All About Our Pets(Pics, Advice, Etc)

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you guys... my horse fever is getting really, really, REALLY bad :arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh:

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I need 7 of them (probably)

My friend who lives an hour away has two horses, and I go out to ride with her... but I still want my own! No time, no money, no land... BUT I STILL WANT ONE SO BAD
 
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My friend who lives an hour away has two horses, and I go out to ride with her... but I still want my own! No time, no money, no land... BUT I STILL WANT ONE SO BAD
Same here. I had a mare I got at 7 years old that I outgrew (because she was lame and couldn't carry more than a young kid) and we retired when I was in middle school. In high school my parents said they'd get me another when I was in college. In undergrad, when we had to euthanize the old lady, it was 'well, maybe during vet school if you have time'. In vet school, I said I'd get one when I graduated. Now that I'm in a residency the goal is to finally get a horse within a month or two of boards and getting a 'real' job. If only I had a significant other to pay my living expenses so I could give all my money to a horse, I could have one sooner...but I've accepted that it will have to wait.
 
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Same here. I had a mare I got at 7 years old that I outgrew (because she was lame and couldn't carry more than a young kid) and we retired when I was in middle school. In high school my parents said they'd get me another when I was in college. In undergrad, when we had to euthanize the old lady, it was 'well, maybe during vet school if you have time'. In vet school, I said I'd get one when I graduated. Now that I'm in a residency the goal is to finally get a horse within a month or two of boards and getting a 'real' job. If only I had a significant other to pay my living expenses so I could give all my money to a horse, I could have one sooner...but I've accepted that it will have to wait.

Ugh... so frustrating! I never grew up with horses but have always LOVED riding. I've always wanted a horse. It wasn't until vet school that I've started riding my friends horses that I've been obsessive over it... I want one so bad To the point I'm considering taking out more loans next year so I can get one (or at least lease one). I've only taken out enough loans to pay for tuition this year... so it's possible. I know it's a bad idea... but I am getting to the point that I'm obsessing over it so much it might be worth it lol
 
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Ugh... so frustrating! I never grew up with horses but have always LOVED riding. I've always wanted a horse. It wasn't until vet school that I've started riding my friends horses that I've been obsessive over it... I want one so bad To the point I'm considering taking out more loans next year so I can get one (or at least lease one). I've only taken out enough loans to pay for tuition this year... so it's possible. I know it's a bad idea... but I am getting to the point that I'm obsessing over it so much it might be worth it lol
That was tempting but I ultimately decided I would rather wait than dig a deeper debt hole for myself. Plus there are so many unexpected expenses with horse ownership. I was amazed by my classmates who balanced a horse and vet school, but that wasn't something I felt like I could do no matter how much I wanted to. For now I have settled for saving as much money as possible on my resident salary so I'll be able to afford exactly what I want and be able to have savings for emergency medical care, a trailer, etc. when the time comes. Save the cost of board for enough months you have quite a bit of money to blow! I have enough already to cover purchase price of the type/level of horse I want, and starting to work towards cost of a trailer. But I'm a planner. I still peruse facebook sale ads daily though. I learned that I have expensive taste and a much more moderate theoretical budget.
 
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Ugh... so frustrating! I never grew up with horses but have always LOVED riding. I've always wanted a horse. It wasn't until vet school that I've started riding my friends horses that I've been obsessive over it... I want one so bad To the point I'm considering taking out more loans next year so I can get one (or at least lease one). I've only taken out enough loans to pay for tuition this year... so it's possible. I know it's a bad idea... but I am getting to the point that I'm obsessing over it so much it might be worth it lol
I've been lucky enough to have three horses that I've basically free leased over the years. It's a great system. They work too much and don't have enough time to ride their horse and I get to ride them whenever I want. It's the dream. All the horse, none of the cost.
 
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you guys... my horse fever is getting really, really, REALLY bad :arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh:

Go to Maryland and ride mine for me. She is cautious with everyone except me. But her boyfriend might get jealous
 
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Ugh... so frustrating! I never grew up with horses but have always LOVED riding. I've always wanted a horse. It wasn't until vet school that I've started riding my friends horses that I've been obsessive over it... I want one so bad To the point I'm considering taking out more loans next year so I can get one (or at least lease one). I've only taken out enough loans to pay for tuition this year... so it's possible. I know it's a bad idea... but I am getting to the point that I'm obsessing over it so much it might be worth it lol
Someone kinda suggested it later on but I would look and see if there are any free leases or partial leases in your area.

I used to rent a horse boarding facility in my old town and board to help pay off rent. I ended up getting 2 horses from a bum boarder about the same time as I nearly bought my first horse. With enough pasture, they really didn't cost that much and while I had planned on leasing them out for pay, I ended up doing a partial free lease because the girl knew more than I did about retraining the horses. So it was totally worth it for me.

Before I owned horses though, I volunteered at a few local horse rescues and mucked stalls endlessly, but the good ones would also let me ride and teach their training protocols and make it fun to go back.
 
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Someone kinda suggested it later on but I would look and see if there are any free leases or partial leases in your area.

I used to rent a horse boarding facility in my old town and board to help pay off rent. I ended up getting 2 horses from a bum boarder about the same time as I nearly bought my first horse. With enough pasture, they really didn't cost that much and while I had planned on leasing them out for pay, I ended up doing a partial free lease because the girl knew more than I did about retraining the horses. So it was totally worth it for me.

Before I owned horses though, I volunteered at a few local horse rescues and mucked stalls endlessly, but the good ones would also let me ride and teach their training protocols and make it fun to go back.
You ever volunteer with Charis Ranch? I have a friend who was very involved there and that place is pretty rad.
 
You ever volunteer with Charis Ranch? I have a friend who was very involved there and that place is pretty rad.
I volunteered at the thoroughbred rescue north of town and Savannah Acres (Shiloh Acres? I always get that name wrong)
 
You ever volunteer with Charis Ranch? I have a friend who was very involved there and that place is pretty rad.
I don't know where this one is... but I mix up names really easy.

I guess I also volunteered at a private training facility. She retaught me more advanced round penning and a few other tricks.
 
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@hazelmoo wish we went to the same school, I want to bring my horse out so bad but I need to find someone to do a half lease so he would get ridden enough
 
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Definitely also support the half lease/free lease suggestion.

Half lease is less of a financial/time commitment, but still allows the horse fix.

Free lease is still decently affordable, but you do pick up a bigger responsibility for keeping the horse working, and a higher financial risk should horse choose to break him/herself.
 
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Definitely also support the half lease/free lease suggestion.

Half lease is less of a financial/time commitment, but still allows the horse fix.

Free lease is still decently affordable, but you do pick up a bigger responsibility for keeping the horse working, and a higher financial risk should horse choose to break him/herself.
Unless you get a free lease that is like what I've been graced with where you have absolutely no financial obligations because these are people who have $$$$ but no time to ride and their horses are dinguses who buck if they dont get worked more than 1x/week
 
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Unless you get a free lease that is like what I've been graced with where you have absolutely no financial obligations because these are people who have $$$$ but no time to ride and their horses are dinguses who buck if they dont get worked more than 1x/week
Or you can get no obligations the way I did it too. She retrained the horse and rode as often as she wanted. She just showed me what she was doing and where the kinks were so I could work on it too, and I'd occasionally let her take that mare and the other on trail rides with friends.

As long as there was progress, I didn't have the time during my MS and was pregnant during a good chunk too, and she was kind and the mare was happy too... I was fine to just let her ride.

If she had made a mess, or lied about her riding experience and training style, it all would have gone very differently. I had planned on charging her... but she gave me things of benefit (and I'm a push over), so she paid nothing. She offered to clean stalls occasionally and pet sat for me once... but that was really it.
 
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Unless you get a free lease that is like what I've been graced with where you have absolutely no financial obligations because these are people who have $$$$ but no time to ride and their horses are dinguses who buck if they dont get worked more than 1x/week
And you are one lucky son of a gun haha.

My horse broke herself 2 days before my lease was up, and I was on the hook for all them vet bills.
 
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Ugh... so frustrating! I never grew up with horses but have always LOVED riding. I've always wanted a horse. It wasn't until vet school that I've started riding my friends horses that I've been obsessive over it... I want one so bad To the point I'm considering taking out more loans next year so I can get one (or at least lease one). I've only taken out enough loans to pay for tuition this year... so it's possible. I know it's a bad idea... but I am getting to the point that I'm obsessing over it so much it might be worth it lol

I feel ya. I pretty much grew up in a barn, which is hilarious because I didn't grow up in a family that loves horses. I kinda just found my way there on my own. I bought my first horse when I was 15 (and spent most of high school working my butt off as a result). I sold my mare two years ago and went from riding at least three to four days a week to probably riding three to four times in the last two years. It sucks being a horseless horse girl. I still clean stalls on the weekends and get to nuzzle some adorable muzzles, but it's not quite the same. Honestly, I don't have a ton of desire to ride other people's horses, though. I miss my mare.
 
Definitely also support the half lease/free lease suggestion.

Half lease is less of a financial/time commitment, but still allows the horse fix.

Free lease is still decently affordable, but you do pick up a bigger responsibility for keeping the horse working, and a higher financial risk should horse choose to break him/herself.

I, honestly, think free leases are risky...especially when in school without access to a lot of extra cash. Horses are accident prone as heck and there is nothing more stressful than a really sick horse and a really big vet bill. I personally won't own again or free lease until I'm out of school. Half leases are a great idea with the right person/horse.
 
I, honestly, think free leases are risky...especially when in school without access to a lot of extra cash. Horses are accident prone as heck and there is nothing more stressful than a really sick horse and a really big vet bill. I personally won't own again or free lease until I'm out of school. Half leases are a great idea with the right person/horse.

Yea there's a lot involved in free leases. Back home a free lease basically meant you paid for everything but didn't own the horse. Farrier every six weeks, shots at least 2x/yr, coggins, board if you don't have your own place, etc. But she did keep me out of trouble up all throughout high school
 
You are all doing it wrong.
One of my "part time jobs" in vet school was training horses... people paid me to ride their horse 3x a week! And I would frequently go more often than that just to get my fix in. All the fun, flexible schedule, and you make a profit!
 
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You are all doing it wrong.
One of my "part time jobs" in vet school was training horses... people paid me to ride their horse 3x a week! And I would frequently go more often than that just to get my fix in. All the fun, flexible schedule, and you make a profit!

...until one of said horses is a jerk face and you fall off and break every bone in your body...that would be my luck.
 
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Half leasing is honestly the way to go, I've done it for most of my life before college (I'm on the equestrian team at school to get my fix). Less of a time commitment, less $$$, less risk, but still a really good opportunity to ride 3x a week and possibly show if the situation is right! Definitely plan on finding a half lease situation wherever I end up for vet school
 
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And eat the padding in their cell, Colic, and die?

Sadly, this is all too accurate. Colic is such crap. Just thinking about a damn colicing horse gives me some serious PTSD :(
 
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I have very limited horse experience (did Girl Scout horse camp for 4 years), but would love to actually ride a horse. It's sad. :(

I've put a 7 year old girl on her with a halter and lead ropes at a show. She would be fine with you
 
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I'll clarify on my risk statement regarding free lease:

Yes you are on the hook for any incidents that happen while you are leasing the horse, but since you do not own the horse you are not going to be saddled with a potentially broken horse the rest of its life. You still have a way out.

Now, that does open the can of worms on what you are morally obligated to cover from then on, especially if you caused the injury/illness, but that is very much on an individual lease agreement basis.
 
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With mine, the horse was on my property. I fed her. I paid for all her regular vet care. If she got hurt while running on pasture being an idiot or in her stall, that was on me. (She cut her chest scratching on a fence post)

If she needed extra vet work like a spare Coggins to go to a show or something, the boarder would need to pay. If the boarder ran her into a fence or broke her leg doing something the horse should not be doing and the rider was directly at fault, then, yeah, she had to pay for it. But we talked about all that too. When the mare tried to colic, we talked about a decrease in work for a while and extra caution in feed and care and if she had gone against my plan, I would have thrown a fit and made her pay for any further vet care, but she was 100% great and we never had a problem.
 
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ImageUploadedBySDN1484335192.069068.jpg


I just picked him up from boarding at the vet. I call this the "hey mom can we go get food?" face
 
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The good news is that my foster kitties are doing great in their new home! The owner was worried because they hid under a bed the entire first day, so she stayed up all night to spend time with them and help them feel comfortable. They're their normal selves now, following their people around the house and playing nonstop. They really found the perfect home. :love:



The sad news is that I had to say goodbye to my Cali kitty today. She would have been 11 in April. I adopted her when I was 13 - I saved my babysitting money all summer, and when I had $160 saved (a fortune) we went to the shelter and picked her out.

She had terrible dental health and had just a few teeth left after her most recent dental. She was the Queen cat - she'd sleep on the cat tower like she owned it, and she would talk to you when you said her name. Sometimes I caught her snuggling with another cat, but she wouldn't let that happen often. :laugh: She had so much sass and personality.

She was diagnosed with CKD last April, but it looked like we caught it early enough. She went on an appropriate diet and we were going to recheck her kidneys this spring. She wasn't supposed to go back to the vet until this April.

On Sunday she vomited, which wasn't incredibly weird, but she was sleeping a lot on Monday and not eating anything but treats. She went to the vet on Tuesday, and her BUN and Creatinine were really high, but her blood cells were also off, so we were hopeful she had an infection we could help with antibiotics. We started fluids at home and she seemed a little better. This morning she was acting really sick. She hadn't absorbed her fluids from yesterday, and we found out that she had stopped making urine. I took her to the vet a half hour after I got up today, without showing or anything, and I was already a weepy mess before we talked to the vet or rechecked her blood. She was in renal failure. There was nothing we could do to make her comfortable so we euthanized her this morning. I have never been so affected by a pet's death before. On Tuesday we weren't even talking about life and death situations. Suddenly today we were, and it was so fast and I was supposed to have so much more time with her.


IMG_20161130_111015836_HDR.jpg
 
The good news is that my foster kitties are doing great in their new home! The owner was worried because they hid under a bed the entire first day, so she stayed up all night to spend time with them and help them feel comfortable. They're their normal selves now, following their people around the house and playing nonstop. They really found the perfect home. :love:



The sad news is that I had to say goodbye to my Cali kitty today. She would have been 11 in April. I adopted her when I was 13 - I saved my babysitting money all summer, and when I had $160 saved (a fortune) we went to the shelter and picked her out.

She had terrible dental health and had just a few teeth left after her most recent dental. She was the Queen cat - she'd sleep on the cat tower like she owned it, and she would talk to you when you said her name. Sometimes I caught her snuggling with another cat, but she wouldn't let that happen often. :laugh: She had so much sass and personality.

She was diagnosed with CKD last April, but it looked like we caught it early enough. She went on an appropriate diet and we were going to recheck her kidneys this spring. She wasn't supposed to go back to the vet until this April.

On Sunday she vomited, which wasn't incredibly weird, but she was sleeping a lot on Monday and not eating anything but treats. She went to the vet on Tuesday, and her BUN and Creatinine were really high, but her blood cells were also off, so we were hopeful she had an infection we could help with antibiotics. We started fluids at home and she seemed a little better. This morning she was acting really sick. She hadn't absorbed her fluids from yesterday, and we found out that she had stopped making urine. I took her to the vet a half hour after I got up today, without showing or anything, and I was already a weepy mess before we talked to the vet or rechecked her blood. She was in renal failure. There was nothing we could do to make her comfortable so we euthanized her this morning. I have never been so affected by a pet's death before. On Tuesday we weren't even talking about life and death situations. Suddenly today we were, and it was so fast and I was supposed to have so much more time with her.


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I'm so sorry PBC :( so many hugs for you.
 
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The good news is that my foster kitties are doing great in their new home! The owner was worried because they hid under a bed the entire first day, so she stayed up all night to spend time with them and help them feel comfortable. They're their normal selves now, following their people around the house and playing nonstop. They really found the perfect home. :love:



The sad news is that I had to say goodbye to my Cali kitty today. She would have been 11 in April. I adopted her when I was 13 - I saved my babysitting money all summer, and when I had $160 saved (a fortune) we went to the shelter and picked her out.

She had terrible dental health and had just a few teeth left after her most recent dental. She was the Queen cat - she'd sleep on the cat tower like she owned it, and she would talk to you when you said her name. Sometimes I caught her snuggling with another cat, but she wouldn't let that happen often. :laugh: She had so much sass and personality.

She was diagnosed with CKD last April, but it looked like we caught it early enough. She went on an appropriate diet and we were going to recheck her kidneys this spring. She wasn't supposed to go back to the vet until this April.

On Sunday she vomited, which wasn't incredibly weird, but she was sleeping a lot on Monday and not eating anything but treats. She went to the vet on Tuesday, and her BUN and Creatinine were really high, but her blood cells were also off, so we were hopeful she had an infection we could help with antibiotics. We started fluids at home and she seemed a little better. This morning she was acting really sick. She hadn't absorbed her fluids from yesterday, and we found out that she had stopped making urine. I took her to the vet a half hour after I got up today, without showing or anything, and I was already a weepy mess before we talked to the vet or rechecked her blood. She was in renal failure. There was nothing we could do to make her comfortable so we euthanized her this morning. I have never been so affected by a pet's death before. On Tuesday we weren't even talking about life and death situations. Suddenly today we were, and it was so fast and I was supposed to have so much more time with her.


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I'm so sorry PBC. :( It sucks when you lose them suddenly even if you were expecting to lose them. Hugs for you.
 
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The good news is that my foster kitties are doing great in their new home! The owner was worried because they hid under a bed the entire first day, so she stayed up all night to spend time with them and help them feel comfortable. They're their normal selves now, following their people around the house and playing nonstop. They really found the perfect home. :love:



The sad news is that I had to say goodbye to my Cali kitty today. She would have been 11 in April. I adopted her when I was 13 - I saved my babysitting money all summer, and when I had $160 saved (a fortune) we went to the shelter and picked her out.

She had terrible dental health and had just a few teeth left after her most recent dental. She was the Queen cat - she'd sleep on the cat tower like she owned it, and she would talk to you when you said her name. Sometimes I caught her snuggling with another cat, but she wouldn't let that happen often. :laugh: She had so much sass and personality.

She was diagnosed with CKD last April, but it looked like we caught it early enough. She went on an appropriate diet and we were going to recheck her kidneys this spring. She wasn't supposed to go back to the vet until this April.

On Sunday she vomited, which wasn't incredibly weird, but she was sleeping a lot on Monday and not eating anything but treats. She went to the vet on Tuesday, and her BUN and Creatinine were really high, but her blood cells were also off, so we were hopeful she had an infection we could help with antibiotics. We started fluids at home and she seemed a little better. This morning she was acting really sick. She hadn't absorbed her fluids from yesterday, and we found out that she had stopped making urine. I took her to the vet a half hour after I got up today, without showing or anything, and I was already a weepy mess before we talked to the vet or rechecked her blood. She was in renal failure. There was nothing we could do to make her comfortable so we euthanized her this morning. I have never been so affected by a pet's death before. On Tuesday we weren't even talking about life and death situations. Suddenly today we were, and it was so fast and I was supposed to have so much more time with her.


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I'm sorry PBC <3 sending hugs
But I'm happy that you found a great home for your fosters<3
 
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The good news is that my foster kitties are doing great in their new home! The owner was worried because they hid under a bed the entire first day, so she stayed up all night to spend time with them and help them feel comfortable. They're their normal selves now, following their people around the house and playing nonstop. They really found the perfect home. :love:



The sad news is that I had to say goodbye to my Cali kitty today. She would have been 11 in April. I adopted her when I was 13 - I saved my babysitting money all summer, and when I had $160 saved (a fortune) we went to the shelter and picked her out.

She had terrible dental health and had just a few teeth left after her most recent dental. She was the Queen cat - she'd sleep on the cat tower like she owned it, and she would talk to you when you said her name. Sometimes I caught her snuggling with another cat, but she wouldn't let that happen often. :laugh: She had so much sass and personality.

She was diagnosed with CKD last April, but it looked like we caught it early enough. She went on an appropriate diet and we were going to recheck her kidneys this spring. She wasn't supposed to go back to the vet until this April.

On Sunday she vomited, which wasn't incredibly weird, but she was sleeping a lot on Monday and not eating anything but treats. She went to the vet on Tuesday, and her BUN and Creatinine were really high, but her blood cells were also off, so we were hopeful she had an infection we could help with antibiotics. We started fluids at home and she seemed a little better. This morning she was acting really sick. She hadn't absorbed her fluids from yesterday, and we found out that she had stopped making urine. I took her to the vet a half hour after I got up today, without showing or anything, and I was already a weepy mess before we talked to the vet or rechecked her blood. She was in renal failure. There was nothing we could do to make her comfortable so we euthanized her this morning. I have never been so affected by a pet's death before. On Tuesday we weren't even talking about life and death situations. Suddenly today we were, and it was so fast and I was supposed to have so much more time with her.


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Sorry :( So much love your way for you and your kitties. <3
 
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The good news is that my foster kitties are doing great in their new home! The owner was worried because they hid under a bed the entire first day, so she stayed up all night to spend time with them and help them feel comfortable. They're their normal selves now, following their people around the house and playing nonstop. They really found the perfect home. :love:



The sad news is that I had to say goodbye to my Cali kitty today. She would have been 11 in April. I adopted her when I was 13 - I saved my babysitting money all summer, and when I had $160 saved (a fortune) we went to the shelter and picked her out.

She had terrible dental health and had just a few teeth left after her most recent dental. She was the Queen cat - she'd sleep on the cat tower like she owned it, and she would talk to you when you said her name. Sometimes I caught her snuggling with another cat, but she wouldn't let that happen often. :laugh: She had so much sass and personality.

She was diagnosed with CKD last April, but it looked like we caught it early enough. She went on an appropriate diet and we were going to recheck her kidneys this spring. She wasn't supposed to go back to the vet until this April.

On Sunday she vomited, which wasn't incredibly weird, but she was sleeping a lot on Monday and not eating anything but treats. She went to the vet on Tuesday, and her BUN and Creatinine were really high, but her blood cells were also off, so we were hopeful she had an infection we could help with antibiotics. We started fluids at home and she seemed a little better. This morning she was acting really sick. She hadn't absorbed her fluids from yesterday, and we found out that she had stopped making urine. I took her to the vet a half hour after I got up today, without showing or anything, and I was already a weepy mess before we talked to the vet or rechecked her blood. She was in renal failure. There was nothing we could do to make her comfortable so we euthanized her this morning. I have never been so affected by a pet's death before. On Tuesday we weren't even talking about life and death situations. Suddenly today we were, and it was so fast and I was supposed to have so much more time with her.


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Dear @PrincessButterCup, I wish I could say something profound that would comfort and console you, but my own tears are choking me up after I read your post.

I am so very sorry you lost your beautiful Cali kitty today. Although I know you had no other choice but to provide your sweet cat with a humane, compassionate, and dignified passing, my heart aches for you. My heart aches for your beautiful cat, too. Losing a pet is absolutely heartbreaking!

Rest in peace, little Cali kitty, you will never be forgotten.

( ( ( PrincessButterCup and her Cali kitty ) ) )
 
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So sorry PBC. Just remember what a great life you gave her while you had her. She was obviously well-loved and enjoyed her life with you.
 
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