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@No-Quarter cant upvote that, sorry to hear bro, love the fact you adopted them from the streets, especially hard once any bond has occurred. Don't know what the best thing to say is, but you're clearly exceptional at being there for them and that will help
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@No-Quarter yeah bro, pets are an important part of our family, and sadly (but imnportanlty) probably the first lesson for chidren to learn the grief of losing a loved one...but is never easy
A month or so back we have to have our 14 year old dog put down after he had a stroke, he had Diabetes and Cushings disease for the past 2.5 years, so that has involved insulin injections at 0630 and 1830 every day, and specific diet, to top it off, he went blind a year or so back (butnhenwas otherwise his normal self)...thanks to Pet Insurance, we did have him much longer than we otherwise coudl have afforded; paid $140 a month, they paid $550 for his medication.
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Like has already been said, can't upvote that. I can fully empathise though, our mutt got diagnosed with a sarcoma in her mouth, only 2 years old. Had the op which meant losing some jawbone, a few teeth and part of the orbital socket so she now looks a bi Harvey Dent. Sadly it didn't get everything soo we had to go for radio therapy. Ever weekday for 18 days we had to schlepp up to Bristol (about 80 miles each way) for the poor girl. I have to say that if she'd been eldely I wouldn't have put her through it all. Thank fuck for pet insurance.
In taking that final decision though, there is rarely a "right" time and you will forever second guess yourself that you didn't do it too late or too early. All you can do is make sure you take that decision for the right reasons, which you clearly are. Good luck with it all mate.
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@No-Quarter and everyone above - it fucking sucks but I reckon the pain we feel is just a measure of the joy our pets bring into our lives (and, I’ve always hoped, how much joy we’ve brought to theirs’)
Hope you and the boys are ok.
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Thanks guys for sharing, I appreciate it. Very difficult day, telling the boys when they got home from school that he was not going to make it, and that we had to go to the vet immediately to say our final goodbyes. We'd been referred to a vet about a 20 minute drive away, and the oldest two (7 and 12) just cried the whole way there. When we got to the vet they brought him out and he immediately perked up when he saw the boys. His final moments he was purring despite the pain he was in as my 12 year old pet him, then the anesthetic kicked in and we left before they did the final euthanasia. As hard as it was, I'm really glad I took the boys to do that.
By far the hardest part of it all was seeing the effect it had on the boys, and the fact there was nothing I could do to make it better. He was an extremely affectionate cat, would purr away when you even sat next to him, and loved to lick you while you pet him. It was all just a massive shock to us, you wouldn't have known he was unwell at all a week back, just his final two days he actually displayed the symptoms of lethargy and lack of appetite. I did read that cats hide their symptoms very well so it's not always easy to tell when they are sick or injured.
The boys are doing better now, and we've had a lot of good talks about how lucky we were to have him for that period of time. My 4 year old is still trying to get his head around it all, he keeps coming up to me saying he misses him and asking if he's gone forever. We still have one remaining cat, who has noticed his absence and has been walking around the house meowing looking for him. Still having that one cat has helped a bit as well though.
So yeah, all a bit fucking shit really, but such is life and in the long run certainly a good lesson for the boys in dealing with grief. It's just they've been through so much crap with their mother's mental health issues, this just felt like a cruel kick in the teeth when they are already down.
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@No-Quarter yeah apparently if possible, they say other pets should to see the other has died, so they know what happened.
We had a similar one years back with our cats, brothers, one had to be euthanized, the other one then appeared to wander about looking for him for some time after.
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@No-Quarter sounds like you're doing an awesome dad job mate in pretty tough circumstances - kia kaha and make sure you find some time to look after yourself too
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@taniwharugby said in Happiness Scale:
@No-Quarter yeah apparently if possible, they say other pets should to see the other has died, so they know what happened.
We had a similar one years back with our cats, brothers, one had to be euthanized, the other one then appeared to wander about looking for him for some time after.
Cat dementia is a thing. We had similar with two brothers. But I think it was actually him getting old rather than missing his brother. He got to the point where he'd just stop in the middle of the backyard, forget where he was, get frightened and yowl. Poor old bugger.
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@booboo said in Happiness Scale:
@taniwharugby said in Happiness Scale:
@No-Quarter yeah apparently if possible, they say other pets should to see the other has died, so they know what happened.
We had a similar one years back with our cats, brothers, one had to be euthanized, the other one then appeared to wander about looking for him for some time after.
Cat dementia is a thing. We had similar with two brothers. But I think it was actually him getting old rather than missing his brother. He got to the point where he'd just stop in the middle of the backyard, forget where he was, get frightened and yowl. Poor old bugger.
Our girl is going through that, I’m sure of it. She’ll go into the lounge after we’re in bed and it’s dark and meow loudly, literally sounds like she’s having an argument with herself.
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No pet stories here - having grown up on a farm I couldn't coop up a good dog in a suburban back yard. And cats? Well... nope.
However it is a period of transition forthcoming and a pet might be in the future? Or factors that will alter the Happiness Scale... let me explain:
The Boy finishes his final year of Uni next month, and besides one catch up subject which revolves around an internship placement, he's got to get off his arse and go get a job. He did some work recently installing computer monitors in a corporate office for 3 days, but that's not going to pay the rent, my son. Especially as you owe me $150 for shouting you the tools at Bunnings.
Miss TA is about to do her HSC exams (i.e. finishing high school) and they're all packed into a week for the subjects she picked. She also turns 18 this Saturday, so as of this time next week I have no school kids in the house, and no kids at all, legally speaking
I'm glad to see the back of the Catholic Education system and their fees, that's for sure.
I've recently racked up 18 years at Woolworths HQ here in NW Sydney in parallel, having started there 10 days before Miss TA was born. Quite a ride.
Mrs TA gets her 10 years Long Service Leave in May. She's had enough and TBH I could do with a break as well.
We'll both have about two months worth of leave between us, and no day-to-day school shit to look after, so there's a bit of a question about what next? After the family holiday to Japan later this year I see a yawning chasm of who we are once this transition happens.
Part of me is quite excited to maybe take a trip to Europe and let the kids learn how to look after themselves - fuck knows it won't happen with Mrs TA hovering over them.
Part of me is quite concerned that, without the hovering, Mrs TA will not know what to do with herself; I understand it's quite common for the mothers who suddenly don't have anyone to mother. We're not moving to Mars but it's a very different dynamic.
I'd also like to drive around the great brown land and get a look at things - I'll be 50 next year so not getting any younger.
Happiness Scale
