Dahlas
Well-Known Member
Some of you know I work at an animal shelter. It is a wonderful shelter IMO. I love the people I work with and all the animals in our care. They are like our own pets. We all foster animals in our home that need extra TLC.....even the ones that just need a break and a little extra loving. Puppies always go home with someone as do momma cats and small kittens.....It is not unusaul for me to have a couple extra cat or kittens and a few extra dogs.......
I recently brought home a beautiful long haired black cat named Chubby. Chubby recently came down with URI.....which is not uncommon in a shelter environment.....We are lucky and don't get it often but when we do we are all very good at treating and caring for the animal. It usually runs it course in no time at all. Chubby was one of the ones that just didn't seem to respond. He stopped eating and seemed very lethargic. So I brought Chubby home. What a very sweet boy.
I couldn't coax him to eat so I syringed special food from the vet into him, I have had him here for 5 days and even though he didn't seem any better he never got any worse.....until last night. I took him into the vets this morning and the prognosis is not good. Chubby has Herpes virus. He also has bladder stones. Neither thing is fatal but his treatment will cost over $900 without any guarantees. Also he would have to be adopted to a household that has no other cats......he will be a herpes carrier for the rest of his life. We have made the very difficult decision to have Chubby euthanized. It is part of the necessary evil when working in a shelter. There are so many cats....our waiting list is long and never ending.
It is so difficult to have to make these decisions but many times in shelter work you must think with your head, not your heart.
Good-bye sweet Chubby........there is not a dry eye in the shelter. We are all crying. We love you. You are our boy.
I recently brought home a beautiful long haired black cat named Chubby. Chubby recently came down with URI.....which is not uncommon in a shelter environment.....We are lucky and don't get it often but when we do we are all very good at treating and caring for the animal. It usually runs it course in no time at all. Chubby was one of the ones that just didn't seem to respond. He stopped eating and seemed very lethargic. So I brought Chubby home. What a very sweet boy.
I couldn't coax him to eat so I syringed special food from the vet into him, I have had him here for 5 days and even though he didn't seem any better he never got any worse.....until last night. I took him into the vets this morning and the prognosis is not good. Chubby has Herpes virus. He also has bladder stones. Neither thing is fatal but his treatment will cost over $900 without any guarantees. Also he would have to be adopted to a household that has no other cats......he will be a herpes carrier for the rest of his life. We have made the very difficult decision to have Chubby euthanized. It is part of the necessary evil when working in a shelter. There are so many cats....our waiting list is long and never ending.
It is so difficult to have to make these decisions but many times in shelter work you must think with your head, not your heart.
Good-bye sweet Chubby........there is not a dry eye in the shelter. We are all crying. We love you. You are our boy.
