Comments on: Our dogs and cats — our pets — are getting old. Where did the time go? http://www.ibabuzz.com/garybogue/2008/03/10/our-dogs-and-cats-our-pets-are-getting-old-where-did-the-time-go/ Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:33:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Neeki Smith http://www.ibabuzz.com/garybogue/2008/03/10/our-dogs-and-cats-our-pets-are-getting-old-where-did-the-time-go/comment-page-1/#comment-8426 Neeki Smith Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:01:20 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/garybogue/2008/03/10/our-dogs-and-cats-our-pets-are-getting-old-where-did-the-time-go/#comment-8426 Help! I have a torti that I rescued 12 years ago, she is about 15 now. She has always been somewhat neurotic (doens’t play, drinks huge amounts of water for no medicial reason, and is anti-social with people and other animals), but recently she is so neurotic I think she has serious dementia and sight/hearing issues. She acts lost, scared, worried and otherwise miserable, I wonder if her quality of life is such that it is time to put her down. She is obviously going downhill physical (weight loss, extreme dander, had hypothroidism surgery last year), but doens’t seem to be in any pain. When I can’t stand the yowling anymore, even if she leaves me and walks to the hall – she is suddenly lost! (day and night, that she is not in sight of us) I gentle place her outside for awhile and she manages to find the bedroom window and yowl under THAT window, so she is still smart and with it enough. She poops around the house with what I think is seperation anxiety if I leave the house for more than an hour – thank goodness I work at home!. She stopped peeing in the house, thank goodness, after being lost outside for two days!

Obviously it is my decision for her right time, but I wanted other people’s experience with dementia/aging and quality of life. She is just miserable ALL the time, except for a few brief minutes when she sits near me, but then wanders off and gets “lost” again or when she is sleeping.

Thanks in advance.

]]> By: kathleen haugh http://www.ibabuzz.com/garybogue/2008/03/10/our-dogs-and-cats-our-pets-are-getting-old-where-did-the-time-go/comment-page-1/#comment-1226 kathleen haugh Thu, 15 May 2008 21:38:55 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/garybogue/2008/03/10/our-dogs-and-cats-our-pets-are-getting-old-where-did-the-time-go/#comment-1226 I was so sorry to read about Tut being put to sleep. I have followed his and Newman’s adventures for many years. It is so sad when we have to make the decision to let them go, but it is usually the right thing to do. I just wanted to let you know what I did when I put one of my cats to sleep two years ago and his half-brother was terribly upset. He walked around the house wailing for several nights afterwards. I asked my vet what I could do to help him deal with the trauma of losing his companion. He suggested that I buy a plug-in bottle of the chemical, pheromone, and plug it in close to the area where the cat slept. I did that and it really helped calm him down. I used it for two months and by then he was fine. He wails occasionally now and I think maybe he’s still missing his brother, but most of the time he’s O.K.

At least, Tut had a good long life. The cat I put to sleep was only 12, and I was totally unprepared for him to go. He developed kidney problems and there wasn’t much the vet could do for him. It was very sad. Anyway, it takes time to adjust to the death of our pets and, of course, we never forget them, but at least we have good memories of all the wonderful times we had with them.

Take care,

Kathleen

]]>