Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

OH, yes. Exactly what happened with Missy.

It has tortured my conscious for years. Did he think we "threw him away" because he was sick? It's strange how something like that keeps coming back over and over again.But had I gotten him home and his kidneys shut down would I have felt guilty about taking him home too soon?
Of course I've also felt guilty for not noticing a particular chicken was ill until it was too late as well. I guess I'm just an old softy when it comes to animals.

 

[Trish44]

tweety, hugs to you, it's so hard when you have to make decisions like that for a pet you have had so long. I had two dogs that were 15 & 17 that I had to have put down within months of each other. I had them both since they were tiny puppies & it was so hard, but it's also so hard to watch them suffer so much & I really feel it's more humane to put them out of their suffering than to let them go on that way. You have to think of their quality of life, what would you want if it was you.

One of my little Swedish Flower Hen chicks just wasn't doing that well yesterday. It had pasty butt, which I cleaned off, but I didn't think it was eating & drinking. I brought it back in & put it in chickie intensive care & I have been giving it electrolytes & today some yogurt. It is walking around & peeping some, but it's just not thriving like the other 3 in that batch. I sure hope I can get it to pull through because it was an expensive little thing. It is in the hatcher with two Ameraucana chicks that hatched last night. It stood over them after they hatched & peeped encouragement to them.

We have our granddaughter today, we haven't had her over for awhile because either we've been out of town or her mom wouldn't let her come. The last time we asked her aunt was here & if any of their family are around we don't stand a chance of seeing her, we're last on the list. I guess nothing else was going on today so we got to see her. It's cloudy here today, which is kind of nice. My DH has been smoking ribs since midnight last night, so they'll be ready for lunch, yum!

 

[cherwill]

Hi all! I know I haven't been on in a while, been crazy with school lately. I have this huge paper due and I'm not even past the outline and the research. It's been taking up most of my evenings. I can't wait till it's done - due next Sunday.

Also dealing with a cat that I feel needs to be put down, but I don't have the heart to do it yet. She's 15 years old and over the past few months she's been going down hill. She doesnt go pee in the litter box. She goes right outside of it. I know she can get in it, but don't understand why she's doing that - so it's now surrounded with puppy pads. That seems to be working ok for now - She's had this tumor in her belly for a couple years that doesn't allow you to touch her stomach at all. She used to self mutilate her stomach to the point of gaping holes and bleeding until we got her on meds and retrained the behavior with an elizabeth collar for about 6 months. Think it's weird having a dog wear one, imagine seeing a cat with one on! Today though, something new has popped up that has me in tears. She's not using one of her back legs at all - it just drags behind her. I've done the pinch test on her feet and I don't think that she has any feeling in the leg. This is making it hard for her to do anything, so she's just pooping in her cat bed. She'll get up to pee, eat, and drink and is still purring when I pick her up - it's the question of "Is she enjoying life anymore" that I'm struggling with. Part of me says that if she were in pain, she wouldn't be purring - but I just don't know. Here's a picture of her. I've had her since she was a few weeks old - got her from the shelter. I've had her longer than I've known my DH. She doesn't have a tail (wasn't born with one), so i named her Abigail No Tail.



Danz, I can't imagine what you've been going thru with Marshmellow. Both of my dogs love car rides so much that they'd jump in anyone's car if we'd let them.

I know how hard it is to watch and wonder. I've had to put several dogs to sleep and it's torture. How do I know it's the right time, did I do everything I could do, WHAT IF I'M WRONG??? A vet is a good place to start. My vet has given me advice over the years about how to determine if it's time or not. A lot of it boils down to whether the animal is still basically happy and not in pain. When my last Weim, Bronson, died, it was horrible. He was that special dog for me; I still miss him terribly, over a year later. My one, fervent hope was that I wouldn't have to make the decision for him, that he would die peacefully in his sleep. One of the biggest blessings of my life is that he did just that. But I still torment myself with thoughts of everything I did wrong in his last weeks, how I probably caused him unnecessary pain or discomfort by things I did or didn't do. I still cry when I think of him and what I wish I'd done differently. I wish you peace with your decision, whatever it is.

We have our granddaughter today, we haven't had her over for awhile because either we've been out of town or her mom wouldn't let her come. The last time we asked her aunt was here & if any of their family are around we don't stand a chance of seeing her, we're last on the list. I guess nothing else was going on today so we got to see her. It's cloudy here today, which is kind of nice. My DH has been smoking ribs since midnight last night, so they'll be ready for lunch, yum!

I'm glad you got to see her. Kids' relationships with their grandparents can be so special; I'm sorry you have to fight for time with her.

I'll try to put up some pictures of my niece's ducks later today or tomorrow; they're so cute! I guess the wobbly one still has a leg go out from under him and falls over sometimes, but the friend who has him says he seems to be OK otherwise and they're happy with him. My SIL did contact the hatchery and they offered to return the money, but her friend doesn't want it. She loves her duck the way he is.

 

[chicken danz]

Tweetyssvoice, I meant to tell you I talked to Social Security on Friday then called Blue Cross. They require me to take part B medicare which is costing me $99.90 a month. If I don't take it what ever portion medicare would pay for they won't. That is such a rip. I give them over $800 a month which they aren't going to lower and I then have to pay another $100 a month for medicare. That eats up my lousy retirement check. I have to get back to Social Security on Monday and make sure they don't process the card saying I didn't want Part B.
It's very hard for me to understand the government and insurance. If a person just wants to continue with their insurance they should be able to without a problem, rather than having to pay into a government fund that is just taking more out of the system. I would certainly get rid of this insurance but because of my medical conditions I am sure they would put riders or waiting periods on so they wouldn't have to pay for anything.
Others, I've been out sweating. Heavens it is so humid out there! I got the garden hoed for the most part. Sure wish I had the mulch to put on it here. I don't want to do that too many times. I'm undecided what to use for mulch. What do you all use, and then do you just till it in in the fall? I am trying to save labor so I don't want to have to take something off' later. Tilling is okay.
I can't seem to get motivated to do anything today. I did do that but was hating every second of it.
I need to build a cage for the button quail so I can get them outside. I need to clean house. I need to divide a couple pens but I just feel too tired to tackle it today. I've got to get my act together one of these days.

 

[Kansaseq]

Danz, I usually just use my dirty chicken litter. I know it's supposed to burn plants if it's not aged a bit,but I've never had a problem. About to do that very thing tonight after it cools off some.

 

[sharol]

Your insurance provider should have a Medicare (medigap) policy available cheaper than your regular insurance. I bought medigap from Blue Cross when I turned 65 and it is about $150 a month and covers about everything. I have part B for $100 and the medigap from BX and coverage for drugs from someone else for $15 a month. It was a lot cheaper than the BX coverage I had under my DH's plan (he isn't 65 yet). Call BX again and ask to talk to the medigap people. You shouldn't be paying that much under Medicare. Good luck. If you don't get a person who knows what he/she is talking about, hang up and call back and ask for someone else. They can't hike your rates because of pre-existing conditions once you hit 65 (unlike before 65 until the Affordable Care Act gets going in a year or two).

Tweetyssvoice, I meant to tell you I talked to Social Security on Friday then called Blue Cross. They require me to take part B medicare which is costing me $99.90 a month. If I don't take it what ever portion medicare would pay for they won't. That is such a rip. I give them over $800 a month which they aren't going to lower and I then have to pay another $100 a month for medicare. That eats up my lousy retirement check. I have to get back to Social Security on Monday and make sure they don't process the card saying I didn't want Part B.
It's very hard for me to understand the government and insurance. If a person just wants to continue with their insurance they should be able to without a problem, rather than having to pay into a government fund that is just taking more out of the system. I would certainly get rid of this insurance but because of my medical conditions I am sure they would put riders or waiting periods on so they wouldn't have to pay for anything.
Others, I've been out sweating. Heavens it is so humid out there! I got the garden hoed for the most part. Sure wish I had the mulch to put on it here. I don't want to do that too many times. I'm undecided what to use for mulch. What do you all use, and then do you just till it in in the fall? I am trying to save labor so I don't want to have to take something off' later. Tilling is okay.
I can't seem to get motivated to do anything today. I did do that but was hating every second of it.
I need to build a cage for the button quail so I can get them outside. I need to clean house. I need to divide a couple pens but I just feel too tired to tackle it today. I've got to get my act together one of these days.

 

[chicken danz]

Sharol I am not yet 65. I am disabled so that is why I am being forced in to medicare right now. I should check into this medigap thing if it is that cheap. I'm tired of being ripped off. I wonder if since it is BX as well if they would still insure me without riders for pre-existing conditions?

 

[prairie]

with two Ameraucana chicks that hatched last night. It stood over them after they hatched & peeped encouragement to them.

That is so cute, Trish! I can just see that little chickie peeking at them and peeping!!

 

[sharol]

I see. I don't know how that works. Just keep after BX until you get someone who knows what he/she is doing.

Sharol I am not yet 65. I am disabled so that is why I am being forced in to medicare right now. I should check into this medigap thing if it is that cheap. I'm tired of being ripped off. I wonder if since it is BX as well if they would still insure me without riders for pre-existing conditions?

 

[cherwill]

Danz, I usually just use my dirty chicken litter. I know it's supposed to burn plants if it's not aged a bit,but I've never had a problem. About to do that very thing tonight after it cools off some.

We use ours right away, too. We just spread it out pretty thinly and haven't had any problems so far.