Baldur

That is terrible Dragon, but I think you did the right thing.
Making such a decision is always difficult, but when your pet is suffering with no possible cure for the issue it seems to be the kindest solution.
in the past 5 years we have had two beloved cats euthanized, both because of cancer wreaking havo in their bodies.
In both cases I held them cuddled in my arms when they were given the injection, not wanting their last moments here to be spent on a cold steel bench with a doctor they never were comfortable around.
I was quite a wreck afterwards. Robert could not ever witness or be part of those final moments. He waited outside weeping, though in both cases he had made the choice to have the cats put to sleep.

polenta

Sorry Dragon for what happened. I know one year of a dog counts as 7 of a person. I don't know what happens with cats.
My condolences.

Baldur

Happy Birthday to Brandon Quinn, Taylor Hicks, Toni Braxton, Simon Cowell, Michael W.Smith, Yo-Yo Ma, Vladimir Putin, John Mellencamp, Oliver North, Joy Behar, Desmond Tutu, Al Martino, June Allyson, Vaughn Monroe, Henry A. Wallace and Niels Bohr.

Dragon

Thank you for your nice thoughts everyone. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to be there for the injection itself, that's one of those personal decisions and I'm constantly telling our clients that they have to decide what's right for them and not let anyone tell them they picked wrong, for some people it's just too much. In the end he was so very calm and sedate (he did have sedation but he was horribly calm all day long) and I just felt I needed to be there. I'm fortunate in that I've had him to the clinic so many times just to spend the day with me that everyone knows him well and I knew he'd have be treated with the utmost kindness even if I wasn't there, but I'm glad I stayed and got a bit of closure. I will really miss him on Halloween, he always used to come to the clinic with me and sit on the desk wearing his Devil hat costume. It will seem very empty here on that day.

Login

I understand exactly how you feel, Dragon. I had to make the same decision (and for the same ailment) several years ago ... and I still remember it as though it was last week. I took our beloved cat home and buried him in a quiet spot in the garden, planting primroses on his grave. I didn't have to water them in ... my tears did it for me.

marius

Ohhh, Dragon! Thought I'd check in Channel Baldur today because we've been so busy lately and wanted to catch up. Glad I did check in but I'm so sorry to hear this news!!! Please know I'm sending thoughts of comfort your way. Sending caring too and a wish that the Universe helps you gently through this time. And, thanks for letting us know.

Baldur

Good morning here is some happy cat news to start the day off.

Robert and I are all wrapped up with the kittens, practically day and night, it's exhausting being the adoptive parents of a single mother.
The cat 'Shakira; who recently adopted us had 3 babies.
We believe now that somebody dumped her in our area just before she gave birth. It's only been about a week since we first saw the kittens but they are certainly more than a month old. They are running around and wrestling each other. Shakira is calico, with her legs and underside being white. She is not feral, is very used to people and must have been a housepet before being abandoned. She showed up at our door crying for food about a month ago. We thought she looked pregnant but it seems now that she must have just had the litter somewhere in the woods nearby and then came to see us.
One kitten is calico but the ground color is dark grey, another is black with a white face and white paws, the third seems dark grey rather than black and has white feet, his(her?) face is black.
The kittens are all rather skittish about people but will come close if we remain very still, they are all eating on our deck several times a day.
Currently Shakira is keeping them right under the deck but has moved them all over the neighborhood this past week. She brought them out to show us for the first time two days ago and doesn't seem to mind us being near them.
We will need to find homes for at least 2 of the kittens, Robert wants to keep the black and white one.
I am rather fond of Shakira, but whether or not she remains here is up for discussion. She would need to be fixed, as well the kittens.
Heidi, our old blind cat is not very happy about this, she knows there are strange cats about, but she has come face to face with the mother several times and only meowed loudly, no other fighting has taken place though, which is rather odd. Maybe there is some cat etiquette involving new mothers.
With other neighborhood cats she has screamed, hiss and made the fur fly.
Just this morning Baldur was finally able to catch one and pick it up for the first time, they are very quick.
Putting the food bowl within my reach and sitting on the steps very quietly I waited until one of the kittens was eating and ever so slowly got my hand around her. She twisted, tried to scratch and bite me but I had her. I held her only a few moments until she calmed down. All the while Shakira was nearby placidly washing her own face pretending not to notice. As soon as she was released the baby raced away to her mother.

Baldur

happy Birthday to Matt Damon, CeCe Winans, Sigourney Weaver, Johnny Ramone, Sarah Purcell, R.L. Stine, Chevy Chasr, Jesse Jackson, Paul Hogan, Rona Barrett, Frank Herbert and President Juan Peron.

marius

Baldur, very much enjoyed your cat and kittens story! Shikira seems to have the coloring of our calico. Very pretty. Personal vote is that you keep Shikira and one kitten. : )

Now, erm, resistance is futile and I've been resisting this for of so long. (giggle) Therefore, for just this one day - a "Rest in Peace" is offered to those who left us on this day in history. For a full list see: http://www.historyorb.com/today/deaths.php

1606 - Jan, the Aged, count of Nassau/fathered 24, dies
1754 - Henry Fielding, English lawyer/author (Tom Jones), dies at 47
1793 - John Hancock, US merchant/signer (Decl of Independence), age 56
1847 - Rose Scott, Social Reformer
1862 - James Streshley Jackson, Union-brig-gen, dies in battle at 39
1869 - Franklin Peirce, 14th president, dies in Concord NH at 64
1897 - Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (b. 1830)
1936 - Red Ames, American baseball player (b. 1882)
1953 - Nigel Bruce, actor (Son of Lassie, Spider Woman), dies at 58
1967 - Clement R Attlee, premier pf Great Britain (1945-51), dies at 84
1971 - Christopher Dark, actor (Man Behind the Badge), dies at 51
1978 - Karl Swenson, actor (Lara-Little House on the Prairie), dies at 70
1982 - Fernando Lamas, actor/director (Lost World), dies of cancer at 67
1982 - Philip J Noel-Baker, English minister (Nobel 1959), dies at 92
1985 - Leon Klinghoffer, hijackers of Achille Lauro, threw him off boat
1994 - Diana Churchill, actress (Spider, Sally Bishop), dies at 81
1995 - Frederick Harry Baines, painter, dies at 85
1996 - William Prince, actor (Ken Baxter-Another World), dies at 83

Baldur

Oh marius, what a can of worms that opens.
Following is the Wikipedia listing of deaths for today (I get my birthday list from them but greatly edit it).

976 – Jelena of Zadar, Croatian queeen
1286 – John I of Dreux, Duke of Brittany (b. 1217)
1317 – Fushimi, Emperor of Japan (b. 1265)
1621 – Antoine de Montchrétien, French dramatist
1647 – Christian Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (b. 1562)
1652 – John Greaves, English mathematician (b. 1602)
1656 – John George I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1585)
1659 – Jean de Quen, French Jesuit missionary
1735 – Yongzheng Emperor of China (b. 1678)
1754 – Henry Fielding, English author (b. 1707)
1772 – Jean Joseph de Mondonville, French composer (b. 1711)
1793 – John Hancock, American revolutionary (b. 1737)
1795 – Andrew Kippis, English non-conformist clergyman (b. 1725)
1804 – Thomas Cochran (judge), Canadian judge (b. 1777)
1809 – James Elphinston, Scottish philologist (b. 1721)
1834 – François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (b. 1775)
1869 – Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (b. 1804)
1879 – Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian Admiral (b. 1834)
1886 – Austin F. Pike, American politician from New Hampshire (b. 1819)
1897 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (b. 1830)
1928 – Larry Semon, comedian (b. 1889)
1931 – Sir John Monash, Australian soldier general (b. 1865)
1936 – William Henry Stark, American business leader (b. 1851)
1936 – Red Ames, American baseball player (b. 1882)
1942 – Sergei Chaplygin, Soviet engineer (b. 1869)
1944 – Wendell Willkie, American politician (b. 1892)
1945 – Felix Salten, Austrian author (b. 1869)
1952 – Joe Adams, American baseball player (b. 1877)
1953 – Nigel Bruce, British actor (b. 1895)
1953 – Kathleen Ferrier, British contralto (b. 1912)
1955 – Iry LeJeune, Cajun musician (b. 1928)
1958 – Ran Bosilek, Bulgarian author (b. 1886)
1962 – Solomon Linda, South African singer and composer (b. 1909)
1967 – Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1883)
1970 – Mitr Chaibancha, Thai film actor (b. 1934)
1970 – Jean Giono, French author (b. 1895)
1973 – Gabriel Marcel, French philosopher (b. 1889)
1977 – Giorgos Papasideris, Greek country singer , composer , lyricist (b. 1902)
1982 – Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor (b. 1915)
1982 – Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, Canadian-born peace activist, Nobel laureate (b. 1889)
1983 – Joan Hackett, American actress (b. 1934)
1985 – Malcolm Ross, American balloonist and atmospheric physicist (b. 1919)
1987 – Konstantinos Tsatsos, 2nd President of Greece (b. 1899)
1990 – B.J. Wilson, English musician (Procol Harum) (b. 1947)
1992 – Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, Nobel laureate (b. 1913)
1995 – Christopher Keene, American conductor (b. 1946)
1997 – Bertrand Goldberg, American architect (b. 1913)
1999 – John McLendon, American basketball coach (b. 1915)
2000 – Sheila Holland (Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf, Laura Hardy), English writer (b. 1937)
2002 – Phyllis Calvert, British actress (b. 1915)
2002 – Jacques Richard, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1952)
2004 – Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (b. 1930)
2004 – James Chace, American historian (b. 1931)
2005 – Alekos Alexandrakis, Greek actor (b. 1928)
2006 – Mark Porter, New Zealand racing driver (b. 1975)
2007 – Constantine Andreou, Greek artist (b. 1917)
2008 – George Emil Palade, Romanian cell biologist (b. 1912)
2008 – Eileen Herlie, American actress (b. 1918)
2008 – Bob Friend (newscaster), British newscaster (b. 1938)

marius

Now, marius only cracked open the can of worms ... but Baldur, you took off the whole lid! LOL! This is so cracking me up! Thanks!

Dragon

Glad to hear some happy cat news. Also glad Shakira and the kittens sound like they're in great health and that the kittens are learning to be handled.
Interesting what you said about Heidi not freaking out over Shakira. I don't know if there's any new mother etiquette among them but I do know that my Manx Oscar seems to like some cats and not others. He quite likes our female Matilda (though she hates him) and when outside cats come to our window it's a toss up as to whether he'll flip out or not. Some he will simply sniff at through the screen, others he goes insane about, screaming and puffing himself up. I'm sure he has his reasons but I've never been able to figure them out.

Baldur

Happy Birthday to Sean Lennon, Mike Singletary, Scott Bakula, Sharon Osbourne, Jackson Browne, Nona Hendryx, John Entwistle, John Lennon (an odd coincidence), Brian Blessed, Prince Edward Duke of Kent, E. Howard Hunt, Camille Saint-Saens and King Charles X of France.

Baldur

Am I the only one here sensing that the harpstrings of drama are being plucked again?

polenta

Baldur, do you want drama?
Remember the miners in Chile?
Let's cross our fingers.... it's supposed to be early next week.

Baldur

polenta, that story was big news here again today now that they have drilled through to the chamber where the miners are trapped.
Everyone involved must be quite relieved.

Normal

No, Baldur, I caught it too and thought your reply was excellent. I'm very sorry that so many nice TDers will be sucked in.

Baldur

I'm glad I was not imagining the entire thing. We could be wrong but my intuition is screaming unkind things.
Thank you for the support, I needed to say 'something'.
The perfect response sometimes takes a little thought.

Baldur

Here is an interesting link to some serious pumpkin carving.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39421834?gt1=43001

mum23

Touché, Baldur! I, too, thought there was drama in the air (has this happened before?) and silently applauded you when I saw your response. ‘twas perfect!