Visited the Human Society yesterday

[MichelleCarmen]

As many of you know, my family''s beloved cat passed away last week after a sudden illness that the vet said would require surgery and even with that, we may not be able to save him. We decided not to do that, so we lost our good friend.

Yesterday, I went to the Humane Society for a visit and have to say I was VERY impressed with them. They have all interested individuals fill out applications and then after, when people are looking at pets, the staff has information on every pet (I just looked at cats). Why they are there, what their personalities are like and what kind of household they would fit best in. With every cat, they assistants could express if the animal would be best in a quiet household or one with kids and noise.

For those of you looking to adopt a kitty, I''d highly recommend looking into the Humane Society rather than a kitty on CL or the newspaper because people may not be honest about the cat''s personality. The HS, on the otherhand, was so straightforward to ensure each cat would have a happy life!

 

[sctsbride09]

Oh MC, I just wanted to say Im so sorry for the loss of your cat.

But you are so right about the humane society, I hope when you are ready eventually that you find a great cat there! Sorry again.

 

[Kaleigh]

Oh MC so sorry your family lost their beloved cat. The Humane Society is a wonderful organization. Hugs to you. That''s a big loss.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Thanks. We did find a cat. I wasn't sure if I should post that or not because the loss of our cat was so sudden and just happened. My son was so depressed as our cat had been his best friend at night and my son was sullen and withdrawn as a result.

My two kids came with me to the HS and we spent A LONG time in there. Our visit wasn't a quick in-and-out, "oh, here's a cat, lets just get that one." The cats were in little pet condos. Each room had about six cats. We visited every room and interacted with many cats and whenever one caught our fancy, an assistant brought me the cat's file to read and then we discussed if that cat would work for us.

After over an hour, we finally found the right one. I had talked to a couple in another room and they suggested I take a look at that particular cat. I wanted a cat between 1-2 years old and this cat ended up being younger. He's seven months old. His file provided all the info and he fit all the my criteria (as I had filled out an application with the HS stating what I was looking for) and we REALLY lucked out as he's an amazing lap cat, plays with the kids, has no fear of anything, and slept with us last night.

The HS gave us a free month of pet health insurance. After the experience with my above cat, I'm considering it. Not sure if it is a scam. My other option is putting $30 each month in my seperate savings account and having a kitty emergency fund.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the kitty insurance?

 

[lyra]

I''m so sorry for your loss MC. It''s just wonderful that you were able to adopt a kitten like you did. Sounds like it''s going great.

About the pet insurance, I would put the money aside instead. It''s a bit of a gamble either way, but at least the money isn''t going somewhere where you never get it back if your cat never needs some expensive treatment that may or may not be covered.

 

[elrohwen]

I''m so sorry about your cat

but you glad you found such a wonderful new kitty! I fully support the Humane Society and I''m glad you had such a good experience there.

As far as pet insurance goes, no, it''s not a scam. Especially if you have a young animal with no pre-existing conditions who later gets sick, it can be wonderful. I know many people who use VPI for their bunnies (it''s the only one that covers rabbits) but I know there are a few other companies out there who cover cats.

However, I would put the money aside instead. If you save the money, you can earn interest on it (as low as the interest rate may be). If you''re confident that you would have enough money if you saved it yourself, I don''t think you need pet insurance.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I''m sorry that you lost your dear kitty friend, but glad that you have decided to adopt from the Humane Society

 

[sunnyd]

Pet insurance = scam. My parents had it for their Saint Bernard and they refused to pay for a damn thing.

 

[April20]

MC, I'm so sorry about your kitty, but I'm so glad you had a good experience at the Humane Society! I hope you find a good kitty for your family.

ETA: I see you found a kitty! That is excellent news. Post pics!

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 4/8/2010 4:30:24 PM
Author: sunnyd
Pet insurance = scam. My parents had it for their Saint Bernard and they refused to pay for a damn thing.

That sucks! I know people who have used it and it''s saved them tons of money, but I prefer to just save up an emergency fund. I would also be worried that they would find some reason to not pay.

Also, they often pay fixed rates. So say your dog needs dental work that the insurance company routinely pays $50 for. Vets in some parts of the country charge $75 for this, so not too bad. You live in an expensive area and your vet charges $150. You still only get paid back $50 - not very helpful.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 4/8/2010 5:16:40 PM
Author: April20
MC, I''m so sorry about your kitty, but I''m so glad you had a good experience at the Humane Society! I hope you find a good kitty for your family.

ETA: I see you found a kitty! That is excellent news. Post pics!

Yah, I will post photos. I already took a few this morning and then came upstairs to discover my monitor isn''t working, so I''m using my kids'' computer and don''t want to mess around with uploading stuff to theirs. Also, need to take some additional shots. The kitty is solid black and in almost all the photos he looks like a blob of smooth black fur rather than an actual cat. lol Need to do a photo shoot with a background with contrast.

 

[Prana]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved friend!

But so happy that a new cat gets to have a chance at a wonderful life!

 

[zoebartlett]

I''m glad you had such a positive experience with the Humane Society, MC. I''m sure you''ll find a kitty soon.

We have two cats and we got one from the local animal rescue league. They were wonderful to deal with, and they answered all of our questions very patiently. After we adopted Zoe, we received a few follow-up phone calls to make sure that things were going well. I would also highly recommend animal rescue leagues.

 

[zoebartlett]

I just finished reading, and I see you''ve found a cat. How exciting, MC! I''ve heard a few positive comments about pet insurance, but I''ve mainly heard that it''s not typically worth it. I''ve never had it for our cats, and my parents never got it for our family dog, so I can''t speak from personal experience. I like the idea of having a special savings account devoted for your pets rather than going the insurance route.

 

[Luckyeshe]

I am so sorry for your loss MC. I am glad though that you were able to find a feline companion who you saved and gave a second chance to.

 

[Amethyste]

MC,

I am so happy to hear that you have found a new member!!! I adopted my first kitty at the NHSPCA. She is 6 years old and a total love bug...
Enjoy!!!!

I consider peat health insurance like extended warranties on cars. It''s all nice on paper, but when something happens, you have to pull hair and teeth to get anything covered. I''d do the emergency fund thingie instead....

 

[justginger]

So sorry to hear about your loss, but am glad you''ve found a kitty who will fit in so well with your family. I''ve had nothing but good experiences with the Humane Society in the States (got kitties there myself), and then with the RSPCA in Australia.

I have found pet insurance to be very good - just depends on the exact company. My two large breed, disease-prone, older dogs cost me $60/month. I''ve had insurance for just around a year now, so that would be $720 so far -- and I''ve been reimbursed over $3000 to date.

Just a simple form, a signature from my vet, and the money was put into my account with no questions asked. I can see the merit of just setting money aside, if you are disciplined enough to not use it for other things and the pet is young. Mine are too old for me to be able to accumulate much of anything before potentially needing a major procedure. For a 7 month old cat, I think I''d stick with the savings account.

 

[mickeyva]

I''m so sorry for your loss, but I believe the best way you could honor your cat is to adopt and give another cat a wonderful life, which it sounds like you did! I didn''t wait long between losing my cat and getting another one so I don''t think you should be worried about that at all.

We (parents, sister, and me) have always adopted cats from shelters or humane societies. I think they really know that you saved them and they make the best pets! My sister adopted this one cat who spent the first two years of its life in a shelter, and now she doesn''t leave my sister''s side. She''s like a little dog! A good site is petfinder.com, which works with a lot of shelters to list pets that are available for adoption.

Enjoy your new family member!

 

[waterlilly]

I applaud you going to the humane society.

Am sorry for the loss of your cat. I was wondering what ended up happening, I can''t find your thread about you finding out what the problem actually was. I remember your post last week about your cat being sick, not eating, (throwing up maybe?) but you had decided you didn''t have the money to take it to the vet to have testing done on it to see what was wrong. Myself and others posted our disappointment and urged you to bring your cat to the vet, am glad to see you did this.

What was the diagnosis if you don''t mind me asking?

That must be where you posted the update - but I can''t find it now - was it deleted?

Sorry again for your loss.

 

[geckodani]

I''m so sorry about your kitty MC.

I''m glad you found a new furbaby to share your life though!

Pet insurance... I think I''d just set aside the $30 a month, personally.

 

[HVVS]

Not to do a thread hijack, but it''s the mature cats that the shelters have the most trouble placing. People are more more open to taking a kitten or a youngster, but many mature cats wind up being euth''d and then used for dissections in anatomy classes. Also, the older cats may be stressed more by being moved from a home to a shelter, and may not be showing their real personalities. I know this has nothing to do with this thread. But I just wanted to beg and plead with people to seriously consider adopting a grown cat, because many of them are displaced pets that owners left there with good intentions. But, in reality, very few mature cats are adopted.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 4/9/2010 11:54:19 AM
Author: HVVS
Not to do a thread hijack, but it's the mature cats that the shelters have the most trouble placing. People are more more open to taking a kitten or a youngster, but many mature cats wind up being euth'd and then used for dissections in anatomy classes. Also, the older cats may be stressed more by being moved from a home to a shelter, and may not be showing their real personalities. I know this has nothing to do with this thread. But I just wanted to beg and plead with people to seriously consider adopting a grown cat, because many of them are displaced pets that owners left there with good intentions. But, in reality, very few mature cats are adopted.

Yeah, I do agree with you re: older cats and their need to be adopted. You have to keep in mind that I have two boys in elementary school and it was imparative that we found a cat who would be able to withstand loud noises and having friends over. Many of the older cats needed homes where they would be the only cat and/or in a quiet environment. Just the way it turned out that we found a cat who sits with us and has no fear of the boys or our other (territorial 17 year old) cat. In fact when she tried to show him who is boss by hissing, he walked right past her ignoring her like she didn't exist. He's worked out very well.

The fact comes down to, if people properly evaluated the pet(s) and the family's needs before hand, many less cats would be given away.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 4/9/2010 8:01:51 AM
Author: waterlilly What was the diagnosis if you don''t mind me asking?

We''ll never know exactly what happened but the vet said it was most likely an intestinal blockage. She said his circulation wasn''t as good as it should have been. He would have needed surgery and we decided it wouldn''t be the best for him and the vet said there was no guarantee that we could save him had we went ahead with the procedure.

 

[susimoo]

MC
Just wanted to say I was very sorry to hear what happened, especially how it affected your son.

I wish you and yours all the best with your new furbaby.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 4/9/2010 2:53:21 PM
Author: susimoo
MC
Just wanted to say I was very sorry to hear what happened, especially how it affected your son.

I wish you and yours all the best with your new furbaby.

Thanks. My other (younger son) finally verbalized how upset he is. I had posted a few months back about my SIL committing suicide, my great grandma, and my grandpa dying and (plus a great uncle - hadn''t seen in 20+ years) and my son asked why do we watch violent tv because everyone keeps dying. He also ran out into the yard and looked at the grave of our other cat. Oh, and all his guppy fish died about 2 months back. What is the deal here?

Last night I realized he may need the school counselor.

 

[susimoo]

MC

That is a rough ride you have been on, for sure. I really feel for you. You have lost but also now have the pain you feel as a parent watching your little ones suffer. It is a double edged sword. Counseling may may indeed be the next best step. Don''t forget yourself in all this. It must have taken a huge toll on you too. Again, I can only reiterate I wish only the best for you and yours. You are something of a pillar here on PS and you can be sure myself and others have got your back. WE will be there to help you in any way we can. Sending hugs your way!!!

 

[missy]

Hi MC,
I'm so sorry for your loss.

It's wonderful that you adopted a rescue cat. All of ours are rescues and they are loving additions to our family as I hope yours will be.

Regarding pet health insurance I would consider it. It depends on the insurance company you would be signing up with of course so make sure to read all the fine print about what is and what is not covered. You would have to insure while the cat is young and healthy (I am not sure older cats can even be insured and the cost will be higher if you are able to insure them)so this would be the time.

I have never done the insurance route because my sister is a veterinarian but most definitely will be looking into it if she ever stops practicing. As you know it is expensive to care for a cat or dog when they become ill and you don't want to have to chose b/w caring for them and not being able to afford it when this happens. A savings account for them might not be the best idea because what happens if there is a family emergency or some other issue comes up. It might be too tempting to dip into that when all is well with the cat and then you just never know how things will work out. I would prefer a definite safety net for your cat.

Good luck with the new kitty and I hope your son is feeling better.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

You can imagine where this is going to lead to. . .

 

[MichelleCarmen]

This.

It''s a bit blurry, but there he is trying to figure out how to get into the fish tank!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

She has NO idea what she''s in for!