Fun with Wild Animals

Yep happens fast too. Our pups are all grown up now.
Wild bunch too. They weigh more than 4 of their elders,
5.8, 6.2 and 6.7 pounds.

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BNB

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We went through Custer State Park by Mount Rushmore and traffic was backed up for a mile or more.

Finally got to the source of the problem. Some impatient driver apparently wanted one of the animals to get off the road and out of his way.

BAD mistake. Their driver side front tire was flat and folded under the engine block, the axle was broken, the hood and fender were pretty much crushed and they were going to need a flatbed to take them away.

As I recall they were from NJ or MA so they were in for a very long and expensive remainder of their ā€˜vacation’.

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When we gave tours of the 8,600+ acres research area, you never knew where the bison would be. Most of the time they would be on a distant hill but sometimes they were standing right on the vehicle trail that encircled the research enclosure. The tour drivers didn’t try to ā€œencourageā€ the bison to move. They had to wait until the bison decided it was time to move on.

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This is a real problem every year in Wyoming / Yellowstone National Park. Although we chuckled at this, we know there are people who try to get close every year and are injured. It can also earn you a fine and/or jail time.

Still was a good chuckle.

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Grew up 25 miles from Custer … 70 miles from Mount Rushmore.

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Sad news on the Kitty front. Kara is very sick and will be put down in the next few days.

Same symptoms as Charlie last year. Lymphoma must run in the family. My son is devastated but we can’t do anything about this. She will lay with you if you’re laying down but after 12 years, she’s still can’t be handled. She’s never left this house since the day she got here. Monday will be 12 years to the day that we got her. She was about 9 months old when we adopted Charlie / Kara.

Wants to eat but won’t. I’ve tried 20 different foods this week. The one food she did eat finally last night she immediately vomited and won’t eat that food again.

Once we get her out of here, will have an X-Ray done under sedation just to see what might be going on. She’s still got too much energy even wasting away to trap her. By the time we can get her into a carrier, it will be too late sadly. If there’s something going on like a blockage, we will weigh our options. Is spending $5000 on a nearly 13 year old cat worth it? Maybe. We will see. We probably would if the results look favorable and she won’t suffer too much during the whole process.

She’s eating a little ā€œRevealā€ Tuna in broth now and then and keeping it down which is what is keeping her going.

Sucks

My Wife has been in Greece on a school trip for the last 10 days. Things went downhill shortly after she left. Keeping her going until my Wife gets back so she can say goodbye. She’s landing later tonight. Kara and wifey are buddies. Still holding out a tiny bit of hope that she’s a nervous wreck because Wifey has been away longer than she ever has by far.
.
Oliver will be moving into our house soon from upstairs (my MIL’s place).

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Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. Hoping that your wife can maybe coax her into carrier sooner rather than later–not that you aren’t doing all you can, but sometimes cats really only best respond to one human. :disappointed_relieved:

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What I am most worried about is my son. He’s on the spectrum, has no real friends, and Kara is his buddy. I’ve been trying so hard to help her but this has reached a critical point.

If I could have, I would have taken her to the vet weeks or months ago. She’s been losing weight for a year. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s about 4lbs now. She’s not a big cat at all but she’s very thin now.

I think it’s time to let her go. I’ve put down so many animals over the last 30 years and never regretted any of them. It’s what’s best. I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now although you would never know it. Cats are very good at hiding suffering until it’s too late.

This never gets easier and I don’t know why we keep getting more pets and doing this to ourselves.

Thankfully Ollie doesn’t care about getting into a carrier and getting into a car so we can keep him healthy for a long time with regular check ups.

We have exclusively rescued strays so this comes with the territory. Charlie and Kara would never even go near a door. Could leave it wide open for a month and they would never step paw outside. Just the way they are.

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Very valid. It’s so hard to watch as a parent. All of it.

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From last night when we were jumping for joy until…

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If only there were a way to have love without grief…I feel for you and your son and I am sure both the kitty and you son feel your love and support.

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Thank You :heart:

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I’m so sorry to hear this. Sending warm and kind thoughts to you, your family and Kara.

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Sorry to hear this. Wishing you and wife the best.

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Thanks and @rms too.

She actually ate a little since last report and kept it down. She’s sleeping in my daughters bed so we are tip toeing around the house to let her sleep / digest. She ate some dry food and a couple of her favorite treats that we left out. She would bite your hand off until yesterday for those when she started rejecting them as well.

It will be interesting when my wife walks through the door in a couple of hours to see her reaction (Kara’s). I know she will be extremely happy to see her. I guess I will too but a little peeved that I was left to deal with everything here for over a week… Plane just landed but they have a long way to go to de-plane, go through customs, and get their bags. She also can’t leave until all the students are picked up. Heading to JFK soon…

I think she ate too much too fast last night. Then, she didn’t want to take a chance on that food too quickly because of what happened afterwards.

I’m an idiot. Never should have put that much food in the bowl. Baby steps which is what we will do just to see how she does once things get back to normal around here tonight / tomorrow.

She doesn’t chew her food, never has. She swallows the dry food whole. She’s lost a tooth or 2 over the last few years. Obviously and quite commonly she has dental issues at this age as most cats do once they turn 6-8 years old.

One of our other rescues lost all 4 fangs towards the end. We have no idea how old she was when we got her or when she died.

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I’m so sad to hear about Kara. It’s so hard to watch when you can’t help much.

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Sadly sounds like kidney disease. Insidious and you don’t often know until its too late to treat.
Lost our almost 17 year old Miss Maggie this morning, her kidneys went from years of heart meds. She had a stage 4 heart murmur for years, our vet had her gone at least 2 years ago. She’s a toughie, hung in here and fought the good fight.
Sad and stressful when you lose such a beloved friend.

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So very sorry for your loss. Kara is going in at 3:20 EST today and most likely not coming home.

April 6th 2024 is a really crappy day for both of us.

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My heart goes out to you for the loss of your beloved Miss Maggie.

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