant 1 and Miscreant 2 rearranging me throughout the night.
Is there a way I can ignore JUST this recurring thread (permanently)? I mostly like recurring threads, and I like ask.survey, and I like casual, but I'm not interested in the weekly photos of pets threads and it's slightly annoying to press ignore every single week (sorry if this gets asked frequently!! This is the first time I've looked inside to ask this question!)
Add
pet chatto your tag filters, and I'll go through and tag up the rest of them.amazing thank you!!!!!
You're welcome.
@Deimos, can that
pet chattag be automatically added to this specific recurring topic every week too please, so @mycketforvirrad doesn't have to do it manually every time?