Crazy animal lady thread - sperg about your pets here

[Paisley Park]

Me and my fiancée have a 7 year old labradoodle we've been taking care of for the last 4 years or so. They're a great breed, don't shed, and always very playful, while knowing when to be calm as well. Glad our apartment accepts pets lol

 

[anliteralidiot]

It's that time of the year again, where my cat son becomes the sweetest baby angel, and sleeps in our bed all night because it's cold outside. He's a 14yo man, and he doesn't want to be cold goddamnit. Normally, he would start causing chaos at 5am, but during the winter months he'll do anything to not get kicked out of our room. He either sleeps between my husband and I, or he'll force his way under my blankets, and into the crook of my arm (he taught himself this).

 

[Cherry Milk]

I recently started getting back into horse riding.
I had a nasty fall many years ago and cut horses out of my life. Now I'm volunteering at a local community stables and I'm looking at going riding again soon.
It's nerve-wracking at times but I'm getting my confidence back, slowly

 

[jfkfactsDOTorg]

not my sweetie pie because she's a pretty identifiable kitty, but check out this little lady i visited at the local animal shelter because i have free will and was enchanted by her eyebrows:



i love calicos so much...

 

[Premium Gonzo]

not my sweetie pie because she's a pretty identifiable kitty, but check out this little lady i visited at the local animal shelter because i have free will and was enchanted by her eyebrows:

View attachment 8315450

i love calicos so much...

You mean you took her home right...

You better or i'll be upset.

 

[everybody in Portugal]

We lost our sweet, gentle Estrela to degenerative myelopathy a few weeks ago, and even with the rest of the pack around the house still feels a bit empty. She had been going downhill for the best part of a year but we didn't get a firm diagnosis until late September by which time she was starting to decline really, really fast.

She had an absolutely shit life before she came to us, literally tied to a tree and half-starved/fed mouldy bread every other day and left without water in 40+° summers for the first four years of her life, and she had absolutely no socialisation through all that so she sort of had.. dog autism, I guess? She couldn't really interact meaningfully with our other dogs at all (literally only saw her try once) but she was so loving and trusting and really just wanted a soft bed and a meal and as many cuddles as you had time to give her. Couldn't look you in the eyes, but could lay her big old head in your lap and paw at you when you were idly petting her and then stopped without realising you had.

DM is a horribly cruel disease—essentially the doggy form of ALS—she was so confused about why her legs were not working anymore, although thankfully not in pain, and we had spent most of the last few months scrubbing shit off her and the floors and furniture where she had become incontinent, but we were not ready for her to go. Am taking solace in the knowledge that she had one and a half more good years with us knowing love and a full belly than she had tied up to that tree being neglected and dehydrated, but we still miss her pretty badly. I am grateful the vet could do a home visit, so she went peacefully with both of us holding her and one of the lurchers up on the bed with her being a calm warm presence to shepherd her away. She was wonderful.

Also since I last popped in here, one of the lurchers was mauled (local shepherd is a wanker and his dogs are awful, vicious things) and has gotten quite scared of dogs that aren't in our pack, the mastiff got to a chocolate cake and got a bite before he was dragged away (vet was closed for the night so we had to make him throw up at home, he is thankfully fine and hasn't learned a damn thing except that he really likes cake and would definitely eat it again if given a chance), and other lurcher (my specialest baby) was in a hit-and-run last month and broke his leg so badly we thought he was going to be a tripod; I took him to the nearest city to the best surgical vet I know of in this country and several thousand currency units later he now has a plate, several pins, an absolutely gnarly scar and the promise that by early spring he will run again. Thankfully being a lurcher he is A-OK with being on limited, lead-controlled walks and lots of bedrest until then.

In happier news, I was allowed to bring home the stray puppy from the village that I'd been feeding for a few months, and she has brought lots of joy and life to the house (and lots of chaos courtesy of the many, many ancient chaos demons that possess her tiny, adorable furry little body). She is very smart and freakishly strong and as fierce as a lion and so pretty I'm not entirely convinced she wasn't designed by some sort of committee in order to sell me something. Think she is probably a podenco/Estrela/rafeiro mix, going on her looks, size, temperament and what the local stray population consists of, but mostly she's adorable trouble.

Have put pics of she (blonde, smol) and the beautiful Estrela (brunette, regal, fluffy as fawk) below.

Spoiler: pic tax

Anyway thanks for listening to my dog nonsense. I am ready for 2026 to be a better year and to see my lurcher boy running full pelt again, pls.

 

[Just A Rat]

What magnificent beasts!! I wish you all a far less eventful year in 2026.

 

[glioblastoma multiforme]

I ordered some pheromone diffusers tonight and I hope that helps.

If they don't work try pet remedy, my male cat is made worse by the pheremone ones because he thinks it means there's another cat there. We also tried him on Zylkene but it has no noticeable effect, but you can buy it online without a prescription, at least here.

we had spent most of the last few months scrubbing shit off her and the floors and furniture where she had become incontinent,

Maxwell was like that towards the end, I felt awful for her, I knew she must have been so uncomfortable but she wouldn't let me wipe her bum. I didn't even care about the sofas and stuff, they can be washed, she'd always had this air of dignity to her and seeing that lost was heartbreaking.

I'm so sorry for your loss but glad you could give her that time to know love.

I hadn't realised I'd not been to this thread since my Maxwell tribute post and its kind of broken me. I was going to introduce the kittens we just adopted but it doesn't feel right now.

Me and that cat went through so much together. One thing no one really talks about with addiction is that you learn your value system. It takes utter desperation to find out which lines you will and won't cross. She taught me some of mine. I had times when there was choice between feeding her and feeding an intense, very expensive, habit and I never even considered choosing the latter. I kept her up to date on her vaccinations etc. It might not sound like much, and she recieved much better care than that for most of the time we spent together. In dark days it gives you hope to know you aren't fully lost, she gave me that.

I just wish I'd been able to give her the full on luxury treatment she deserved the whole time. At least by the time she was getting old I could, we kept her arthritis at bay with YuMove, loxicom, and then Solensia. Then in her dying days we gave her everything. I've been clean for nearly a decade but fucking hell am I grateful that I was to give her the best of everything in later life.

I still miss her so much, she was just the best. Fuck me I'm crying now. Sorry for lameposting and TMIing.

Some pictures of her in better days, the last isn't the best, but she wasn't a lap cat at all- but I'd been discharged from hospital that day, I think she knew I needed comfort:




Also that is the spare room and we have got rid of the office blinds- probably no one cares but I do, I hate office blinds and always judge people when they show pictures with them in their homes.

 

[Gef Mongoose]

Did I actually adopt two different Chihuahuas, or just clone the older one?
Both are in the same Halloween t-shirt.


Old boy passed away a few years ago, at the age of 21 and a half. My parents bought him right after he was old enough to leave his mother.

 

[everybody in Portugal]

Maxwell was like that towards the end, I felt awful for her, I knew she must have been so uncomfortable but she wouldn't let me wipe her bum. I didn't even care about the sofas and stuff, they can be washed, she'd always had this air of dignity to her and seeing that lost was heartbreaking.

It's the confusion, and the thought that if it happens overnight when you aren't there to clean up that they will end up with urine/fecal burns all over them from lying in it that does it for me. I can handle the poo itself, that never phased me. But thinking she'd be uncomfortable or hurt was the worst, we were pretty much sleeping in shifts for the last six months of her life so that someone was always up to help her.

When her back legs got bad we got a great hip-support harness that allowed us to take the weight of her back half for her so she could at least still get outside and smell the air and go to the bathroom, but because she couldn't move her legs properly she would walk on the tops of her feet and they got so bruised and all the claws started to wear away on top from being dragged. It still hurts that she's gone, but the next stages were total limb paralysis and then chest muscles paralysis, and if she'd been struggling to breathe she would have suffered even more. Doing right by your animals at the end often means hurting yourself and saying goodbye before you feel ready to.

It sounds like you put Maxwell first above everything, and that's the most an animal can ask for, really. No matter what your personal circumstances, knowing they are loved and reliably fed and cared for means even when they are sick they at least don't have the worry of 'where is my next meal coming from?'. I'm really glad for you all that by the end you were in a position to pour money at the issue and get her the drugs she needed—if you live where I get the impression you do then I know that won't have come cheaply. She was very lucky to have you <3

I hadn't realised I'd not been to this thread since my Maxwell tribute post and its kind of broken me. I was going to introduce the kittens we just adopted but it doesn't feel right now.

Please, please do. Just because we are sad about the ones we've lost, doesn't mean we don't also have the room to feel some joy at seeing your new babies too. I hope they are helping to keep you all smiling there.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

Anyway thanks for listening to my dog nonsense. I am ready for 2026 to be a better year and to see my lurcher boy running full pelt again, pls.

You have lovely dogs! I'm sorry about the loss of Estrela. It hurts so much.

Caring for a pet in the end days is hard. Boo quit pooping in the litter box a couple years before he passed because of his arthritis. He always went right next to the litter box though, so there's that. I kept puppy pads down and picked it up. My floors will clean.

@giloblastoma multiforme it's not letting me quote (it's a bug in my version of Safari, ugh). I'm really glad you had her help to help you stay clean. It really is important to have something to focus on when you are struggling. My cats saved me several times from suicide because I didn't want them to be alone.

Please do share your beautiful new kittens. Life goes on, and one of the only ways I can cope with the loss of a pet is the knowledge that it now means I can get to know someone else and have them bring a new kind of joy to my life.

Unfortunately for me, Carter ended up not working out. A couple days after I posted my other two cats started to fight with each other, not the play wrestling they do every day. Jessie saw Carter get too close to her, she screamed and showed her belly and then when she ran to hide he chased her. I separated them and blocked them from seeing each other but both she and Sweetie Pi were clearly on edge. Sweetie Pi would walk around with a puffy tail and Jessie would just stare at the door where Carter was behind, even though she couldn't see him.

I brought him back to my friend's house, let him out of the carrier and he settled right back down on his cat tree like he never left.

It took my other two a couple days to calm down after that and now things are back to normal. All three cars seem happier. I'd still like to have a third cat, but I'm going to be patient. We've always had cats come into our lives organically, and both times we've tried to force them into our lives this year have failed. I don't usually believe in superstitions, but I'm going to see if the Cat Distribution System brings us another cat.

 

[everybody in Portugal]

Unfortunately for me, Carter ended up not working out. A couple days after I posted my other two cats started to fight with each other, not the play wrestling they do every day.

That sucks, for you AND for Carter, given that it sounds like the home you took him back to could be a bit chaotic and it sounds like you'd really begun to bond with him, too it's always tough trying to introduce a new animal, and sometimes it just plain isn't going to work no matter how much you try or want it to. Best for all of them that he goes back to a home he's semi-confortable in than he and your girls end up injuring each other because the mix just isn't working. Still, I'm sorry you had to say goodbye... Hopefully the CDS delivers for you soon and the next one that comes into your life gels better with Jessie and Sweetie Pi.

When I moved to [current domicile] with the lurher (who had always been a very spoiled only child) it took he and the mastiff a couple of months to properly work each other out, a lot of patience and coaching them both and a slow introduction . We had to break up a scrap once right at the start, but they are brothers now. The mastiff still isn't allowed so much as a toenail into my bedroom or to try and get cuddles from me on pain of lurcher throwing an absolute howling, growling shit-fit, but as long as they are in the rest of the house or outside they are simpatico!

 

[glioblastoma multiforme]

the thought that if it happens overnight when you aren't there to clean up that they will end up with urine/fecal burns all over them from lying in it that does it for me. I can handle the poo itself, that never phased me. But thinking she'd be uncomfortable or hurt was the worst, we were pretty much sleeping in shifts for the last six months of her life so that someone was always up to help her.

We were similar, we didn't want to leave her alone. Especially because the tumour she had was fast growing- it grew 2 cm in a month. We didn't want to not be there if its growth suddenly made life intolerable for her.

My parents had a similar thing with the back legs on their last cat. The vet refused to operate again- she'd had a tumour removed twice. They were heartbroken because in her self she seemed OK, but she was dragging herself by her front legs. Thankfully she never became incontinent but the vet said that was likely to happen very soon.

Doing right by your animals at the end often means hurting yourself and saying goodbye before you feel ready to.

It really is, its the hardest thing. At least Maxwell made it clear to us we were making the right decision, she tried to get out of her basket at the vets and just fell over. The vets were lovely and let us have time to say our goodbyes.

I'd lost cats as a child, always had them growing up, but its so different when its you who has to make the call.

I'm really glad for you all that by the end you were in a position to pour money at the issue and get her the drugs she needed—if you live where I get the impression you do then I know that won't have come cheaply. She was very lucky to have you <3

Thank you. It was worth every penny and reminded me how powerful recovery is.

Please, please do. Just because we are sad about the ones we've lost, doesn't mean we don't also have the room to feel some joy at seeing your new babies too. I hope they are helping to keep you all smiling there.

To bring some levity to the thread, I shall.

It really is important to have something to focus on when you are struggling. My cats saved me several times from suicide because I didn't want them to be alone.

I'm so sorry you've been through that. I'm glad they were there to keep you going and hope you're in a better place now.

Unfortunately for me, Carter ended up not working out.

That must have been horrible, introducing animals is hard (we are in the process right now), I'm glad he had a good place to go but what an awful decision to have to make.

Here are our beautiful babies:


They are very bonded and an absolute joy. Completely insane but settling in well, will come up to us now and purr and have cuddles. They were terrified on day 1. We are nerds so have named them after Disco Elysium characters- Cuno and Kim. They're booked in for our first vet check on 29th.

I'm a bit annoyed because I realised they'll probably be having their yearly boosters the same month as MOT, car insurance and service, but this is why we plan and budget.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

Oh they are precious. I just want to snuggle them. So cute.

And thank you for your kind words, I am in a much better place now. Ten years ago we figured out the right meds and dosage and I haven't had a mood swing since. Yay! I am also glad you are still doing well through all that, addiction is a tough battle to fight. I admire anyone who fights back on their own personal demons.

RE Carter, it was a tough decision, but we all went into it with the understanding that it might not work out. I'm glad we tried, it's not anyone's fault it didn't work out, and everyone is happier now. So it's all good.

Anyway, I hope you fellow crazy animal ladies have a lovely holiday season. I love you all and your animals are all precious and perfect.

 

[everybody in Portugal]

Here are our beautiful babies

Oh my gosh, they're gorgeous! Hope their antics help get you smiling again anytime it feels tough getting through xmas without Maxwell there.. kittens are such clowns at that age, they're so entertaining to have around the place. Here's hoping they continue to settle in well and start bonding with your others.

Anyway, I hope you fellow crazy animal ladies have a lovely holiday season. I love you all and your animals are all precious and perfect.

Feliz natal, AOS! And to the rest of y'all too, hope you are all warm, full of mince pies and snuggled up under a furry/fluffy/feathered/scaly/&c companion rn getting a hug <3

 

[lego racers]

after losing two cats back-to-back within a couple months i've become very hopeless about pet owning, i don't think i can do it anymore. both had to be put down due to a contagious gum disease of some kind, i wasn't really listening to the specifics over my own grief, but they were in lots of pain and couldn't groom themselves. i'm one hundred percent sure my surviving cats have it now too, so it's only a matter of time before i have to go through it all over again. i can't deal with death, so i think these are the last babies i'll ever have. please give your little ones some scratches for the ones who aren't here.

 

[glioblastoma multiforme]

after losing two cats back-to-back within a couple months i've become very hopeless about pet owning, i don't think i can do it anymore. both had to be put down due to a contagious gum disease of some kind, i wasn't really listening to the specifics over my own grief, but they were in lots of pain and couldn't groom themselves. i'm one hundred percent sure my surviving cats have it now too, so it's only a matter of time before i have to go through it all over again. i can't deal with death, so i think these are the last babies i'll ever have. please give your little ones some scratches for the ones who aren't here.

I'm so sorry. Losing two back to back is awful.

Is it worth getting your remaining cats checked out? Could it be possible to treat them if they aren't too bad yet? You may be able to at least get some help for pain.

 

[everybody in Portugal]

after losing two cats back-to-back within a couple months i've become very hopeless about pet owning, i don't think i can do it anymore. both had to be put down due to a contagious gum disease of some kind, i wasn't really listening to the specifics over my own grief, but they were in lots of pain and couldn't groom themselves. i'm one hundred percent sure my surviving cats have it now too, so it's only a matter of time before i have to go through it all over again. i can't deal with death, so i think these are the last babies i'll ever have. please give your little ones some scratches for the ones who aren't here.

That's absolutely awful, I'm so sorry @lego racers. Losing one is hard enough, let alone two, and to now be worried about the others on top of it all. Definitely worth going to talk to your vet again when you are feeling up to it, though I can imagine it's the very last place you want to be right now. Sending you and the kitties lots of love <3

 

[lego racers]

Is it worth getting your remaining cats checked out?

Definitely worth going to talk to your vet again when you are feeling up to it,

the vet told me the only thing they can do is pain management, as it's not curable. i really wish i could remember what the disease was called. but either way, it's not bad enough in the living cats to warrant any sort of care yet, especially considering all of them are under 10.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

the vet told me the only thing they can do is pain management, as it's not curable. i really wish i could remember what the disease was called. but either way, it's not bad enough in the living cats to warrant any sort of care yet, especially considering all of them are under 10.

Was it stomatitis? That's not really contagious though, so probably not.

My sympathies. It's truly rough to lose them back to back.