you know I don't normally respond to posts to which I disagree but this time I have to say something. Several somethings. 1. Cats, while they may be perfectly wonderful rodent reducers (however, there's no guarantee of that--not all cats are naturally successful hunters), do not normally choose bugs as their prey item. If this is your method of pest control, you will shortly be up to your eyeballs in bugs. 2. You certainly do not need to stop feeding your cat to get it to hunt. Cats will hunt and kill prey even when they are fully fed. Do a little research on how many song birds are killed by domestic (and I don't mean feral) cats. 3. Bugs are not recommended cat food. Cats can contract any number of illnesses and parasites from bugs, not to mention those nasty rough bug legs can get caught in their throats. And although I can't personally attest to it, I suspect that a diet of bugs would not provide the correct nutrition. 4. Outdoor cats are exposed to dogs, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, diseases from unvaccinated animals, poisons, cars, injuries from other cats, parasites--the list is endless. In short, the average life of an outdoor cat is about 1/2 that of one kept indoors.

My husband & I had to put our sweet 15 year old girl down yesterday. We were both comfortable with our decision mo matter how heartbreaking it was. Her kidneys were shutting down. The vet administered a sedative that did not seem to relax her much. They then took her in the back to insert a cathater in her front leg. As soon as the vet started to inject Mirsy wirh the solution, she screamed, struggled. We were horrified. The vet did not stop as much as we pleaded to stop hurting her. After the needle was empty, the vet realized the catheter came out of the vain. The cold thick solution was not entering her vein. It had to be painful. Mitsy screamed for at least 5 minutes. The vet inserted another cathater in her hind leg. By this time 20 minutes has past, Mitsy is whimpering the whole time, still alive. The vet injected a second dose and we watched her slowly die for 1 hour and 10 minutes after the first 20 minute attempt. We watched our sweet baby scream, whimper, gasp and slowly die for 1 & 1/2 hours. We spent 15 years insuring Mitsy was never in pain and always felt safe with her Mom & Dad. The thought of her pain, struggke, confusion, panic for 1& 1/2 hours is the stuff nightmares are made of. Has anyone ever experienced this lenght of time for 2 injections to euthanize their pet. How long was she fighting to live, how much pain did she experience. I feel like something went wrong, maybe the wrong medicine. The vet said she could not administer any more solution. Why? Let's face it, it's not like too much was going to kill her. That was the original intention.. My husband and I obviously felt like we made a terrible decision. Mitsy must have been so healthy, how else could she survive 2 full injections meant to euthanize her? I know that thought is not true but hard to not think it. I will never forget her struggle, looking to us as she screamed to help her. It would help to hear from anyone that unfortunately experience such a prolonged nightmare. My heart goes out to everyone's story Ive read on this site. Thank you

Hi, I was wondering if you had found out what the problem with your dalmatian was yet or if the shaking had stopped? i have a male dalmatian who is nearly 5 and he has started with the same symptoms! He only seems to shake in the morning and this stops after his walk. He's eating and drinking fine and runs like a lunatic when out walking! He too goes to his bed after walkies, he doesn't look like he has done anything wrong but just seems very lethargic all the time. He's fed 3 times a day and is on hills U/D food as he suffered with bladder stones when younger. He's been seen by the vet 3 times in the last week for this but doesn't shake when there and behaves normally! They have ruled out the bladder stones issue as he is urinating fine and after a sample was tested its all normal (well normal for him). We did find a small lump on his chest which the vet has taken a sample from and sent for analysis but he doesn't seem bothered by the lump and the vet thinks the symptoms are not linked. He has never suffered with separation anxiety before and when I am at work my brother is home with him, so he is basically never left alone for more than an hour tops! I'm really baffled with this problem as are the vets he's seeing! So I just was hoping you might have got some answers!? Any help would be much appreciated! Of course I will let u know if my vets figure out what's going on with him. Thanks in advance.

trancegemini: I believe they did the fluid treatment this way because they wanted that quick boost to try and help him want to eat and to see if he would tolerate the treatments...I spoke with him yesterday evening after I typed that last message and the vet said that it should have helped, the bad diarrhea accident was not a good sign either he said and it seems his kidneys are shutting down. The bacteria they found in his stool is on the bottom the list and is not really the problem at this point. My questions to him were would have more fluids helped him, he said no. We discussed the Euthanasia options that I can have him cremated or buried. I could either keep his ashes or have him cremated with other animals and his ashes scattered at a park. I feel rushed to make this decision because of stupid work and social conflicts. I really don't want to have to do it tomorrow and have to go back to work on Friday...I can do it Friday evening but then my boyfriend feels bad because he has a show to play Friday night and doesn't want to leave me at home crying and depressed...but I also feel like I'm being cruel to let him starve until Saturday. I really want to take him to the park or something and just sit there and soak in the fresh air, my boyfriend doesn't seem like its a good idea he basically said that its not like Loki will enjoy it. I just wanted to do something special one last time before I end my best friends life. I just feel so selfish and cruel. I wish my boy could just tell me somehow that its going to be ok and that I should just let him go. But its so hard when he perks his ears and lifts up his head and that tail starts wagging when he sees me. Annz: Thank you I know that if I talk to the vet that gave him the treatment he'll tell me what he would choose for his own dog. He told me about his dog when I was in his office getting a second opinion on his leg condition. He said they suspected his dog had a brain tumor just from all the signs he exhibited, he opted not to do an MRI or surgery because going through vet school he did some brain surgeries and he knew how extensive and harsh they were and didn't want to put his dog through that. After that I really felt this vet was a truly caring compassionate person, the other vet just doesn't have that good of a bed side manner. I always felt I was rushed and when I asked questions at times I felt like he just kinda of brushed them aside or he'd give me all this info that left me standing there saying huh?? Even though its almost $100 more to go to the more compassionate vet I'm leaning towards that option. Though I think I will call the other vet just to let him know what we tried and what he thinks.