Do you know what this is? It's a homemade cat carrier the my dad made to take his sick cat, Timi, to the vet. I think it looks like a jail but my dad wanted his cat to be able to see his surroundings. The top was on hinges and could be lifted up to drop the cat inside and the door could open to let the cat out. Timi was not feeling well, he just laid in one spot all day for a couple days in a row and wouldn't eat.
Dad was not a believer in regular vet care so the trip to the vet was very, very scary for poor Timi. When I went to get the carrier out of the back seat, I set it on the ground to close the door and when I turned to pick it up, Timi was gone! He had busted some of the dowels out and ran, leaped up over a 5-foot fence and we never saw him again. I ran to follow him but he was really fast! We walked up and down the street looking for him and asking people if they'd seen him but we couldn't find him anywhere.
Maybe Timi wasn't as sick as we thought after all or else he really was and wanted to go out on his own terms, being free and saving my dad some money. We didn't ever use that cat carrier again!
What kind of cat carriers do you use? Did you ever lose a cat?
I have a cat, Manny, who dose not like being picked up, is afraid of going into a carrier, and of course, hates going to the vet. We do take our cats once a year for their annual checkups which my dad never did with his cats. I believe it's a good idea to do but dad didn't for the following reasons:
(1) He felt unless they were sick, it wasn't necessary.
(2) He was afraid they would outlive them anyway and didn't know what would happen to them when he died.
(3) Vet care is not cheap and he was a bit worried about running out of money.
When I was told Manny's teeth should be cleaned and they would put him out to do it, I knew if dad was still alive he would advise me against it. I believe the vets care about our pets and are not just out to get our money. I went along with this and scheduled Manny to have it done. I was doing well getting him to the vet twice in three weeks! But then they called and said his back molars are rotting and should come out. I said, okay, do whatever is best for Manny hoping dad was wrong about vets. We brought him home later that day, had to give him soft food for two weeks and pain medicine for one week which I was very pleased that I could do it! Cost = $500!
We couldn't get Manny back a third time for them to check to make sure everything was okay, but he seems normal and is even more affectionate than ever so we blew off the follow-up visit. Manny absolutely refused to go back. We tried to get him into the carrier for four hours unsuccessfully.
What do you think? Is it worth putting the cats through all this vet care or was my dad right?
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As I gathered stuff from our house together for the Parma Heights Christian Academy's annual garage sale May 2 from 7 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., the memory of Sylvester's last day of May 5, 2007 came into my mind. I'll always connect this garage sale with a very bad day.
On a warm, sunny Saturday, the day of the garage sale on May 5, 2007, I stopped by dad's house early in the morning to take care of feeding his cats and clean their litter boxes. I always enjoyed doing this but something really crazy happened. Sweet Thing was by the door growling at Sylvester, the cat with feline aids. They could see each other because Harry had replaced the bottom half of the door with Plexiglas.
I was shocked when I felt Sylvester grab my leg as I was leaving and push right past me, chasing after Sweet Thing and attacking him! I was actually planning to bring them into my house the following week and keep Sylvester in our extra upstairs bedroom but with this happening, I just couldn't do it. I kept thinking that Sylvester could be attacking MY cats.
I yelled but, of course, that did no good at all so then since I couldn't get Sweet Thing, the one I really wanted to protect who was on the bottom, I grabbed Sylvester and just held him on the floor between my legs for a bit while he calmed down, which he did. I had a carrier close by and easily got him into it. I told him he just sealed his fate. I had no choice now but to have him put down. With a heavy heart, great sadness and tears in my eyes, I took him to the car.
It was amazing that I didn't get clawed up or bit when I broke up the fight, but I didn't. I believe this was God's way of giving me the courage I needed to make this very hard decision. Sylvester was normally a very laid back, affectionate cat. Of all the cats I knew, he was the only one who would crawl onto my lap and let me pet him and brush him for as long as I wanted. He was also my husband's favorite of my dad's cats because he let Gerard pet him nice and Gerard felt bad for him that he always had to be alone in that one room because he had the feline aids (little did I know that Sweet Thing had it too from being bit by Sylvester).
Sylvester and I went for a ride to the garage sale first to met Gerard's sister as I planned so I could give her something and left Sylvester in the car while I went in quick. I didn't stay and came back out within five minutes. I explained to Sylvester what was happening and congratulated him on winning the fight with Sweet Thing. I told him he would go out a champion and that he was really a nice cat but that he made a big mistake by fighting with Sweet Thing even though Sweet Thing was growling at him.
Then we went to the vet at the end of our street and they were very willing to kill Sylvester when I explained the circumstances. They were nice to me though and let me hold and pet him for quite some time. After they gave Sylvester the shot, it seemed like he just went to sleep and it was very peaceful. I was glad they let me stay with him to the end.
Just a week later, I also had to have Sweet Thing and Softie put down too. I was devastated because not only did I feel bad about not being able to find homes for the cats or a shelter to take them but I felt I really let my dad down. Tears are filling my eyes even now as I write about this painful experience two years later.
In October of that year I saw an article in a newspaper about a cat sanctuary that takes in stray cats including feral cats, older cats, and those with feline Aids to let them live out the rest of their lives in a house without cages until someone would adopt them. Oh, if I had only known about this place sooner. I became a monthly donor which I think dad would be happy about. I figure I couldn't save my dad's cats, but at least by donating to Caroline's Kids Pet Rescue monthly, I am helping to save other nice cats. Doing this relieves me of most of the guilt. Here is a video of this Cat House I took when I visited it for the first time:
If my dad had been in my place, I think he would have just let them go back to being strays but since Sylvester and Sweet Thing were not neutered and Softie was so small with parasites, it could have created even more problems. People tell me I did the right thing; I hope dad would agree.
Congratulations to all the winners of the giveaway for "My Funny Dad, Harry" at Red Pine Mountain. I am so happy that four of my regular commenters won! Read what Tim thought of it at Everyday Living.
