Who has Pets with Special Needs?

Today's Cat of the Day Lucy, has inspired me to ask; who out there in "Pet Talk" Cyberspace has a pet in their family with special needs?

Such as a hearing or vision impaired pet, or a pet which requires special conditions, food, medication etc. I'd love to read your stories and see how you dealt with your individual situations.

For example, I must ONLY use a body harness or "Halti/Gentle Leader" for my dog Brando as he can't be lead with a collar. If he pulls even slightly while on a collar, he will start coughing heavily, wheezing and gagging.

Love to hear from you all!

(Please see my next topic "Choke-chains: are they Cruel?")

[This message has been edited by Luv My Brando (edited March 14, 2001).]

Hi,
My first cat, Sydney (now @ Rainbow Bridge) was deaf. He was all white with one blue eye and one green one. At the time, I was still living at home and my father didn't like cats at all. A friend of mine gave me Sydney as a Christmas gift when he was only a tiny baby. Mom and I got rid of his fleas and bathed him and when my dad came back from his business trip, begged him to let us keep him. Daddy said, "absolutely not" and we were heartbroken.
A little later, Sydney was asleep on the rug and my dad started snapping his fingers to wake him up and tell him to get off the rug, but Sydney continued sleeping peacefully. Daddy tried whistling and making all sorts of noises, but Sydney only woke up when he made a noise loud enough that he could feel the vibration.
My father, who strongly disliked cats, was the one to tell me that my kitten was deaf and that I could keep him provided I had him fixed, bathed him regularly and taught him not to jump up on certain places, such as the kitchen table.
Needless to say, Sydney was loved, pampered and cherished by my mother and myself for all of his almost ten year long life. The surprise is that he completely stole my father's cat-unfriendly heart and the first time I ever saw my dad really cry was when that cat died.
Today, my father loves cats and gets a kick out of my kitty Charlie's antics. He always tells my mom that she should get another cat, but she is reluctant because her heart still misses Sydney so. Sydney will always be in our hearts.


[This message has been edited by thelmalu99 (edited March 14, 2001).]

thelmalu, what a great story! I think it's funny how our dads start out cat unfriendly, only to become a cat lover when least expected. Same thing happened with my dad. Now it just cracks me up when I see him sitting on the couch with our old cat socks laying across his lap.
I have a cat with a behavioral problem, so I'm not sure if that counts as special needs. His behavioral problem forces my husband and I to keep him contained when we're not home, because otherwise he'll pee all over the house. We have to watch him like a hawk when he is out roaming about when we are home, which can be a little annoying at times. This is my husband's cat, and he just loves that thing to pieces. We've tried everything, but nothing seemed to stop the problem, so we just have a kitty playpen that he stays in when we're gone. He uses his box just fine when he's in there.

I had a good friend in high school who had a dog with epilepsy. It was the saddest thing to see that dog have one of her seizures. All we could do is steady her and keep her calm until it was over. She took medication for it.

I know the question was about cats with special needs but my story is about a dog. When I was about 10 or 11 yrs. old we owned a Coco-Poo,named Buffy, she was very special. After a vaccination at the vet she developed seizures and had them for the rest of her life. We are unsure why this happened, it may have had nothing to do with the vaccination. Anyway they started out just small but over the years got worse until she would be out of it for longer periods of time, the seizures got worse and sometimes there was severe vomiting. We eventually had to make the decision to have her put to sleep. It was a very sad day for us all. Her last meal was popcorn and she loved every minute of it. I still cry at the thought of it, crying now. Just wanted to share the story with you. Hope you don't mind.

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"As we all know, cats now rule the world."
--John R.F. Breen

[This message has been edited by bookitty1231 (edited March 14, 2001).]

Thelmalu99-

When I was a little girl, about 6, we got a Siamese and named her Samantha. She had a litter, of which we kept one, Bean. My father always groused about the cats, how much trouble they were, he wished we didn't have any, it was too hard when we moved (he was a pilot in the Air Force, so that happened frequently). When she was 10, Samantha was hit by a car. She died in the car as we were pulling into the vet's parking lot. We were all wrecks, all but my Dad being his stoic self. But when we were back home, and we were all standing behind my dad as he dug her grave, we saw this shoulders shake as he silently sobbed.

Before all us kids came along, my mom had two cats, Mickey Chick and Jimmy Jim. Mickey Chick got caught in the door of the refrigerator and was paralyzed from her tail on down. The vet suggested she be put down, but my mom refused, even though that meant she would have to be carried everywhere and needed assistance for her elimination. Amazingly, Jimmy Jim immediately took it upon himself to be her nurse. He would drag her outside to go potty, and then would stimulate her like a mother cat does her kittens to help her do her business. He would carry kibble in his mouth to her, and drag her to the water bowl. Remember, Jimmy Jim was another cat! Contrary to the vet's dire prediction, Mickey Chick eventually regained the use of her legs, bladder, and bowel and fully recovered after several month.

Many, many years later, one of my inside cats escaped. I finally found her the next day, and realized she had been badly injured. Although she was walking, it was clearly painful for her. Then I realized her tail was hanging limp - she couldn't even hold it up. I pinched her and realized she had no feeling in it. After a few hours, in which she just lay almost motionless on the floor, I realized she was leaking urine. I took her to the vet, who immediately recommended euthanasia. But I remembered Mickey Chick, and I remembered my own diagnosis several years ago of "irreversible" nerve damage, and me and Mickey Chick both survived. Besides, Thanksgiving was a week away and turkey was Boosie's favorite treat. Also, my son had not even been able to say goodbye. So I told the vet I would bring her back in a week, unless I saw some improvement. She assured me Boosie was probably not in pain, so said she would wait for us, but not to expect anything. Within that week I saw little, but some, improvement. She got turkey on Thanksgiving, we took lots of pictures of her, and then I took her to my own vet (I had previously been to the 24 hour vet). He said she looked bad, but refuted the other vet's contention that she had absolutely no bladder control. He saw weak flexing of the pertinent muscles. When I told him that they had been completely slack, he said, well, I guess she's gotten a little better. Well, that's all I needed. Her tail had been so mangled that it had to be amputated, but I did not put her down. I made little diapers for her by cutting apart pampers and velcroing them to those little doggie panties. As the months went on she needed them less and less, first all the time, then only during the day when she slept most, then only during the day when we weren't home to rush her to the box when she started looking anxious, then never. She did finally completely recover. She's at the rainbow bridge now due to an unrelated passing, but I am so thankful for that extra year we were able to enjoy her in our lives.

4 Feline-Thank you for the stories about your wonderful kitties...It's great to be able to share memories of our babies.

BooKitty-I loved the story about your precious Buffy. We all know how it feels to love and lose a wonderful pet, but the joy they bring us makes it all worthwile!

Wolflady-I'm glad our daddies realized what wonderful creatures cats are! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/wink.gif

Luv My Brando-Thank you for posting this topic! These stories are bringing tears to my eyes!
ps-I'm at work! I have to keep pretending there's something in my eye!!!

[This message has been edited by thelmalu99 (edited March 15, 2001).]

Quote:

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Originally posted by thelmalu99:
4 Feline-Thank you for the stories about your wonderful kitties...It's great to be able to share memories of our babies.

BooKitty-I loved the story about your precious Buffy. We all know how it feels to love and lose a wonderful pet, but the joy they bring us makes it all worthwile!

Wolflady-I'm glad our daddies realized what wonderful creatures cats are! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/wink.gif

Luv My Brando-Thank you for posting this topic! These stories are bringing tears to my eyes!
ps-I'm at work! I have to keep pretending there's something in my eye!!!

[This message has been edited by thelmalu99 (edited March 15, 2001).]

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Thelmalu99,
I am also at work and these stories brought tears to my eyes too!

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far, I've LOVED the stories!

P.S. I am going to add this topic to the Dog chat section also.

Anyone else who visits this topic, please add any stories that you may have......
Thank you so much!

4 feline house, bookitty, wolflady, your beautiful, sad stories of such devotion have me totally in tears. I was going to write about my precious kitty Tuna (Rainbow Bridge) who was a limb amputee, but I can't stop crying. Your stories bring back so many sweet and sad memories of past furkids and how we love them so: The turkey at Thanksgiving, the last popcorn meal, cutting little diapers. Thank you for so bravely sharing your stories of such incredible love and caring. Maybe I can tell you about my brave, beautiful Tuna another time.

[This message has been edited by tatsxxx11 (edited March 15, 2001).]