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4080. judithathome - 1/8/2008 12:56:49 AM Beautiful!! 4081. thoughtful - 1/8/2008 1:21:46 AM Thanks J@H.
This year's calendar is all sunrise shots...I called it "Comes the Dawn"...special meaning given the losses I've suffered recently. While the poem was written about divorce, I find it meaningful for losses of all kinds...I especially appreciate the final two lines.
After A While
(alternate title - Comes the Dawn)
After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul,
and you learn that
love doesn't mean leaning
and company doesn't mean security,
and you begin to learn
that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises,
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up
and your eyes ahead,
with the grace of a woman,
not the grief of a child,
and you learn to build all of your roads
on today because tomorrow's ground
is too uncertain for plans,
and futures have a way of
falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that
even sunshine burns
if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul,
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that
you really can endure...
That you really do have worth.
And you learn and you learn...
With every goodbye you learn.
by Veronica A. Shoffstall 4082. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:41:05 PM I have to board Sonny during some serious spring cleaning. So I called the Pet Hospital only to discover that they only do medical boarding these days.
This is why
WagHotel 4083. jexster - 3/6/2008 3:07:31 AM Just got through "watering" the cat
He was diagnosed with chronic renal failure, common in old cats and he was dehydrated.
So the vet recommended subcutaneous fluid therapy 2-3 times a week. It was easy when the tech showed me how but quite another story when I have to do the poking though he doesn't get quite as angry
Don't know how much of this I can take. Harder on me than on him
At least it works...His coat is back (not as much free skin to poke) and is more active 4084. thoughtful - 3/9/2008 5:14:24 PM So sorry to hear about your cat, Jex. We lost ours at 18 to renal failure. It is very common now.
4085. thoughtful - 3/9/2008 5:15:45 PM My happy orchids:
4086. thoughtful - 3/9/2008 5:16:23 PM 
4087. thoughtful - 3/9/2008 5:17:12 PM 
4088. thoughtful - 3/9/2008 5:18:04 PM 
4089. judithathome - 3/9/2008 7:05:57 PM Lovely!! I remember when you got those! 4090. jexster - 3/9/2008 7:08:32 PM Phaelopsolises (sp)! Pretty...
4091. jexster - 3/9/2008 11:28:39 PM Yo T'filled
My doc said that the CRF was in an early stage but that I should be alert to "signs of decomposition". I didn't think to ask but what..loss of appetite? severe loss of energy?
Hope I've not recalled painful memories but am trying to make this as grace filled a passage as possible 4092. Magoseph - 3/10/2008 12:06:07 AM http://www.felinecrf.com/what0.htm
Here. Jex.
4093. jexster - 3/10/2008 1:33:24 AM Merci mago..and again...sooorrrryy 4094. jexster - 3/10/2008 1:40:37 AM Now I understand how important that damned fluid therapy is ...I nailed it yesterday but he now knows what it means when I put the chair by the door and hang the IV contraption from a hanger...
Great to know that they're not suffering much at all until the very end ....yuk..but kinda ready for that 4095. judithathome - 3/10/2008 6:35:52 AM Something to keep in mind:
Think Twice Before Asking For Lemon In Your Drink 4096. thoughtful - 3/11/2008 3:49:52 PM Jex
Our cat got more lethargic was reluctant to eat and started losing weight. She huddled close to the wood stove trying to stay warm. We got reluctant to touch her except most gently on the head as anything else seemed to cause her pain. Finally she looked at ius and we knew it was time. Her sad eyes just begged us to do something. So we took her to the vets and had her put to sleep. It was a most gentle and peaceful and humane process...so much so that i cursed the powers that be that prevented us from doing the same for my SIL when she was in such agony suffering terminal lung cancer. It probably only ended the suffering for a day or so but when someone you love is hurting, every minute counts. 4097. thoughtful - 3/11/2008 3:58:29 PM Jex
The other thing is we did not go through what you are w regard to fluid replacement. She was already 18 and had lived a good life. There was no point in postponing the inevitable. Of course that is an individual thing. She was first diagnosed with kidney issues when she was 13 and she seemed to do quite well for years with no seeming issue. The only thing we did for her at that point was to put her on science diet kd (kidney diet) which i believe is low protein which helps protect the kidneys. 4098. thoughtful - 3/12/2008 7:19:50 PM Time to make corned beef and cabbage. I enjoy it and often wonder why I don't make it more often...somehow I need st. pat's day to remind me... 4099. jexster - 3/12/2008 8:59:15 PM T'filled
Sonny is 19plus!!! Be 20 in October if he makes it
The fluid therapy is designed to slow the progress of the disease and relieve discomfort
It is more palliative than anything else. I was having REAL trouble getting the line in ...the first 3-4 treatments were disasters. Water everywhere but in the cat. And this was having an effect - rapid dehydration and sudden loss of apetite
I called the doc and he told me to buck it up ..it is too important that I not be squeamish. We're now going on 1/day for a few days
Then miracle of miracles, yesterday and again this AM total sucess.
He doesn't much like it but at least he's got the strength to fight to get away! I suspect he'll adapt. My brother used to give his cat daily insulin shots..eventually he'd jump up on the chair to get them
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