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Great news! And a huge burden off your shoulders I have no doubt.
Flying today, but will drink to his health tomorrow!
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Happy Happy Joy Joy
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Glad to hear that!
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That is wonderful news! I am so happy for you and your family. I think this calls for a drink. 
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I agree just poured me one.
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The bone problem, I have no idea how to spell it. Its basically an excess of boney material, some in what should be bone marrow, elsewhere as boney growths on the outside of the bone. This was seen by the specialist on x ray. It occurs most often in large dogs who grow remarkably from small puppy size. Zeus certainly matchs that description. It is extremely painfull and can reoccur. It does not however last for very long and can be treated with painkillers. The problem generally goes away by age two when the dog is fully grown. He is now 53kg. 55kg is the biggest expected so he is possibly nearly full size. He still looks a bit gangly so he may surprise us then he will fill out as his fur grows longer.
Treatment is to keep Zeus on an appropriate food designed for juvenile large dogs, ensuring he gets the right nutrients for bone/joint growth. Exercise is to be low impact. Lead walks of no more than three miles rather than ten human miles off the lead - which equates to thirty miles or more as a dog roams. Idealy at first he should do only twenty minutes two or three times a day to gradually build up his back leg muscles where he has been favouring it. Sessions of hydrotherapy on a water treadmill will help. He must not be allowed to put on excess weight.
So an excellent prognosis.
Thank you for your good wishes.
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Awesome. Give the big galoot a good pat and/or belly rub for me
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That is such good news and a well deserved relief for you and fliss.
Made my day to hear.
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That is great to hear!
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So relieved to hear this. Zeus is awesome!
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As requested. He also got his face washed by our elderly gsd Kallie who had the height advantage. Bailey the retriever just slept on by the fire
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Bad news.
This morning, our cat Pollux died.
He got very ill very suddenly on Saturday. He had been on mild antibiotics during the week for a little wound in his mouth which healed nicely. He did get diarrhoea and nausea, which is not too odd when on antibiotics.
On Saturday however, he appeared very weak and was clearly very miserable.
We took him to the vet that same afternoon and they couldn’t find what was going on except low concentration of blood cells and the blood test clearly revealed an infection.
Not being able to find the source, we gave him a very wide antibiotics treatment and would call on Monday morning to discuss further treatment. But he did not make it.
Last night was tough. He was clearly in pain and very, very weak but still managed to climb into our bed at 3AM and snuggled up against us both to cuddle for what has now turned out to be the last time. He always loved being between my girlfriend and me and getting all the attention.
It was quite shocking to us that it all happened so fast, especially as he was only about 10 years old. I fully realize it was better for him not to have a long sickbed.
Rest in peace my big cat. We will miss you sorely.
(The following are pictures of him relaxing while he was still alive, though he may not always have given that impression. He was just very good at relaxing.)
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Sorry for your loss.
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This brought tears in my eyes. We have 2 cats, who are getting quite old. They are such important family members. Sorry for your loss.
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Condolences. They are family members
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Hey man, sorry for your loss. At least you got to say goodbye, eh.
I lost my first cat (red tomcat named Mao Zedong) to a road accident. My current one, Cassiopeia, is getting old at 15. She’s healthy for now, but getting frail. Obviously not going to live forever. Dearly love the little smelly furball.
Pollux looks like a big boy, but not overly fat. What was he, 5kg? Looks like a big lump of cuddle. On that top pic he looks quite dead indeed lol.
How’s the other cat (Castor?) take it?
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Very sad to hear. He looks like a sweet boy.
If there can ever be a positive side to losing such an important part of our lives, I am happy he didn’t suffer long and that he spent his last night in his favorite place with his favorite people.
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Thank you for your kind words @Aginor @UncleZam @Scoop
And thanks for the close emotional support Vipers everyone
@schurem Terribly sorry to hear about Mao! There are indeed many worse ways to lose a cat than what we got with Pollux. It’s always tough but we (and he) were blessed in many ways.
He is indeed about 5kg: 5.3 kg when we got him, but healthier when he was between 4.5 and 5 kg, as in most of these pictures.
Eefje (no Castor unfortunately) does not seem too bothered by Pollux’ death so far. Let’s hope she gets a little more cuddly now that the space is there.
@Deacon211 Pollux was such a gentle giant! He would never hurt any human (and Eefje always got a warning “puff”), he could be trusted completely to never bite or scratch to the point where he would not even try to escape when held in any way. He could be scared of the stupidest things and never grew over his fear for the cat-sitter we have, but he was the sweetest cat I have ever met in terms of being gentle with those big, clumsy humans.
Almost 5 years ago, I reached my hand into the little cage in the cat shelter. At the time we were looking for a shy cat that would not dominate my girlfriend’s old fragile cat in her own house. He had been too afraid to come out of the cage during the month he was there.
As soon as I reached out, he gave me a social headbutt and started purring and “kneading” the piece of cloth so hard he pushed it out.
I am so grateful for the years we had together.
Exactly!
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