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My Pet World: At what point do you say goodbye to a pet?

By Marc Morrone, Tribune Content Agency on

Q: My Chihuahua is 16 years old and my family members are putting pressure on me to put her to sleep. They say it is a pity to see her bump into walls as she cannot see very well and that I am only keeping her alive to satisfy my own needs and not hers. She seems happy enough to me -- she still eats and goes to the bathroom on her own. She does sometimes leave puddles on the floor, but we have tiles so it is not an issue for me to clean up after her. At what point do you say goodbye to a pet? -- Cindy Hughs, Allentown, PA

A: This is an issue that I have gone through myself time and time again with all my pets for many decades. Only a handful of my assorted pets have died peacefully in their sleep, otherwise I have been in the same situation as you are now many times.

First of all, do not let other family members pressure or guilt you into doing it. The only person who is qualified to say that your pet is suffering physically is the vet who has been caring for it and knows it intimately.

Realistically speaking older animals like yours that can eat on their own, still keep themselves clean, recognize you and enjoy your company, and walk without pain are not suffering. Yes, there may be issues with bodily functions and vision issues, but these are not problems that an animal worries about; they live for the moment.

You can only put your pet to sleep once. There are no second chances, so do not make the choice to do it unless your vet advises it, especially if you do not want to feel any guilt. The only other scenario that would cause you to have to do it is if you were unable to provide your geriatric pet the additional care it needs, and it was thus suffering in that manner. In the end, each case is different and sometimes you have to do what you have to do and I cannot judge anybody for that.

My Siamese cat, Wheezer, is now 20 and is frail, skinny and suffers from irritable bowel syndrome despite a raw food diet and drugs. Nonetheless, he suffers from explosive diarrhea and when that happens it certainly ruins any plans we may have at that particular moment.

However, he still toddles about the house and keeps himself clean. At night he always finds me and falls asleep on my chest no matter where I am. He could sleep anywhere in the house but the fact he feels safe with me touches my heart a great deal. I do not mind cleaning up the mess he makes. I know the problem will resolve itself sooner than I would like and I will never have another Wheezer again after that.

Q: We have two cats that are brothers and were raised together. One meows all the time at us and seems normal in all respects. The other one hardly ever meows but he seems to be purring all the time and his purring is very loud. Is there a reason for this and should we be worried? -- Julie Garcia, Las Vegas, NV

 

A: From here I certainly cannot say if there is anything wrong with the cat, but I can comment on cat vocalizations. Meowing by cats is done only by kittens to their mothers and by adult cats to their human keepers as they view us as their "parents" and they express their needs to us in this manner.

Among themselves cats growl, hiss and make other sounds, but they rarely meow to each other. There is a lot of debate among scientists on purring among domestic cats, but they do agree there are two different purring styles.

One type of purr that expresses contentment and another type -- measured by recording and comparing the sound waves -- that is called a "solicitation purr." In other words the cat is expressing a need for something with a purr in the same manner that it would express the need with a meow.

So perhaps your meow-less cat has discovered that his purring gets him the same things from you that a meow would -- only the cat know for sure.

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(Marc Morrone has kept every kind of animal as a pet possible for the last half century and is happy to share his knowledge of pet keeping with those in need of it. Although he cannot answer every question individually, he will publish those of general interest. You can contact him at petxperts2@aol.com; please include your name, city and state.)


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