Thanks all! DH got the message about the insurance company, TG! He took all the estimates [best is now just under $1200] and went over to their house last night, but, oh my, father is out of town until Saturday and mom (who is/was the nicest of the bunch) says father is the one who will take care of it. I'll believe it when I see the money. Jaz, the vehicle was on private property, so in this locale it is not *required* to involve the police. Even so, I admit I wish I had called them immediately. I had thought that only the plastic/glass covering and lightbulbs were broken; that would have cost less than $100 to repair. To me that wasn't a biggie, and could/should have been settled easily with something like having the kid do yardwork in reparation. It was later that evening when I learned that the damage included a deeply bent area in the signal unit's framework along with more dents in the adjoining quarter panel and door. That's when I realized the police should have been called immediately, if for nothing more than an impersonal legal presence. Well, tomorrow is Saturday, and methinks that father had best have money ready upon his return, or I'm liable to get my favorite lawyer directly involved. My present mantra is to follow Teddy Roosevelt's maxim: "Walk quietly, and carry a big stick."

I went to a local nursery today and spoke with the manager, who was very helpful, they had a variety of citrus trees there which he told me had been there for quite some time, and should be safe for my gst cats to eat. So i purchased an Improved Meyer Lemon tree, it has lots of new growth on it, and I remember reading that GSTs like the leaves of this tree, i think. Anyway, the manager at the nursery told me that the only required insecticide or pesticide by the state of louisiana for citrus trees, is sprayed onto the leaves, and that it is not a systemic type, so that was good to know, Missherry had mentioned that was probably the case seeing as how a systemic could contaminate fruit of citrus. I have already ran out of new growth on my second navel tree, I thought it would last me until these cats pupate, but did not happen, so now I have some more host leaves for the remaining cats, I am just going to make sure I rinse the leaves thoroughly before I give to the cats, to make sure there is nothing left on them that could harm them. THe cat with the damaged mouthparts was able to eat a little today, he seems to be able to eat the stems better than the leaves, I cut little slits along the tender stems, and pinch them to where pieces are still attached but easier for him to pull off, I am hoping this will get him through, he has not given up, and seems to be fine, just hungry, poor guy. There are only two left from his group that have not purged and started hung sling, so I am hoping that he is getting enough nourishment in order to pupate, he doesn't pass hardly any frass, maybe once per day, but he hasn't lost as much weight as I would have figured since he is eating so little, so maybe his body is hanging on to all it can and that is why he isn't passing much frass or waste. He also doesn't move much at all unless he is trying to eat, so he isn't wasting his energy, I am hoping that he will make it, surely he cannot starve to death if he is getting some nourishment everyday. And maybe he will adjust better in order to eat more with each day. I have driven myself crazy trying to figure out what happened to him, because I cannot think of how in the world he ended up with part of his face missing. Unless maybe it was deformed to begin with and I did not notice, and just deteriorated with time, because up until a few days age, he was able to eat just like the rest, so it doesn't make sense. His cage is not real deep and I have papertowels at the bottom, so he could not have fallen and injured himself, there are no other cats in there with him, and he isn't one of my free spirit cats that try to escape frequently, I don't think I have ever found him on the tulle that encloses his little habitat, and had to move him back inside, he has been one of the easy ones that stay put, so I just don't know what in the world could have happened to him, and i wonder if he is in pain, because it looks like he is missing part of his face or mouth, could he have injured himself while eating?? and if so, how? I wish I could find info about this, but haven't been able to, just wondering if it could be a disease, or even a parasite that would cause this type of deformity. SInce i do not know what is wrong with him, I am keeping him a good distance from the others, just in case. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how to make it easier for this guy to eat, please let me know, I will try anything. cutting slits into the sides of the stem seemed to help him out a bit. I watched him trying to eat the middle stem of the leaf earlier, and noticed he had eaten about an inch of it, but then he moved his had back and all of it came out of his mouth, so apparently he was able to get it into his mouth but was unable to sever it and could not swallow it. I have tried cutting slits into the sides of his leaves, not sure if that has helped out though, and i also tried cutting a leaf up into tiny pieces like the size they sever off when they eat, but apparently, he only knows to "tear" pieces off and either physically cannot, or hasn't figured out how to eat little pieces that are already torn off. Like I said, if anyone can think of something that might help, I will try it, so let me know!! And thanks

It wasn't putting him down that bothered me. It was how hard he struggled when we were trying to get him out. If I could do it over, I wouldn't have put him through it as long as we did. We thought we could get him out, but it was impossible because not only was he in deep, he had his butt to the door so he would have to turn around and there was no way he could have done that. The sadness I felt was not that we had to shoot him...mainly that we didn't realize what we were up against and do it quickly. I never want to see any animal suffer, so it would have been a kindness to him, to comfort him, give him water, and put him down immediately.

I saw the story on the news. The vet and assistant insisted on calling it a tail, which it is not. It's an abnormal growth that could swiftly become problematic as the pup matures. It would be easy to damage in rough play, either by another animal or all by himself. I would fully expect that a growth like this may be rejected by the body, cut off from blood (thus oxygen), and become a real medical problem. Better it be removed when the pup is young, than later. The vet assistant is presenting herself as ridiculous, an impediment to the best healthcare of a precious animal. This puppy does not have a cute little tail growing on its face. If it were emerging from the flank or leg or jowl, it wouldn't be so cute; removal would be encouraged rather than prevented.