Category: Animals

Daisy rest in peace

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 10 Comments

Daisy with flowersToday we had to say goodbye to our eldest cat, Daisy, who has died at the age of about seventeen years. Her coat was dark tortoiseshell, and she had a distinctive ginger stripe on her forehead.

Daisy came to us for foster care when she was a young mother with three tiny kittens. Her previous owners had dumped them all at the vet clinic. As always happens with our foster cats, we ended up adopting her after the kittens were old enough to be rehomed and she had been desexed.

Daisy was a strong character, who liked human company but barely tolerated our other cats, and would attack any dog who visited the property. Her greatest enthusiasms were playing the piano, especially the bass keys, and licking the cream from our breakfast porridge bowls.

Her health had been gradually failing in recent months. Her kidney function was poor, so she was on a special renal diet and needed to drink a great deal of water, but still appeared to enjoy life. Yesterday evening she suddenly went downhill, dragging her back legs and hardly able to walk. We made the harrowing decision to book her in for euthanasia next day, and I did my best to keep her comfortable in a quiet room overnight. By morning she was semiconscious, and died peacefully at home a few hours later. It was a mercifully quick and natural death.

Now Daisy is buried in our garden along with the other cats who have shared our lives since we came to New Zealand – Cindy, Floella, Felix and Homer. We will miss Daisy very much but still have our two lovely four-year-olds, Magic and Leo.

Update one month later:  I was very touched to receive, from our friends at Auckland SPCA, this photo of a new kitten with similar tortoiseshell colouring who has been named after Daisy and is now up for adoption.

Daisy Jnr

The joy of dogs

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

For three years after the death of Khymer I was without a regular canine companion to walk, but am now having daily adventures on the beach with Ireland – a big black bouncy Labrador.

There is plenty of evidence that dogs are good for the wellbeing of humans. They provide loving companionship, a stimulus to take exercise, and opportunities for social interaction. Dog owners tend to have better physical and mental health than those without a dog, for example lower rates of cardiovascular disease and depression. These benefits as reported in many research studies are undoubtedly real, although they may be over-estimated to some extent because less healthy people are less likely to get a dog in the first place. Dogs have an established role as therapists: guiding the blind, visiting residents in care homes, supporting disabled children and adults, predicting the onset of epileptic fits or hypoglycaemic episodes, even sniffing out the presence of early-stage cancers.

Dogs can also present hazards. Falls are one danger, as I know to my cost: on one occasion when Khymer was forging ahead along an uneven pavement I tripped and broke my arm. Over-enthusiastic dogs often want to run up to strange people, or other dogs, and can easily knock them down. Constant vigilance is required during off lead walks.

Dog ownership is a significant responsibility. Leaving aside the dreadful cases of neglect and cruelty I have seen at the SPCA, many otherwise well-meaning owners leave their dogs alone at home while they are out at work all day, never realising how much they suffer from the lack of company and exercise. An ideal solution, as promoted through charities such as the the Dog Share Collective through which I met Ireland, is linking up such owners with people like myself who would love a relationship with a dog but for various reasons cannot have one of their own.

 

Ireland digging on beach

Walking for the animals

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Following on from Zumba Gold and cold water swimming, my exercise challenge for today was a brisk walk in the Auckland suburb of Hobsonville. I did this partly for health benefits but more importantly to raise awareness for my favourite charity, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or SPCA. A group of supporters, many with their dogs, gathered at the site where a new centre serving the North Shore area is to be built next year. Brian came too.

Although there are plenty of animal lovers in New Zealand, there are also many cases of cruelty and neglect. I know from my years of volunteering with the SPCA that the organisation does wonderful work in rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals, educating school children about animal welfare, running low-cost desexing programs to prevent litters of unwanted kittens, seeking justice in cases of animal abuse, and more.

Until now the SPCA has operated from the Animal Village in Mangere in South Auckland, close to the airport. As the city’s population has grown, not only are these premises too small, but traffic congestion is making it very difficult to service the area efficiently. The new centre in Hobsonville will make it possible to help many more animals such as my own beautiful Magic (pictured), who was brought into the SPCA as the only survivor of a litter of kittens left to die under a hedge. More funds are still needed to build the centre and donations can be made through https://www.spcaauckland.org.nz.

Magic on cyclamen bed

 

 

 

Homer: rest in peace

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 2 Comments

clare & homer

Sad news for the many friends of Homer the cat.  He had developed an untreatable abdominal lymphoma, and yesterday the heartbreaking decision to euthanise him was made.

Being officially my cat, he has been buried in our back garden, though he never really regarded our property as his home.  After many wanderings he settled with my mother Clare (pictured) and they spent several happy years together until she died in 2015. After that he chose to live in turn with two younger couples, both of whom cared for him lovingly and are devastated by his loss.

To read more about Homer’s remarkable life, search for his name on this blog.

Daisy’s renal function

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I took Daisy, our 15-year-old cat, to the vet to have her long sharp front claws trimmed. She had taken to jumping up on the bed every morning, expressing her desire for food and attention by scratching my forearms hard enough to make them bleed. The vet recommended a geriatric health screen. Daisy was kept in the clinic all day for blood and urine tests, and the results showed that her renal function was somewhat impaired. I agreed to another blood test to assess the extent of the problem.

Renal (kidney) failure is very common in older cats. The many possible causes include urinary infections and ingestion of poisons. In many cases no specific cause can be found, though I wonder if processed food is implicated, for example cats fed on dry biscuits may get too much salt and not enough water. Our own cats certainly love dry biscuits, but I have always limited their intake, and fed a mixed diet with moist canned food and fresh meat, poultry or fish. The symptoms of renal failure can include increased thirst, increased urine volume, loss of appetite and weight, vomiting, diarrhoea, and general weakness. It is sometimes associated with other conditions such as anaemia, hypertension and hyperthyroidism.

Although diet is an important aspect of management, according to my reading there is some controversy around this. The standard prescription foods are low in protein, but some experts recommend feeding plenty of protein from fresh high-grade animal sources. Medication may delay progression of the condition. Adequate fluid intake is important, and severe acute cases may need parenteral fluids. Some specialised centres even offer renal dialysis and kidney transplantation.

Daisy’s second blood test showed that her renal function was “borderline”. She appears very well and has none of the symptoms listed above. After a long discussion with the vet we agreed not to initiate drug treatment or a special diet at this time.

I was about to leave the clinic when I checked on her claws and found that they had forgotten to trim them, so she was taken back to have that done. It had turned out a very expensive manicure; I could have tried to do it myself at home, though I am sure she would have scratched me.

Whether investigation of Daisy’s renal function has been worthwhile, only time will tell. Both in veterinary and in human medicine, screening for disease has pros and cons. Sometimes it does pick up a serious condition for which early treatment is desirable and even life saving. But modern tests are so sensitive that they often detect very minor abnormalities, prompting further investigations which can involve a great deal of discomfort, anxiety and expense and usually prove to have been unnecessary. On several occasions I myself have had blood results, X-Rays or biopsies reported as “borderline” or “suspicious” that eventually turned out to have been false alarms.

Daisy lying back

A Christmas Cat-Fest Part 3: Daisy the pianist

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

daisy-in-bedDaisy (aged fifteen) is our most musical cat. Of the many cats I have known, she is the only one to be fascinated by the piano. Whenever I attempt to practice she jumps onto the keyboard and marches up and down on it, taking particular satisfaction from playing the bass part. She is also a keen vocalist, expressing her desires for food or attention with raucous cries at all hours of day or night. When Daisy was about a year old, she and her three kittens came to us for fostering from the local veterinary surgery, where she had been left by her previous owners. We soon found homes for the kittens, but I nearly always end up keeping my fosters and so Daisy stayed on. Confident of her position as the senior cat in the household, over the course of her long life she has reluctantly tolerated the comings and goings of feline companions Felix, Homer, Magic and Leo.

This is the end of my mini-series about cats, and I expect to return to posting on more serious topics in the New Year. Happy Christmas, and thank you for visiting my blog.

A Christmas Cat-Fest Part 2: Leo the lounger

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 2 Comments
  • leo-curled-up

Leo (aged two years) is our most laid-back cat. He is also the most affectionate, purring whenever I pick him up or stroke him or even just look in his direction. Leo is a solidly built cat who has a hearty appetite and spends most of his time relaxing around the house and garden. However he occasionally shows other sides of his character by chasing other cats off the property, and by running away from human strangers. Although he was a rescue kitten, he must have come from quite a kind background because he was so friendly and plump from the start. I fostered him for the Lonely Miaow Association but ended up adopting him myself because he got on so well with Magic.

 

A Christmas Cat-Fest Part 1: Magic the huntress

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

magic-on-cyclamen-bed  Magic (aged two years) is the most adventurous of our cats, sometimes to be found roaming far from home up on the mountain behind our house. She is also the only serious hunter in our feline family, being capable of catching large rats despite her delicate build. Magic’s small size is perhaps the legacy of a difficult start in life; she was brought into Auckland SPCA as a kitten, having been found cold and starving under a hedge beside her dead litter mates, and soon afterwards she became sick with cat flu and an eye infection. But she survived these traumas and has grown into a strong and healthy cat, with a ravenous appetite and a passion for raw chicken necks.

Daisy the piano cat

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

Every cat is unique in appearance, personality and behaviour. Our black and white Magic is addicted to raw chicken necks; Leo the tabby likes to relax in the letterbox; and tortoiseshell Daisy is interested in music. My attempts to practice the piano are often interrupted when she jumps up on the keys and plays a loud accompaniment. Here is a short video of Daisy’s latest composition.

Daisy may not be so skilled as the famous American piano cat called Nora but then, like me, she only started learning to play in later life.

P.S. A reminder that my short novel Blue Moon for Bombers is free from Smashwords until the end of November. To download a copy click here.

Homer: the odyssey continues

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The adventures of the white-and-black cat described in my recent post Homer’s story still continue.

After my mother died Homer never gave up his attachment to her house, and although he did move in with us part-time, he started visiting the young couple who were renting next door to my mother. They became very fond of him, and when they bought a house of their own in Bayswater we agreed to a trial adoption.

We had Homer microchipped in case he went wandering again, although considering that six years had passed since he made his repeated journeys from Bayswater to Devonport, we hoped he would have outgrown his wanderlust.

I visited Homer and his new owners every week and we did everything we could to help him settle into his new home. All went well for a month, but on the first night after a cat door was fitted, he exited through it and turned up in Devonport – over 3 km away – next morning. After some tearful discussions we agreed that Homer had should be allowed to stay in the area he loves so much.

Fortunately, the new couple who are renting next door have also become fond of Homer, and are giving him food. He still likes to spend time around my mother’s vacant house, lying on the doormat as illustrated below. Last week he became obviously distressed when her furniture was being cleared out. But the new owners move in next week and I understand they are cat-lovers too, so I hope Homer will get on well with their two kittens, and that having meals available from three different houses won’t make him get too fat.

Homer on mat