Question by pz: do you know anyone who has had worst luck with pets? do tell…?
i have had 6 pets in my adult life…30 years old, got started at 19.
cat 1: Poops~n~Bites : died of cancer at age 6 (after surgeries, cryogenics, chemo). She crapped on the carpet every day of her life UNTIL one month before she died. And although a lover she would bite you when she felt she was done being petted. We euthanized her, but probably waited too long because it was really hard to do.
cat 2: Trixie (followed 6 months later) died at age 6 also, from a heart attack from the vacuum-no joke!!
cat 3: Ninja (four years later) died AGAIN at age 6 from kidney failure (after lots of visits, home IV fluids, change if diet). it came on strong and from the time the symptoms were present we only had about 2 weeks with her. we had gotten her levels back to a good level from a few days stay at the vet ($ $ $ ) but she was in a LOT of pain a few days later and we put her down.
Cat 4 : Guadalupe “Lupe” 4 years old ALIVE!! However, Lupe was diagnosed with a heart murmur at age one: 1 or 2 on a scale 1-6, 6 being worst. a cardiogram showed half her heart was solid hard from heart disease at age 2, and also was rated 4-5 on scale. without meds she was given 6mos to live at age 2. we give her 2 pills a day and seems like she is great although we know her time is limited. we know a day will come that she will exhibit signs of suffocation (cardiac arrest) and we will immediately bring her in to be put down. they said it’s very painful (CA). also, they want us to give her cardiograms every 6 mos but they are $ 400+ and WE ARE BROKE. the only one in the house with health insurance is the DOG.
DOG 1: willis!!! the million dollar dog (insured!) status: ALIVE AND EXPENSIVE!!! (and i love him with allllllll of my heart, soul and credit cards)
YEAR ONE:
*multiple bladder infections
*lots of diarehea (changed diet)
*multiple eye infections
*massive loss of hair (related to allergies)
*severe allergies (food and insects)
*puppy strangles disease
*benign hystiocytoma #1
*extreme infection from absess from removal of 1st hystiocytoma. the vet wasn’t able to test it. he thought it may be a tumor & i tried to be pro-active, since it looked like Poops~N~Bites’ mass cell growths and i was told boxers are tumor factories. the result was a few days after surgery we ended up taking him to the vet 4x in 24hrs (was seen at reg. vet 2x & er vet 2x, both places by multiple vets). the last time we brought him in (to ER less than 2hrs after reg. vet visit) they told us he probably wouldn’t make it (infection had spread all over his body-he was FILLED w/ fluid and pus). they did an aggressive surgery and put lots of drainage tubes in and removed tons of gangreen skin. they weren’t able to tell me if he was going to make it for 2 days!! he wasn’t able to exercise or play for one month after that, but recovered.
YEAR TWO
*pneumonia
*got “the flu” or ate poison outside again (we live in the city)
*hystiocytoma #2 (left untouched since first was benign and it went away eventually)
*flu (or ate poison outside)
*ate a half of a CD, as well as dvd cases, hair brushes and mutliple ink pens….
*LOTS AND LOTS of yeast infections in ears and between toes resulting in many, many expensive shampoos, medicated pads, ear cleaners, epsom salt baths (5m 2x a day). did i mention my husband and i both work 1-2 FT jobs each and were in school FT??? (we had doggie day care and opposite schedules so he wasn’t neglected and we also walked him at the minimum 2hrs a day)
*funky stinky penis infection (mild, but disgusting)
YEAR THREE
*benign hystiocytoma (2 of them… one got gruesome, both went away)
*ate chocolate, raisins & a btl. of neosporin.
*Bloat
*Tumor (grade 2-1) we had removed.
DOG 2 : Shakey Jake
a one year old boxer we rescued 4 months ago. i found him on craigslist and adopted him because he was in a really tiny crate and he was 7months old. the owner told me he was in there 12-13 hrs a DAY!!! because of work and commute. it broke my heart, esp knowing how much exercise and socialization these dogs need. she promised me he was up to date on shots, totally healthy and mostly house broken. turns out, she lied. i brought him to the vet 12 hrs later…he had ear mites, worms, skin infections, broken tail in 2 parts and was malnourished. he didn’t respond to our voices (i thought he was deaf-no just ignored). he bit us (not maliciously just playing, but OUCH) and was totally crazy. it took 2 months to house train him. he’s still hyper but all of his health stuff got cleared up with shots, meds, bandages and love!!!
he had one $ 300 flu-like experience but besides that is seemingly healthy. he was fine after he got rehydrated.
about my boxer eating choc/raisins/neosporin/cds/pens/etc PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE ME!!!!!! all times were extreme accidents (or in part from them climbing on the counters that we thought they couldn’t reach). my husband cut off part of his thumb at work and left the neosporin on the table
Best answer:
Answer by Lynn B
My sister had a dog with a lot of the same problems (food allergies – hair falling out, skin rashes, absesses). She switched to RAW diet (raw uncooked meat, a balance of meat and organs) and the allergy problems are gone.. the dog has a beautiful coat of fur now. Turns out her back problems were also related to food allergies. Despite RAW diet costing more then kibble she has saved hundreds on vet bills.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
