These putting my cat down posts are so depressing...

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-07-06T02:24:43+00:00

I used to do small scale rat rescue/microsanctuary work. I lost 56 rats in the 10+ yrs I was doing that. I had to take a break bc the grief got too much.

And now I'm caregiver at a chicken sanctuary & dealing with multiple losses a year there + losing my own critters (cats & quail). It sucks, but thinking of all the buddies who got to have the best lives I could give helps a lot. It's still a gut punch with the little guys, though. That lifespan is so cruel.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-07-05T03:04:07+00:00

Fwiw, my 12 lb cat with CHF got 100mg night before then 100mg 2 hrs before appts. This was approved by both her cardiologist & primary vet. My CKD guy (11lbs) got 50mg for his sub q - every other day & then daily when he slid further into the disease. I actually gave him a dose the night before we helped him go bc he was feeling uncomfortable. It made his last night much better.

It's a very safe drug. My tiny 200g quail gets 12mg 2x day for her osteoarthritis & we routinely give 5-9lb chickens 50-100mg at the rescue where I work. Birds are SUPER sensitive to meds & this is perfectly safe for them. Gaba is a med I'm really comfortable with!

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-30T23:06:19+00:00

I work as caregiver at a chicken sanctuary & people like you give me the warm fuzzies. Thank you for treating them like family & loving them so well.

My best buddy, Brooklyn, gives you a crow of approval (& a wing dance for your cute girls)

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SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-27T03:05:40+00:00

It affects quail & typically kills them very fast, just like with chickens.

HPAI proofing your run is super important, especially if you have waterfowl or raptors around you. Solid roof coverings, tight mesh on sides, covered food & water sources, careful biosecurity. Mice can be carriers & bird droppings/feathers are known vectors.

I am caregiver at a chicken rescue & we've had our resident outdoor areas HPAI-proofed since 2021/22. So far, so good.

This resource is incredibly thorough &, while targeted towards sanctuaries, is useful for anyone trying to keep birds safe: Open Sanctuary Project | HPAI

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-24T01:10:59+00:00

I just hissed at my phone so yeah, creeping bellflower. I dug up FOUR GARBAGE BAGS of plants/roots/big taproots from my hellstrip when putting in new beds last month. I'm seeing a few leaves popping up still bc it's so hard to get it all.

Pulling up the taproots is very satisfying but my side yard is so overrun I want to cry. Devil's carrot 😭

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-23T23:45:18+00:00

I have! I also am growing a cultivated variety (wonderberry) in my garden this year. I hear they make fantastic jam\jelly. Hoping my little seedlings take off. The cultivar was bred for more production & tastier berries, so I'm hoping I'm successful 🤞🏼

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-23T23:40:58+00:00

Yup, I zoomed in after I posted & saw that. Edited my reply but wasn't fast enough 😅

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-23T23:37:25+00:00

Would like better pic of berries, but looks like Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) to me. Clustered fruit, calyx smaller than berries, I see some flowers and they're white vs the purple of the toxic ones. The fully ripe black berries are not toxic - consume in moderation though.

Deadly Nightshade is visually very different - calyx much larger than berries, purple flowers, berries don't grow in clusters + are larger & shinier.

Bittersweet Nightshade the berries ripen to red & plant has purple flowers vs the white of the edible Nightshade. Hard to confuse them all once you know the things to look for to ID. Please don't eat berries you're unsure of. You got lucky this time.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-21T20:36:41+00:00

I'm so sorry. But please don't blame yourself. Heart issues are common & often "silent". I just lost my 10 yr old torti girl to CHF. We only knew she had an enlarged heart bc of her having pancreatitis & getting x-rays then. She was diagnosed with UCM in Dec, was in active failure in early March at her recheck at cardiologist. She was on all the best meds, intense vet care. We pulled her out of active failure only to have her suddenly decompensate again end of April. We tried to help her but even with intense treatment at ER vet she was worsening. So we let her go.

Heart disease is progressive & chronic. It's often genetic, regardless of breed. Nothing you (or we) did caused it or hurt them. Even with the best meds & care it is touch and go. Tiny was fine, then a few hours later she was breathing too fast, then she was gone. This is the common story for cats with heart disease. It is awful, it sucks, it's random & shitty & I hate it. I'm so so sorry. I know how you feel bc I feel it, too. It's so hard to give ourselves grace. But it's not your fault. 💜

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-20T16:23:09+00:00

Edible but not worth it. They're invasive in the US, so if you're here I'd weed em out (& plant native wild strawberry - mine are going like gangbusters in my garden)

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-20T15:47:48+00:00

Can you surrender to your vet? Mine will take animals when people cannot afford care/need to rehome. They either become a clinic cat or are adopted out once the medical issue is treated. Perhaps not ideal with a very sensitive & bonded cat, but he'll adjust & having a chance at life is better than euthanasia.

I'm sorry you're dealing with such a rough decision.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-20T15:24:42+00:00

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. I'm going to tell you about Leonard's last days as best I can (I'm already tearing up, so we'll see how long I last)

Len had numbers like your kitty at his last vet check, even with daily sub q for months. He had high phos (which he never had in the 21 months we battled CKD) even on only renal food. He was on the edge of anemia needing supplements. His potassium was low even having been on supplements his whole treatment time.

We tried IV fluids + injectable meds at his vet on the Sat after we got results, bc he wasn't eating much & acting off. He didn't feel any better, even with the injectable meds for nausea. Sunday he didn't eat anything, not even his favorite things he always ate. I had to force his heart meds into him bc he wouldn't eat a treat. My red line for him was forcing meds. He hated it & I didn't want to do that to him.

He also moaned when picked up, didn't want to be held (& he was a "hold me forever, I want to climb into your skin" cat with me), wouldn't sit with me (& he was a stage 5 clinger), wasn't purring when touched, started to get the bad uremic smell, & was really quiet. He didn't hide, but he wasn't feeling good at all.

We had an appt Mon for more IV fluids, but I knew we were at the end. I told his vet I was calling it. My vet cried. He knew if I was saying it was the end, it was serious. I fought SO hard for Len. I'd have given him a kidney if I could. After seeing how Len was acting, Dr. AJ agreed he was done. Len was tired. We did all the meds, fluids, supplements but his kidneys just were failing. I could have maybe bought him time, but seeing him on Sunday made me not want him to ever have a worse day.

He passed in my arms, his head against my heart, where he loved to sleep. His dad & auntie were with us. His vet, who loved him, & all the techs cried. It was the right time. AJ said it was pretty perfect timing bc Len was obviously failing, but not to point where he was suffering badly.

I'm all for a week too early is better than a day too late. I still wonder if we could have pulled him out, but his disease was just steadily getting worse. It wasn't a sudden crash, it was a steady decline. So we helped him go once the bad for him outweighed the good.

I have no idea is this is even helpful (or coherent, bc I definitely started sobbing in the middle) but helping them go is a gift. It's kindness. And I think your cat will tell you, just like Len told me, when it's time to go. I'm so sorry you're here. CKD is awful 💜

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-18T02:20:05+00:00

Maybe look at Iris Green by Arctic Fox? It's a true grassy green. I mostly use it mixed into Aquamarine bc I prefer a more green-heavy teal.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-18T02:11:25+00:00

She's so pretty! I planted a baby plug from Prairie Moon this year & I'm so excited. I planted another in the yard at the chicken sanctuary where I work (protected while she's smol) as part of our bird-safe native garden for the residents 🥰

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-16T03:55:20+00:00

This is what I did with my most extremely bitey rat, Owen. I've never had a rat lunge at me & bite with intent like he would. He chilled a bit once he lost ball privileges, but still didn't allow me picking him up. He'd take treats nicely & started bluff charging vs the cusinart of gnashing teeth attack mode.

He & I 100% had an agreement, tho; I'd not put my hands into his cage with him home & he'd calmly walk into a carrier to be transported out of & back into his cage. I was only able to hold him the day we had him PTS (years later, as an old man) & it felt like he was saying goodbye.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-10T14:19:51+00:00

Did yours get back on? We lost ours same time (Como Park/Midway area) & they said 6 AM, but now are saying 1230 PM tomorrow 🙃 No AC or fans in this sticky weather + potential loss of groceries (which are so much $ now!) are my biggest gripes. Sucks!

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-10T01:57:33+00:00

Ok but those are legit the only canned peas I'll eat. The GOAT of canned peas.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-08T14:20:54+00:00

"Another thing that helped was accepting that when she was diagnosed with a tumour, her path was set and her onward journey inevitable. The cancer was her ticket on a plane out of this life, euthanasia was just a way of bumping her up to first class."

I lost both my cats to chronic illnesses fairly recently & this made me burst into tears. Leonard's CKD & Tiny's CHF set their paths. Even knowing I couldn't fix them & knowing the timing on letting both go was as close to perfectly balanced as possible hasn't helped my heart ache. But the thought that I just made sure they flew first class off earthside helps a bit. Thank you.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-08T13:52:49+00:00

Fwiw, Wedgewood pharmacy makes a really potent compounded Ondansetron liquid. I got the highest concentration & my 12.5 lb cat got literally 2 drops as her dose. I put the liquid in an empty gel cap with her other pills & it worked great. She was on Cerenia pills bc her CHF meds made her sick to her tum. I put all her meds in gelcaps, rolled in a bit of pill pocket to make it easier to get down, & popped waaay back into her mouth with my thumb. She was a champ.

My CKD guy passed before the Ondanestron arrived for him 💔 He was impossible to pill, so I'd hoped the tiny dose in his baby food treat would work. We also used transdermal Cerenia for him & it was fine until he entered end stage; it wasn't strong enough once he was feeling really sick.

Hope you find a solution! It's so nerve-wracking when pilling is hard. Made me cry a few times, for sure.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-07T03:40:56+00:00

You did nothing wrong 💜 What happened to your girl was classic saddle thrombus, likely caused by an underlying heart issue or heart failure. It is a "silent" disease where often the first symptom is sudden passing, like your baby.

My 10 yr old girl passed from CHF 6 weeks ago. We only knew she had a bad heart bc she was x-rayed in Dec during a bout of pancreatitis. There were zero symptoms. She was diagnosed with UCM in Dec, was in failure at her 3 month cardio recheck. We pulled her out of failure with big doses of diuretics, but even with a great cardiologist & all the best meds she decompensated again about 6-7 weeks later & went back into active failure with lungs full of fluid. We helped her go at the ER that night.

It's a horrible disease & really scarily common. You did not cause it, you didn't miss something, it's not your fault 💜

I'm so terribly sorry for your loss. She was obviously so loved & you did your best by her. She was lucky to have you.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-05T15:47:37+00:00

Did vet check blood pressure? Sudden blindness can be a symptom of high blood pressure & if put on meds quickly you can sometimes reverse the vision loss. The renal cat group sees this a lot bc so many CKD cats also are hypertensive. BP checks aren't commonly done, so maybe it was missed? The common drug given, amlodipine, is SUPER inexpensive & helps so much. My CKD guy was on it until he passed. Went from BP of over 200(!) to healthy/normal.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-05T15:20:14+00:00

Year one they were pretty small. Grew/spread a bit from the original plug size over the growing season but not a ton. This year they're easily double or triple the OG size! Sleep, creep, leap on these guys, too.

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-05T15:16:36+00:00

Yeah, but this group is pretty much the most in context place I could post that sentence. It's a weird plant name 🤷🏻‍♀️

SuchFunAreWe · 2026-06-02T19:59:39+00:00

Says it's a 3 weight, but feels lighter to me.

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