It's been a rough week, GAF.
Last week we picked up an adorable Shelti/JackRussell at 8 weeks. Went out and bought the works -- bed, toys (one she picked out herself), leash/harness, dishes and a large supply of food. Puppy was relatively brave on the way home as we cuddled her in our jackets (its cold here). We got home and began to get her used to her new home. We have two cats who were okay with dogs based on our previous experience, and introduced them after the first few hours. The puppy was curious of course, one of the cats quickly taught her who was boss with some hissing and harmless batting while the other kept to herself, jumping out of reach when needed.
Over the next day we noticed something alarming; our shy cat was vomiting and not eating/drinking. With the introduction of a new pup we thought it was simply stress so we kept an eye on her and tried every trick in the book, shutting them off from eachother, wet food, dry food, treats, fresh chicken, new/no bowls. She was fine otherwise, not hiding and playing. This ended up continuing and research suggested that it was extremely dangerous for cats after a few days (due to fatty liver disease) so we took her to the hospital, where they elected to keep her overnight with IV treatment to do xrays and bloodwork. My partner and I were devastated during this time, she was still young (only 3yr) and we loved her to bits.
Each day I would receive a call from the vet; the first day explaining the initial results and that some more were due to come in, and she still wasn't eating. The second that results were pretty much all good news, but still not eating. On Friday, we finally got the call that we were waiting for: They had managed to restore her appetite with a combination of meds and syringe feeding, she was going to come home!
The following night and Saturday went extremely well. She was eating and drinking again, no problems with the pup. Although we had spent much time over the past week worrying about our cat, we made sure to not neglect the new one. She was doing well with house training, learning not to whine for attention and play with her toys instead of nipping or biting other things. She was energetic, playful and loved us something fierce. By the end of Saturday, me and my partner thought everything was going to finally be alright, us, our cats and the new one.
The next morning, we woke up late (around noon) and let all the animals outside to play. We played fetch with our puppy with a small ball we had picked up for her and was planning to take her for her first walk. A neighborhood outdoor cat who likes to come pick a fight with ours by staring through our window showed up, he seemed to be staying outside the fence due to the new addition. While we weren't looking, he hopped the fence and found our shy cat on our deck. She was hissing and due to her recent condition I didn't waste any time responding, and ran up the stairs to grab the outdoor cat.
At the top of the stairs I heard a massive yelp and my heart sank. I looked down, our puppy had run underneath me and got underfoot at the top. She walked a few steps before falling over. We immediately brought her inside, called our vet hospital and one of our relatives with a vehicle to pick us up, but it didn't matter. After a few minutes she had passed on. We bought her to the hospital regardless, and the same doctor who I had seen in days previous for our cat said she had passed on.
We're devastated. We waited years for the right time to get ourselves a puppy and had every intention of doing everything right; plans to socialize, exercise and train. To take her on our summer hiking trips. She was perfect. I feel incredible guilt despite knowing it was a complete accident, I can't stop thinking about 'what if I had reacted more slowly' or 'what if I had caught the cat before he went up to the deck', even though I know it doesn't matter. I read stories here and elsewhere about pets passing away from old age and illness, and I knew that would come eventually for one of mine, but this is far worse. We're trying our best to distract ourselves and keep our daily lives going as we can. I would love to take a day or two off but we simply can't afford with the combination of vet bills and the funds we spent for the pup and her things. Perhaps for the better, to keep us going.
In the end, we only knew her but a week, but waking up without her this morning still broke our hearts. Rest in peace, pup.
Last week we picked up an adorable Shelti/JackRussell at 8 weeks. Went out and bought the works -- bed, toys (one she picked out herself), leash/harness, dishes and a large supply of food. Puppy was relatively brave on the way home as we cuddled her in our jackets (its cold here). We got home and began to get her used to her new home. We have two cats who were okay with dogs based on our previous experience, and introduced them after the first few hours. The puppy was curious of course, one of the cats quickly taught her who was boss with some hissing and harmless batting while the other kept to herself, jumping out of reach when needed.
Over the next day we noticed something alarming; our shy cat was vomiting and not eating/drinking. With the introduction of a new pup we thought it was simply stress so we kept an eye on her and tried every trick in the book, shutting them off from eachother, wet food, dry food, treats, fresh chicken, new/no bowls. She was fine otherwise, not hiding and playing. This ended up continuing and research suggested that it was extremely dangerous for cats after a few days (due to fatty liver disease) so we took her to the hospital, where they elected to keep her overnight with IV treatment to do xrays and bloodwork. My partner and I were devastated during this time, she was still young (only 3yr) and we loved her to bits.
Each day I would receive a call from the vet; the first day explaining the initial results and that some more were due to come in, and she still wasn't eating. The second that results were pretty much all good news, but still not eating. On Friday, we finally got the call that we were waiting for: They had managed to restore her appetite with a combination of meds and syringe feeding, she was going to come home!
The following night and Saturday went extremely well. She was eating and drinking again, no problems with the pup. Although we had spent much time over the past week worrying about our cat, we made sure to not neglect the new one. She was doing well with house training, learning not to whine for attention and play with her toys instead of nipping or biting other things. She was energetic, playful and loved us something fierce. By the end of Saturday, me and my partner thought everything was going to finally be alright, us, our cats and the new one.
The next morning, we woke up late (around noon) and let all the animals outside to play. We played fetch with our puppy with a small ball we had picked up for her and was planning to take her for her first walk. A neighborhood outdoor cat who likes to come pick a fight with ours by staring through our window showed up, he seemed to be staying outside the fence due to the new addition. While we weren't looking, he hopped the fence and found our shy cat on our deck. She was hissing and due to her recent condition I didn't waste any time responding, and ran up the stairs to grab the outdoor cat.
At the top of the stairs I heard a massive yelp and my heart sank. I looked down, our puppy had run underneath me and got underfoot at the top. She walked a few steps before falling over. We immediately brought her inside, called our vet hospital and one of our relatives with a vehicle to pick us up, but it didn't matter. After a few minutes she had passed on. We bought her to the hospital regardless, and the same doctor who I had seen in days previous for our cat said she had passed on.
We're devastated. We waited years for the right time to get ourselves a puppy and had every intention of doing everything right; plans to socialize, exercise and train. To take her on our summer hiking trips. She was perfect. I feel incredible guilt despite knowing it was a complete accident, I can't stop thinking about 'what if I had reacted more slowly' or 'what if I had caught the cat before he went up to the deck', even though I know it doesn't matter. I read stories here and elsewhere about pets passing away from old age and illness, and I knew that would come eventually for one of mine, but this is far worse. We're trying our best to distract ourselves and keep our daily lives going as we can. I would love to take a day or two off but we simply can't afford with the combination of vet bills and the funds we spent for the pup and her things. Perhaps for the better, to keep us going.
In the end, we only knew her but a week, but waking up without her this morning still broke our hearts. Rest in peace, pup.
