For Critters

[CarolC]

I thought about you all day. I had to work today or I would have written sooner. One thing I was wondering is whether it might be a good idea to ask MarkR if he would please go back later and delete this whole discussion, if you'd feel better about it. I think board hosts usually have a way of doing that. It isn't that we're off topic. In fact, your predicament isn't all that different from the regrettable situation Mark was in with his dog, which inspired this board. It's just that this is so personal and so painful, and I think it might be better for you not to have it out there for all posterity to read. I'm leaving it up to your judgment. That is the only thing I feel confident about saying. I am worried about your situation, and I feel I still do not really understand it. Others who have been on this board longer perhaps know more about you. I don't know if you foster animals, or work in affiliation with a group, or what. I don't know if you are making your decisions independently or if others are lending their input. One thing is obvious, *you* don't want to put those cats to sleep (and I don't want you to and it sounds like Sandy doesn't want you to). You are heartbroken at the very thought. So WHY??? This is awful. I just want to say, Critters PLEASE don't put your cats into carriers tomorrow, and PLEASE oh PLEASE don't put them into the car and PLEASE PLEASE don't drive them to the vet. Oh, please don't. Please don't. Not over a miserable fungus that is going to burn itself out pretty soon if you *just* give it a chance. Please don't do it. I am very worried for the cats, and worried about you. I cannot see how a person who has been on this bulletin board for this long can do what you mentioned and not suffer terribly for years to come. If you're anyone close to the person your record on this bulletin board seems to indicate, I just don't see how you'll live with the knowledge of what you did, especially when later you find out over and over again how unnecessary it was. Unless there's something else going on here that I don't know? Do you know that you don't have to do everything perfectly? That you can actually have cats with ringworm for literally months, and the world won't come to an end? That's right. The cats might itch. They might look patchy. But it is going to have PRECIOUS LITTLE impact on their lifestyle otherwise. And it will go away. When my cat got it a few months ago, my vet said that usually adult cats don't get it. In my cat's case, she came home from being bathed at the vet and she had a fur mat from the way they had combed her out that I didn't brush out right away. The ringworm started under that warm damp fur mat. I did worry that my other pets (total 3 cats, 2 dogs, 1 rabbit--not to mention me) would get it, but we're OK. It isn't like it's guaranteed to spread through your community like wildfire. It certainly didn't do that here! Yes, I was careful about wiping down the counters, but I'll be honest, I didn't ise bleach and I didn't vacuum that often. I really think someone has said something giving you the wrong impression about ringworm, and because you're going on their bad information you're overreacting. Even if that miserable fungus has fought you to a temporary standstill, it isn't going to win the war, I promise you. Oh Critters, please give your cats a chance. Spring is almost here and fresh air and sunshine, and we'll all feel peppier and our immune systems will get stronger, and you'll see, you'll turn the corner on this thing. Please hold out just a little bit longer. I understand you're worried about giving them a clean bill of health, and about how you'll be able to adopt cats out from your household now that there's been ringworm. The info Sandy posted explained that after the ringworm disappears, the vet can brush your cat's skin with a clean toothbrush and test for any remaining infection. So there will be a way to give them a clean bill of health and get back on track with your adopting them out after this has passed. You'll just be doing the placements a little later than you'd originally scheduled. The one thing I learned from the story of Anne Frank is that her camp was liberated 6 weeks after she died. If she'd only known... Please just tell your cats that you're sorry, you've done all you can as far as treating the ringworm right now, and you wish everything could be perfect but unfortunately it's not, and that you are giving them the gifts that are most valuable at this stage, time and patience. Tomorrow night when you lie in bed, may it be with everyone you love still present and accounted for. Best wishes to you and your whole fur family.

[critters]

I appreciate your thoughts, although I have only a few mins to respond to them.

I have the bb codes, as do, I think, a few others. Mark is often gone, and porn springs eternal on the bb. I may nuke it later, after I've thoroughly studied all the info people have left.

Unfortunately, around here it DID spread like wildfire.

At this point I think I need to sacrifice some of my behavior problems in order to prevent AC from coming in and killing them all; around here, they'd do it in a minute. Like the vet said, treating it takes time, which I don't have.

Gotta go to work, but thanks for your concern (I like the poem, too).

[CarolC]

Hi Critters, Now I see where the pressure is coming from. If Animal Control is involved, that pretty much explains everything. Say no more. I'm so sorry you've been put in that situation. Very best wishes as you go through this.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

I am speechless at what you are going thru and how I would be a screaming basket case if my babies had to be destroyed. You are the miracle worker and you are the strongest person I have never met. Our prayers and hugs are with you and yours. What you are faced with, no critter lover should ever be faced with. Gotta go cry now. Bye.

[Kat]

What a sad decision to make. I know you have given this so much thought, and all I can say, is you have to trust your own judgement. I believe you are doing the best you can. It will be hard, but all we can do is the best we can given the circumstance we find ourselves in at the time. I work with a lot of parents who find themselves in terrible situations. And I tell them what I will tell you. You do the best you can knowing what you know, and you do it with love. And then you forgive yourself if you need to and you go on. We, all of us, have to live within our own situations. I really hope things will smooth out for you in the near future. Remember the good and please don't beat yourself up. Best wishes, Kat