Lord Herbert wrote on Mar 15^th, 2017 at 2:04pm:


I love it, and it should be consumed in much larger quantities.

A bear & a domestic cat are friends:

It's a hard decision, but most people don't make it lightly. The dog might have moments of energy, but most of the time it could be seriously arthritic or have some other ailment causing it considerable pain. Animals hide their pain for a long time before we see it.

What is worse than euthanising a pet who the owner believes is suffering are those people who won't let go of their pet and leave it in debilitating pain until it dies naturally. I've seen some horrible sights. These people can't let go and put their own feelings before that of the animal.

Sometimes you're not 100% sure whether you're doing the right thing. We can't ask the animal whether it's ready to go.

I will know when, but at 19 he's still doing everythingoOK according to the vet, who is a friend.
But his medication costs more than mine.

Our rescued 13-year-old tortoise-shell cat passed away in 2014. According to my father's story, the cat came into the dining room, where dad was reading the paper, and meowed a few times. Dad asked what was up. The cat wobbled a few times, fell over, and died. Dad did not mention this, but I think he cried a bit.

My friend's dog is probably worse off than she really shows. I was probably around there during a time when the dog was at her best. Four or five visits to the vet in the past 4 months is a good sign that the dog is ready to be euthanized. April 3rd is the day she visits the vet for the last time.

My old cats did the same Herbert. One in particular had started walking across the road when the street was quiet and lying in the sun in front of this rented house. The woman who lived there called Cat Care who told her to take it up to one of the vets in the area where he was put down immediately. He was healthy, but just old. When I got home from work that day Sukie didn't come in for dinner.  I rang all the vets first thing in the morning. but the culprit vet didn't tell me what had happened. I put up ads everywhere. An anonymous caller saw my sign, contacted me and told me what had happened.

I don't get angry often, but I was upset. The vet who did it got blasted and warned that the cat should have been held for 24 hours. Cat Care also got blasted and I think I said a few harsh things to the woman across the road. She left shortly afterwards. Cats have no rights.

Thinking about it logically a few months later - maybe he was sick, but I didn't notice. Going across the road alone was something that he didn't do, unless he came for a walk with me and the dogs. He was a big beautiful cat - scared of nothing.

One of those stories I hear too often is the ones about people who deliberately run over cats on purpose. My father's cat, when my father was about 12 or 13, was run over by some motorist who mounted the curb just to kill the cat. Dad's reaction was to pick up the nearest rock and smash the driver's back car window as he drove off.

In my late teens, I was still living with my parents. One month, our neighbour's cat kept coming across the road to make friends with us while its owner was away. One night I heard this car driving erratically around the street and the sound of that car U-turning, and mounting the curb. Then this almighty squeal of the car getting hit. Two teenagers were out joy riding and not giving a damn about running over people's pets. The cat itself ran across the road to 'safety' where it coughed a few times and lay down to die. Mum had to put the cat in a box and cover the body with a blanket and wait for the owner to come home. Frickin' idiocy.