Pet Columns: September 2009 Archives

Michael Vick told a small crowd Tuesday at Covenant Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., that dogfighting is pointless and he doesn't know why he risked his career for it.

Some quotes from Vick's speech, taken from an Associated Press story:

"I got caught up in the culture ... I never thought that I would get caught."

"I used poor judgment. I had people around me who didn't have my best interests at heart."

Vick also said he feels lucky to be alive after being involved in a dangerous subculture.

"Who knows what could have happened at 3 in the morning when you're fighting dogs?" he said. "It's almost like being involved in the streets, dealing drugs, in criminal life."

My question: Where is the remorse for the abuse and cruelty inflicted on the dogs he used in the dogfighting?

Sounds to me like he's still thinking only of himself, what it did to his career, what could have happened to him at 3 in the morning, etc.

And -- oh, my god -- did he really say HE feels lucky to be alive because dogfighting is dangerous?? What about the lives of all those poor dogs?

Note to Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society: You need to distance yourself from this self-serving, self-involved "icon" that you're trying to use as an example for young people. He still doesn't get it ... he's still looking at the issue as something that messed up his life, he doesn't care about all the pain he inflicted.

Is this really what we want our young people to learn?

Read the Associated Press story

Sweet little Henry died last night (Monday) at about 10 p.m. I'm going to miss him most of all.

He had been getting weaker and thinner, and when he tried to walk he would take a few steps and then fall over. But he wouldn't stop trying to walk. About the third or fourth time he fell over, he didn't get up. When I picked him up he was limp.

I carried him to Lucy, his mom, and she snuggled up to him, washing him and talking to him. About an hour later when I checked on him, he was dead. But Lucy wouldn't let me take him away; she growled and hissed when I tried, so I let her keep him for an hour or two.

When I returned, she had moved away from him, so I took him out of the room.

I wish I knew what happened to those sweet little kittens. They were so healthy and playful until they reached about 3-1/2 weeks old, then everything went wrong.

Henry's death was even harder to take then the others, because he had seemed to turn a corner at one point and seemed to be feeling a little better. Then his strength went downhill again. (Also because he was the one who always climbed into my lap when I sat on the floor. )

I feel like I let them down.

I called the vet and they said I could bring Henry in today, if I could get there in 20 minutes. So I got dressed, put Henry in a small pet carrier, and off we went.

I think the carrier was for someones pet ferret or rat, but Henry still looked lost in it -- he's so tiny!

We were probably at least 5 minutes late, but the staff at the vet's office didn't mention it. Everybody fell in love with Henry, and were fussing over him and saying how adorable he is.

They took him in the back to weigh him -- he weighed 9 ounces.

The vet said Henry appears to be anemic, probably from the fleas, and has an upper respiratory infection. And he probably has internal parasites such as roundworm. She said he's too small and weak to take blood from for a blood test. He's also too small and young to be treated for fleas or worms.

The vet prescribed Clavamox for Henry's respiratory infection.

One of the women working in the vet's office said she often fosters kittens for the SPCA, and she's found that Dawn dishwashing liquid (the blue kind) is great for getting rid of fleas on kittens. She said you just put some dawn on the kitten, and make sure to rinse it all off. I tried it when I got home, and it really works!

Later, Henry seemed to be feeling much better and ate more than he has so far. And he was walking all over the room, and climbing up on my lap whenever I sat on the floor.

Last night (Thursday), when I got home from work, Wendy (the kitten I was having trouble thinking of a name for) was dead. Her poor mom, Lucy, kept washing her and "talking" to her for quite a while.

That left just Bobby and Henry. I moved them to another room and put them in a large cat-bed basket with blankets. I tried to feed them kitten formula several times overnight, but Bobby wasn't eating much at all. Henry was eating, just a little bit at first, but at one feeding he ate quite a bit.

Just before dawn, Bobby died, too.

When I got home from work last night, I took a deep breath to brace myself before opening the door to the kittens room to check on them.

To my great relief, they were all still hanging in there, and all seemed to be hungry. They drank a decent amount of KMR kitten formula, and I combed fleas off them again. They're actually starting to like being combed, I think, and fall asleep while I'm still combing.

This morning, they were all walking around and again drank a decent amount of formula, although not as much as last night. (It wasn't as long in between feedings that time, so they probably weren't as hungry as they were last night.)

They still have the sniffles, and the calico girl's eyes were shut again -- I washed her eyes with a warm wet washcloth and put antibiotic oiontment in them again, which she HATES -- but the kittens seem to be more aware and not as weak as they were.

They're back to snuggling up together, instead of sitting off by themselves like they were doing for a few days. And when I come in the room and sit on the floor, they come over and climb up on my lap.

Pearl, the little white kitten, was not very active yesterday, which is unusual for her.

I did get her to eat (drink?) some KMR before I left for work, and the other kittens had some, too.

Last night, when I got home from work and went to the kittens' room to check on them, little Pearl was lying on her side and didn't get up to greet me. When I spoke to her, she started screaming, and didn't stop when I picked her up. I never heard a kitten scream like that. And her mouth looked purplish rather than pink. She felt limp when I picked her up.

My neighbor, JoAnn, who was planning to adopt Pearl, came over, and she held Pearl for a while, stroking her head and her side, and it seemed to calm Pearl. She was still gasping for breath, though, and a few times she stiffened and then screamed again, like something hurt. Within minutes, she was gone.

I still can't believe the difference from the night before, when Pearl was toddling all over JoAnn's family room and was bright-eyed and seemed healthy.

What is going on with these kittens? I'm afraid to go home tonight and check on them.

Of the three remaining kittens, Henry ate pretty well before I left for work, and the calico (still haven't thought of a name for her) ate a LOT. But Bobby, the little black-and-white boy, didn't eat so much, and he seemed tired. And Henry wasn't quite as active as he was yesterday, either.

Sunday night, Violet, the smaller calico of the new litter of kittens, passed away.

She had lost weight and seemed weak and tired for a day or so. When I checked on the kittens Sunday evening, Violet was really weak and wouldn't nurse from her mother. I tried feeding her with KMR and a syringe, but she drank very little. Her nose, gums and paw pads were very pale, white rather than pink.

Later that night, she was lying on her side, cold and stiff, and her sister Pearl was sitting next to her, just looking at her. Poor baby; she was so playful only a couple days ago!

I wonder if she was anemic, since the kittens do have fleas. I had seen some fleas on Lucy, their mom, but after treating her with Frontline, she didn't seem to have them anymore. I had been worried about treating Lucy, since she's nursing the kittens, but according to both a veterinarian and the Frontline package, it's OK to use on nursing mother cats.

Unfortunately, the kittens are too young to treat with flea medication, according to the vet. I have been combing the fleas off the kittens daily with a flea comb, and washing their bedding daily, but there are still some fleas on the kittens.

Most of the flea products I've seen said the kittens must be at least 6 to 8 weeks old, some say at least 12 weeks old. I did find one flea spray for kittens and puppies that said it could be used sparingly on 4-week-old kittens, by spraying it on a cottonball and wiping in on their tummies. These kittens will be 4 weeks old on Wednesday, so I guess I'll try it then.

Poor Violet! I feel so bad; maybe I missed the signs that she was having problems, but until the past day or so, she seemed to be playful and was starting to walk pretty well. And even though the other kittens had sniffles for a day or so (Lucy had sniffles and then the kittens started), Violet wasn't sniffling and her eyes were still bright and clear, right up until the end.

Sunday night, Violet, the smaller calico of the new litter of kittens, passed away.

She had lost weight and seemed weak and tired for a day or so. When I checked on the kittens Sunday evening, Violet was really weak and wouldn't nurse from her mother. I tried feeding her with KMR and a syringe, but she drank very little. Her nose, gums and paw pads were very pale, white rather than pink.

Later that night, she was lying on her side, cold and stiff, and her sister Pearl was sitting next to her, just looking at her. Poor baby; she was so playful only a couple days ago!

I wonder if she was anemic, since the kittens do have fleas. I had seen some fleas on Lucy, their mom, but after treating her with Frontline, she didn't seem to have them anymore. I had been worried about treating Lucy, since she's nursing the kittens, but according to both a veterinarian and the Frontline package, it's OK to use on nursing mother cats.

Unfortunately, the kittens are too young to treat with flea medication, according to the vet. I have been combing the fleas off the kittens daily with a flea comb, and washing their bedding daily, but there are still some fleas on the kittens.

Most of the flea products I've seen said the kittens must be at least 6 to 8 weeks old, some say at least 12 weeks old. I did find one flea spray for kittens and puppies that said it could be used sparingly on 4-week-old kittens, by spraying it on a cottonball and wiping in on their tummies. These kittens will be 4 weeks old on Wednesday, so I guess I'll try it then.

Poor Violet! I feel so bad; maybe I missed the signs that she was having problems, but until the past day or so, she seemed to be playful and was starting to walk pretty well. And even though the other kittens had sniffles for a day or so (Lucy had sniffles and then the kittens started), Violet wasn't sniffling and her eyes were still bright and clear, right up until the end.