boarding Noah next week/freaked out

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Survived yes but instead of jet lag we have propeller lag. Is this what being a parent is like?:(:banghead::oops: What I said before about having a second vet... this is the guy that pulled one of Noah's teeth when every other vet was on Easter break and Noah did very well then too. We didn't know about his heart then, it only shows on ultrasound.
@Tracey&Jones
Yes, 61 years old on the 28th. How did that happen? You're only young once but you can be immature forever.:rolleyes:
Most people have probably forgotten this but Tracey and I were born in the same hospital.
You need to see this Tracey, it's from the Urban Dictionary https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tracey
Tracey's are the nicest people in the world.... some may think they're kinda weird or a tad nuts but when you see past it you'll see Tracey's are the best people to have around. etc etc Tracey's are also very talkative, funny, cuddly, loveable and just all round fantastic people.
Common uses;
That party sucked, I wish Tracey had of been there.
I'm upset. I need Tracey, she'll cheer me up.

You also share a birthday with Queen Victoria (a national holiday in Canada) so we need to start a petition to rename the day.
 
You've iterated my biggest fears of leaving my babies. But the #1 anxiety producer for me is your..."If anything happens...do I want to know?"

Ummmmm...

Errrrrrrr...

Hmmmm.

I truly hope that my thinking out loud doesn't make this worse for you, I am hoping it might help.

Whether I am around cat lovers or not, for me it boils down to one question: Is there anything I can truly do from wherever I am? I think there are 4 scenarios:

1. THE worst case: Necropsy and individual cremation with cremains returned, get a paw print and fur clipping if possible.
2. Medical crisis (life or death): It depends on which cat. Our wishes for 19-year old Miss Sara with CKD is different than for our < 10 year olds with no known issues (or even for Whisper who is healthy other than the diabetes), but we state what that is. It is similar to the kind of form we have to sign when leaving a cat at our state university vet school for treatment if we aren't right there with them. That is, do they not attempt resuscitation at all, or do they take all means necessary?
3. Medical "issues": Not trivial, but also not life threatening.
4. Minor medical issues

For #1, I *think* that I've decided that I give those directives, and I don't want to know until I get home. I'll tell you why later.
For #2,follow my directive without calling me. If #2 becomes #1, tell me when I get home. If #2 resulted in successful resuscitation (if that was my choice for that cat), then follow #3 .
For #3, once they are STABLE, call me.
For #4, just treat don't call (thinking of things like URI, giving appetite stimulant if not eating, things like that).

Obviously there can still be areas of uncertainty between #2 and #3, but fortunately my vet knows us very well and I would trust her to treat as I would if I were there.

So a quick story: When I was in college I had just gotten my first cat. I went away for spring break, leaving him for the very first time ever. My mom was going to come to my apartment once a day to take care of him. My car was crap, so she let me take her car to the beach (3 hours away). 24 or so hours later, she calls to say..."my key to your apartment is on the key ring that you have with my car key." So the only two keys to my apartment were both with me at the beach. He was still just a tiny kid, 3 months old, and I was frantic. There wasn't even anything medically wrong with him, I just worried about whether he had knocked over his water bowl or eaten all his food already... I literally packed up, jumped in the car, and drove back,probably going a little too fast, and I hydro-planed during a thunderstorm while on the intrastate, was taken to the hospital with whiplash, and wrecked my Mom's car. And this was without anything serious being wrong!!!

So now, decades later, what if there really was a medical emergency (or worse)? If within driving distance -- I wouldn't trust myself to be safe, and if not in driving distance then I think I might truly have a heart attack or at the very least a full-blown panic attack. That is what is behind my not wanting to know if there is really nothing that I could do.

Am I conflicted about it still? Yes. But I think it works for me...for now. I might change in the future, and if so I am thinking it would probably be to not even tell me for #3 either, until after I get home. But I do trust my vet and my mother (assuming she isn't traveling with me) to act on my behalf or I might feel differently about #3 .

But let's shake this all off -- You will all be in my heart and my mind while you are away. This is all worst case, and it sounds like you have far exceeded most folks due diligence. Know that. You have enough family dynamics to deal with while you are away such that Noah will be the luckier of you to be left behind being waited on hand and foot :p

Best,
Sandi.
Sandi, wow Im so impressed with your advice!
 
I'm so glad your kittehs are fine and that they had great care while you were gone. What a relief.

It is so stressful going somewhere. We haven't done it as a pair since 2016...and we lost Scoobs upon our return. I'm not going to Theresa's Mom's memorial this weekend because it would be an overnight trip. Well I didn't like her much either but I probably would go if Leo didn't require so much care. It's sad losing a parent, but part of growing older.

Theresa was looking thru pictures for the memorial. I'm actually older than you Dickson. I used to have hair, and it was brown. Not this big shiny spot on my head. It is a bit odd growing old. I don't even look like that 40 year old person anymore. How did this happen to us?

The one thing we all agree on. This is a friendly place - one of the few on the internet. We are making kittehs healthy and saving kitteh lives. Although I'm not sure about Sharon's chickens....but I would be willing to share a drumstick.:eek::D
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OH!! I thought the trip was still coming up! lol. Oops! Oh well, SO glad all went ok!

Happy early birthday Tracey! It was my mum's 71st birthday last Thursday and then Mother's Day on the Sunday so we had a lot of nice celebrations and many gifts.
 
Although I'm not sure about Sharon's chickens....but I would be willing to share a drumstick.:eek::D

You’d have to go through him first....
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You’d have to go through him first....
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I'm not going near him ! He's got a right look in his eye. Is he called Napoleon ?

I was once chased by a marauding cockerel with RATHER LARGE SPURS. Stuff that for a game of soldiers.
We did used to have some rather nice rescue hens. Wyandottes. One was rather fond of Phil. They used to jump and nick the grapes off the vine.
There again we also once kept a pair of rather bad tempered black hens with very peaky beaks.
I loved our hens. I loved our ducks too . We only have the widower Woobie drake left now.

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Sharon, I'm not going to eat your chickens! I just want the eggs.
I've been living with a vegetarian for so long I'm almost there but I need to keep my options open.
The vet who boarded Noah is my secondary/stay on good terms guy. He's 4 feet tall and appears quite conservative but actually has a wicked sense of humor. When I brought out Noah's transdermal BUPE I realized I had forgotten the tiny spoons to tickle Noah's ears with. Then the tech inquired about me not wearing gloves because I might actually get some BUPE on me! :oops: I looked at the doctor and said "You know I used to have long hair right?" He just chuckled but the tech was horrified.
 
Noah really hated the oral BUPE, it was painful forcing it down his mouth. This BUPE is made by a compounding pharmacy and comes in a cream that looks like toothpaste in a syringe. You squoosh some out onto the backside of the teensy tiny spoons that come with it and rub it on the inside of the ear. It does dry out Noah's ears so he gets the warm and wet paper towel treatment which he adores me for. Crazy cat! Then I have to make sure his basket buddy Andy doesn't lick it out of Noah's ear because Andy can be a bit of a kook as well.
It's not a slow release BUPE so I can change the dose if I want and Noah never gets stoned. No problem with stairs, vision or balance. He's our little drug addict now but living with rotten teeth is no fun and he won't survive the surgery. I have a real problem with any doctor who thinks "Oh it can't hurt that much".
 
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