Commentor Larime the Gimp writes on behalf of his sister and her rescue dog Zoe:
Zoe was an owner surrender at the age of “17 years”. She couldn’t walk so well, had sores on her legs from living her life outside, terrible teeth, and could barely hear or see. I pleaded with rescues in my community, and finally an anonymous person helped me to pull her on the last day she was available before euthanization.
She loves going on car rides, to the dog park, and to play on the ground by rubbing her nose and paws against you when you pound on the ground next to her and call her name in her ear. She always has a smile and a wagging tail… but Zoe still needs help…
Her vet would like to still do an ultrasound to examine the enlarged spleen, a gravity urine analysis to check the diluted urine and a quarterly fecal exam and tumor check. The concern is that the spleen could be cancer, and with the diluted urine, she could be in the early stages of kidney failure. Only these tests will tell us for sure.
All of her medical bills and medication has cost me $927.96, and an ultrasound could be as much as another $150-$325 in addition to the urine, fecal, and medications.
Our hope is to raise $750 to go toward her current vetting bill all charged to her CareCredit card, and to go toward the ultrasound and future medication to help Zoe live out the rest of her life comfortably. Any amount is a huge help and is appreciated! ~Nae & Zoe
Commentor Nethead Jay has sad news about Hypatia:
Got this mail from the vet clinic that’s taking care of Hypatia:
We saw Karen today… bringing our current balance to $336.57.
I told Karen that in order to go any further we need the payment taken care of. She is scheduled for 4.20pm for Hypatia’s euthanasia tomorrow, but per Dr Yen we cannot proceed without the bill being settled. The expected fee for tomorrow is $324 (and this is without Karen getting the ashes back and having a general cremation for Hypatia). We are aware that donations are still coming in, but unfortunately we cannot continue to add to this balance…
That’s after what’s been donated so far has been paid to them. I can understand them, but this is awful timing…
If you can help out, here’s Hypatia’s fundraising page (with video, from happier days).
Finally, commentor GBear sent a link to cheer us up:
LOS ANGELES — Sunny was 16 when she was left at an animal shelter by the family she had lived with all her life. The 75-pound bulldog-pit bull mix had cancer and infected eyes, and shelter workers figured the family probably couldn’t handle medical costs….
Fusaro, 44, had always avoided adopting older dogs because she didn’t think she could handle it when they died. Sunny changed her mind. “No old dog should be left to die alone, unloved and broken-hearted on a concrete slab in a strange place,” she said.
That day, Fusaro adopted Sunny and started making plans for “Silver Hearts,” a photo book of old dogs that she hopes will encourage people to consider such animals. She plans to turn proceeds over to rescue organizations that save aging dogs.
When she took Sunny home, Fusaro figured she had a couple weeks, perhaps months at most. She never imagined Sunny would live long enough to be part of “Silver Hearts.”
But Sunny rebounded and was soon eating, playing and loving trips to the beach. It’s been over a year and Sunny is 17 now.
Fusaro’s book is about 80 percent finished. She used shelter dogs, dogs of friends, Facebook, Sunny and her other dog Gabby…
Casey
Would love to send Zoe some funds, don’t really want to sign up all the info on the project site. Any way to PayPal a bit of cash?
MoeLarryAndJesus
My wife and I have two 17 year old ladycats who have been amazing, loving companions for all these years. They were both “rescue cats” – one from a shelter, one found in the wild by a friend. We got them both in the same year, and they’ve grown old happily together and have even managed to deal with our adoption of a (now) 5 year old feral male who started showing up at 7 every night begging for food.
I think after the old girls are gone we’ll go for older rescues. These stories break my heart. When we brought our shelter cat home we left behind a big old boy named Boris – 18 pounds, anyway – and 17 years old, who’d been banished because he attacked the family dog. We still wonder how Boris made out. It was a no-kill shelter, but I hope he found a no-dog shelter. Boris looked like his name and was plainly pissed about his accommodations.
Keith P
DISCLAIMER: You must read this post while listening to “Angel”, by Sarah McLachlan.
RosiesDad
I have a close friend and client who used to work with a local Golden Retriever rescue. She helped us adopt Rosie, our Golden, who recently turned 10 years old when she was turned in as a 10 month old. In the years I have known her, Debbie has always taken in, as part of her household, one or two “hospice” dogs from the rescue–dogs who were over 10 and otherwise not adoptable. Some were dogs who had been pulled out of local dog shelters (the rescue will take any Golden or Golden mix from any shelter and take responsibility for finding them a home or providing care in their no-kill facility for the rest of the dog’s life) but most were pets turned in by their families because they were old, ill, arthritic, etc. and the people no longer wanted to care for them. We never know how long she is going to have these dogs, because they are all old when she gets them, but she makes sure that their last weeks, months and sometimes years are in a loving home. I provide their medical care gratis because I can and it makes me feel good to help her help them.
There is a special place in heaven waiting for my friend and all those who adopt an aged dog or cat.
Anne Laurie
@Casey: I ran into a problem too, since I’m not on Facebook. If you look at the link, there’s a number for Zoe’s vet, so I’m going to try calling the office directly tomorrow.
RosiesDad
@Ted & Hellen:
It wouldn’t be wrong if you had all the context but without the context, try not to be too judgmental. Over the years, we’ve had clients run up huge bills (often against medical advice) chasing one thread of hope to try to save a failing pet. And then leave us hanging because they don’t have the resources to cover their fees in the end.
It does cost money–for medications, supplies, staff costs, etc.–to provide medical care for veterinary patients and it doesn’t take too many clients leaving you hanging with a $1000 bill to turn an otherwise fine year into a poor one.
Which isn’t to say that there aren’t some vets running a racket but most of us are not driving from our McMansion to the office in a brand new Tesla, if you catch my drift.
Ted & Hellen
@RosiesDad:
That’s why I said “some” vets. :)
jenn
Sweet Zoe, I’m in. And thanks for the reminder about Hypatia, too.
Ruckus
@RosiesDad:
A good vet will not try to get you to do all kinds of tests and overnight stays unless they really are warranted. My last experience my vet gave me both the extended maximum cost option as well as a wait and see if there was no specific reason for the tests. And as I was absolutely on a budget, with Bud, my old rescue cocker that was helpful beyond belief. I wanted to give him every possible help in the world but I just didn’t have the money. And in fact I had to give him back to the rescue org that I got him from because my financial situation became far less tenable. Bud has been adopted by the people who fostered him and I’ve been told he is doing well. He is 13-15 yrs old now, none of us know for sure. I miss that cranky, old bastard. A loyal stout friend. Peas in a pod, maybe.
FlipYrWhig
@RosiesDad: In my experience with sick and declining pets, only once did we feel like we were being “upsold” by way of referral to a high-end research-oriented vet hospital. Every other health crisis was clearly explained in terms of how likely it was for the treatment to work, or to last. Human doctors IMHO are far worse when it comes to being willing to hold out additional hope from additional treatment.
SectionH
@RosiesDad: I had at least 3 great and a couple of pretty good vets in the Bluegrass over the years. Moved to San Diego, complicatedly, of course, and it’s so much chains (which might be ok, depending) and the reccs from ppl from when they used to take their pets there… but overall, I don’t get the idea that most vets get rich. (We can discuss the guys treating the race horses some other time.)
Anne Laurie: a couple of estimable Nesfans were the first ppl I knew who consistently adopted older animals (cats in their case). There Was the time when their cat sitter had 2 of their cats die on her while they were away. Which was hard on Priscilla.
I so love my Ziri now, it’s amazing. She was the 12 yr old “Persian” (actually she is, I was just hoping…) cat who spent all her time curled up in as small a space as she could find. I’m not at all sure why our local HS lady put her at Petsmart, but there she was. Mostly shaved because she was so matted when she was found (with metal staples in her belly…) Terrified of everything and everyone. Mr S actually noticed her and said, you might want to look at this cat. Skip long story, where we Quite Rightly got interviewed several times to make sure that We’d be the ppl who would be ok for Ziri.
Watching this sweet, brave little girl come alive again is just… beyond amazing. And if this cat is 12, I’ll eat one of my smaller hats, at least.
Yatsuno
@Anne Laurie: OT: New Ghibli!!!
SectionH
@Yatsuno: Link does not work.
Also too, Paypal hates me tonight. Of course That’s back in spades all the time.
Yatsuno
@SectionH: Argh. FYWP.
Maybe now.
There. That one is behaving.
SectionH
@Yatsuno: Oh thank you! Love that – is it new? I so don’t keep up with any media, but Miyazki is a genius.
edit – of course it’s new… sigh.
TheMightyTrowel
@Yatsuno: the trailer just made me cry
Yatsuno
@SectionH: Looks like the international release debut is at the Toronto International Film Festival, but Miyazaki movies always get released in Japan first. This is the latest work by him and Studio Ghibli.
@TheMightyTrowel: It’s very Grave of the Fireflies in feel, but maybe even a bit more positive. And possibly a more honest examination into the rise of militarism following the Meiji era. I’m excited for the full release, I may kidnap my brothers to it if it gets released when I’m back visiting.
Spaghetti Lee
@Yatsuno:
Looks like kind of a downer. Gorgeous art, of course. I think it’s interesting that Ghibli’s gone from making more fantasy-oriented movies to more historical, realistic ones. (This and Up on Poppy Hill) Kind of against prevailing trends. I’m more partial to the fantasy stuff, myself.
Nethead Jay
Wow, thank you to everybody here and of course to you Anne Laurie. I talked with my friend and the vet clinic yesterday (after sending this) and we manage to make it so that pland didn’t have to be changed. I will update when I’ve talked with my friend again.
NotMax
While on the topic of pet donations, Rose Marie (yes, that Rose Marie) has asked people to donate in honor of her 90th birthday on Thursday to the Doris Day Animal Foundation.
Yatsuno
@NotMax: I had no idea she was still around!
NotMax
@Yatsuno
The old dame’s still kickin’.
For that matter, so is Doris Day!
TheMightyTrowel
So, apparently a meteor fell on my city earlier this week. Awesome!
RosiesDad
@Ruckus:
@SectionH:
I’m glad your experiences with my profession has mostly been positive. I try to practice in a way that emphasizes quality of life and often, as end of life approaches, I advocate for my patients to make sure that their families do what is best for them. Sometimes that means getting more information and doing more aggressive things therapeutically, sometimes that means helping folks face up to facts and try to be strong enough to let a cherished friend go maybe sooner than they’d like.
elmo
@SectionH:
Broadway Animal Hospital in El Cajon. Seriously. I live in Maryland now, and I’d still take my dogs there if I could afford the airfare.
wonkie
A disabled lady of my acquaintance called up to see if I would help load her dog inot her car. i am her dog’s guardian angel==I got Chica out of a semi-hoarding situation when she was a puppy and gave her to the disabled lady. Chica is normally a very happy dog and lives the life many dogs dream of: she spends the day roaming the small island where she lives visiting her firends, dog and human, and comes home in the evenig for dinner and bedtime. She is much loved and well cared for.
But she barely dragged herself hom ethat evening, bleeding from multiple wounds. We made a stretcher out of a sheet and crried her tot he car. I gave the disabled lady my charge card because I knew the vet wasn’t going to do all that medical work for free. I was expecting to spend six or seven hundred dollars.
The bill was fifteen hundred dollars. Chica has wounds all up and down one front leg, her belly, and one back leg. She has nine draiingae shunts to keep the swelling down. the vet says she was attacked by an animal.
Chica is not an aggressive dog. She has dog friends all over the island, no problem with the horse downthe street, lives with cats ans seems to interact well with chickens. She did steal a steak off someone’s BBQ grill once.
She ahs people friends all over the island, too. If she isn’t home by eveing, her person starts phoning,” Is Chica there? Will you tell her to come home?” and a few minutes latrer she shows up, having spent the afternoon snoozing on someon’s deck.
She’s home, in pain, can barely walk, but will heal up. Her person isn’t sure what to do long term: chica hates being on a rope, will get antsy and noisy if kept in the house too long, and her family can’t afford to fence thier yard. yet in their rural are there is some kind of critter out there that tried to kill Chica.
I’m doig a little fundraisig to get some of my fifteen huyndred back, but that’s not a request for funds from you all. I’m hitting up the local rescues and my freinds for donations. I don’t expect to get it all, but Im hoping to recoup maybe a couple hundred.
MazeDancer
The original bleg page for fluffy kitty Hypatia also had a paypal of thefluffbrigade @ gmail.com. Seemed to still work. Not being able to give a kitty a comfortable end to life because of lack of funds seems especially cruel.
But @Casey is right. Donating to help Zoe dog requires joining that social network. Or supporting FaceBook. While it probably felt like a quick and convenient idea to the kind people taking care of Zoe, it limits participation. While plenty people hate PayPal as much as FB, it is still an easy click and give option.
While lovely people like Anne Laurie will make the effort to call the vet, a quick click and give option is always helpful for spontaneous response. Hard to think of marketing angles while in a panic about a pet, of course.
Derek Smith
Man I love animals. Treat mine like royalty. But hundreds of dollars on a 17 year old dog? I guess I’m little bit too much of a country boy or something but that just seems like a horrible use of resources. Somewhere in your town there is a man under a bridge starving. I have cried like a baby when I’ve lost an animal but they are not people.
The Moar You Know
I am on my third elder pet adoption. How any human being can wake up the next day after dropping off a lifelong animal friend at a kill facility, or cul-de-sac, or freeway, or the middle of San Francisco bay (saw that just yesterday, the puppy lived) after decades of loyalty, just because it’s become a pain in the ass to take care of said animal, and not instantly shoot themselves in the head over the shame of their miserable existence is utterly beyond me.
Do the right thing, people. Drop your pets off in front of John Cole’s house. It’s like pet heaven on Earth.
jheartney
We’ve had a couple of older cats (17+ years) which had major medical problems we elected not to treat. In addition to the expense, the treatments would have been hard on the animals, and probably would not have extended their lives by all that much. At a certain point, it’s time to let go, and give them a comfortable end, not a drawn-out painful one.
Persia
If anyone is near central VT/NH, this handsome guy needs a home. (FB link)
Mnemosyne
@RosiesDad:
When our cat Natasha developed cancer, our vet was really great about explaining all of the options, including the option to do nothing and let nature take its course, because treating cancer is cats is very, very difficult to do successfully.
We did take a couple of expensive steps, like surgery to have the tumor removed, but we did always feel as though Natasha’s quality of life was paramount to our vets and they gave more weight to that than to pushing expensive treatments on us.
On the topic of older pets, one of the women I work with adopted her first cat, a 10-year-old long-haired calico whose elderly owner had died. And, man, does she love and dote on that cat. She probably couldn’t have handled a young, energetic kitten, but an older cat was exactly the right fit for her.
Woodrowfan
I tried to register for the site to help Zoe but it insists I get a “confirmation email” and then it doesn’t send one.
Could one of the FPers possibly set up a “help Zoe” Paypal for BJ?
Ruckus
@RosiesDad:
Had a discussion about this with a friend yesterday. We weren’t talking about pets but the same emotions apply. Most of us are able to better talk about it concerning pets but it is a, I want to say problem but that is way too strong. Every living thing dies but a lot of humans seem to be unable to face up to that in a way that allows, and once again I really can’t think of a proper word but dignity seems to be the closest. My experiences of watching people die for the last 55 years is that most people are afraid of losing more time with that pet/person rather than from the dying side. That may sound shallow but then maybe it’s just human nature and I’m the odd man out. And it’s not to say that pets/people want to die but when the inevitable comes, we have to let them go.
Ruckus
@RosiesDad:
I did my long screed but now I’ll make it short.
Celebrate the life, accept the death.
chromeagnomen
can we set up a general fund on this site that can be used at the FPers discretion in these situations? that way, if i feel like i just can’t afford to give to all, and hate to be discriminatory, i can take refuge in knowing some will go to all.
RosiesDad
@Ruckus: My mantra for life and death discussions (and when is the right time to let go) is this:
Better a month too soon than a day too late.
Jebediah
@Woodrowfan:
I keep getting “account not active, check inbox”
I donated for Hypatia but so far unsuccessful with Zoe.
The “Fusaro” mentioned in the last bit is Lori Fusaro, an excellent pet photographer. We met one day at starbucks when she asked if she could take some pictures of Otto. They were absolutely beautiful, as was he.
Persia
@Mnemosyne: When my mom cat-sat our (then about six-month-old kittens) she was pretty taken aback. Young cats take a lot of effort!
RosiesDad
@The Moar You Know: There is a special place in Hell waiting for someone who dumps an old pet because it is no longer easy or convenient to care for them.
RosiesDad
@Mnemosyne: I am glad that your vet advocated for Natasha’s quality of life; this is really the most important thing, IMHO.
Nethead Jay
@MazeDancer: Yes, this is an address my friend set up back then and as you say it still works. She says thank you very much for your donation.
kidz
@Keith P: Can I listen to “Master of Puppets” instead? I like my drug addiction songs with less yodeling and more heavy metal guitars.
Nethead Jay
On behalf of my friend and myself I would like to say: YOU ARE SO AWESOME!!!
Thanks to you Hypatia received the care she needed and my friend has much less worry in her life about being able to do right by her beloved kitty.
Cathie from Canada
@Derek Smith:
Yes, I have the same concerns about spending so much on an older pet.
That said, if quality of life is still there, it isn’t necessarily unwarranted.
We have spent thousands on treatments for our younger animals, but I hesitate to spend as much when our pets get older, not just for our own budget, but because there is a limit to what they can tolerate.
For our old cat, I decided to have all her teeth removed at once, rather than do any more annual dentals — the expense was a factor but also her teeth were in poor shape anyway, and I felt the the repeated infections could not be helping her overall health. They wanted to do some liver function tests on her, but I decided with our pets to limit the spending on tests unless there is actually an effective treatment if they did make a diagnosis, and for an animal her age, there was not. After several experiences with surgery on our pets, I would think twice about allowing an older pet to go through surgery again — we have found that it can be so hard on an older dog to recover from the surgery itself, as well as the underlying condition. So unless its necessary to ease pain, I won’t put an animal through this again.
Ruckus
@Derek Smith:
Someone once told me they spend $30K for cancer treatments for their dog. The dog was about 6-8 yrs old so I could see treatment but not $30K. The family could afford it, it just seemed like such an excess.