Sucking

There's nothing of interest going on here aside from the morbid countdown.

She really only likes to lick the juice from her cat food and leave the food there, but I'd been going tough love on her and making her eat what was in the bowl before I gave her any more. Since Monday I've been giving her new food whenever she wants, just so she can lick the juice. Poor little thing.

I called the mother of El Chico's friend E to tell her about Siggy, because E loves Siggy. So E came over to say goodbye to Siggy yesterday. When she came into the apartment, El Chico put his hand on E's back and guided her to the living room, saying, "You should go say 'Goodbye' to Siggy, because she's going to die on Friday." Respectful, but matter-of-fact. He's definitely handling it better than I am.

What's with the New York Public Library? I reserved the grieving books (The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, The Old Dog, and another one from the "books about death" list in the Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos book.) on Sunday, before we even went to the vet, and none of them are in yet. Listen NYPL, you are forcing me to buy books. I woud much rather borrow them, forget to bring them back, and pay you the late fees, but since you can't get me my pet death books I'm going to have to give my money to someone else.

Also on the topic of Things That Suck, our vacuum has finally given up the ghost after 20+ years of loyal service. I've decided I'd rather squeeze out the money to get a vacuum that will last us another 20 years than get something that'll only make it through 3-4 years. Any suggestions? I crave the Dyson, but would rather go with whatever's going to last the longest. Thanks.

Comments

[Shara]

I'm so touched with how your son is handling this.

Something we did for our cat was to put some clam juice on his food - I have no idea whether it helped anything (hydration or getting some food into him), but he was very happy at meal times, and that made us happy too. It's quite stinky, but the kitties love it.

[wix]

Clam juice is a good suggestion. And canned tuna is really, really juicy, too (the pouches, not so much). Bless you, Moxie; I would be a wreck in your shoes.

[happy]

Check out the latest consumer report. The dyson animal is ranked 20! The number one is a kenmore brand that's $150 less than the dyson. We just got one and had to be waitlisted. They can't keep them on the shelves at Sears.
Here's an article on it: http://shopping.msn.com/content/shp/?ctid=184
We haven't opened ours because we are moving so no point on adding to the things we have to box up for our move.

[Anon]

Get the Dyson! But don't spend the money on the fancy animal one, because all that gets you is an extra tool that you will never use. And the regular one works just as well. I have one that I've used on a daily basis for almost three years and it's still awesome! And, I have two labradors, so I know from whence I vacuum. P.S. Consider buying the vacuum from Amazon -- they usually offer $25 off, which means it can be delivered to your door for free. And who doesn't want free delivery...

[heather]

So sorry about Siggy, but I am truly touched at how well El C is dealing with it.

We have the Kenmore and LOVE IT. We have two cats and a toddler and mostly hardwood floors with some area rugs and it works great on all of the surfaces. Can't recommend it enough.

[Emily]

We have the Dyson, but we have all carpet (which really is gross when you have a dog and a cat and a ground-level entry which makes it OH SO EASY for mud and dirt to get everywhere). Anyways, I LOVE IT. I will say the attachments leave a little to be desired - it is impossible for me to vacuum the stairs, for instance.

We bought ours "refurbished" on Overstock and it has worked perfectly for a year now, and I am a vacuum nazi who uses it at least once a day. (See cat and dog hair and horrible nasty carpet, above.)

[Susie]

Ugh. I'm sorry about the suckage. El Chico is a trooper with a heart of gold. You all are lucky to have each other, and I'm sure some loving from El C will help ease the pain of losing Siggy.

Best wishes to you all.

[elecriclady]

My kitty is a juice-licker too--when she was sick and I had to get her to take pills, I crushed them and put them in canned tuna. She looooved that juice--canned in oil, not water (she's a fish juice snob, apparently).

El C is so sweet. What a great kid.

[Annie G.]

Moxie, I am so so sorry for your impending loss, but I think your older son is really being a sweetie. If you can't find those books at a bookstore, one book that my MIL, a kindergarten teacher, recommends for educating kids about death is "The Fall of Freddie the Leaf"-- it's not specifically about pets, but was helpful in my experience with her great-neices when her sister died.

[qp]

Oh man, I'd forgotten about that ten good things book until just now -- we made a list of things after that book about one of our cats (Abyssinian somehow got FLV at age 3 years or so) that had to be put to sleep. I still have the list tucked in a picture frame behind a photo of her. (Although I was 12 or 13 at the time, not little. oops.)

Re: feeding... we managed to get turkey & other meat baby food down the cat when she wouldn't take anything else.

[anam]

i have had the same dyson for 8 years and yet to need it serviced etc - the only thing i replaced was filters for dyson washable ones and the animal hair one is fab for carpets that suffer children and pets

[Jenny Vaughn]

so sorry about your kitty. :(

[Mykal]

Dyson! We've had a Dyson for 3 years now and it's been great. Regarding the cost, please remember that the Dyson has no filters/bags that need replacing. Even the bagless vacuums usually still have a $10-20 filter that you have to replace every 4 months or so. I'd say in the last 3 years I've already saved at least $60-120 in bags or filters.

[Kris]

I'm so sorry about your cat, Moxie.

[Kathy B.]

Darn that library -- not wanting to take your late-fee money! Geeze, what ARE they thinking.

Regarding vacuums -- I have a Rainbow canister vac. Great machine, all the dirt/dust goes into a water reservoir which gets emptied in the commode and flushed away when done. No flying dust particles back into the air, great for families with allergies. The carpet attachment is self-powered, very easy to push and maneuver. Drawbacks -- VERY expensive, and somewhat cumbersome to use. You can't just grab and vacuum -- you have to take it apart, put water in the reservoir, put the reservoir back on the unit, THEN you can vacuum. Not the most efficient method for getting the housework done quickly, but it DOES do a great job of thorough cleaning. I keep a carpet sweeper handy for quick pick-ups and only use the Rainbow for weekly heavy cleaning. (For those who are not as old as I am, a carpet sweeper is an antique version of the Swiffer flick)

Go for the Dyson!

[Emily]

Very sorry about Siggy... I dread the day when I face the same situation with my own wonderfully rotten furballs.

Regarding vacuum lust - I totally love my Dyson. Have three cats in a very small apartment, and with the Dyson I finally feel like I'm able to keep on top of the hair. Seeing what the thing pulls out of carpets that appear clean already is both disgusting and beautiful! We got ours at a large discount by buying a refurbished model on Amazon.

[happy]

I see a pattern here, people get their Dyson refurbished, which reinforces what the consumer reports says. That the vaccum has a lot of consumer complaint and repairs needed.

[Amy]

Sorry about your cat -- my beloved Fred died over 10 years ago and I still remember how sad it was. My dog is now 12, and I dread the day when our vet tells us its time and I have to explain to my kids. Glad that El C is taking it so well.

No advice on the vacuum. I have an Orick, which I would never have paid $500+ for (gift from MIL to my DH before we met), but I must say its pretty great.

[Amy]

Oops -- I have an Oreck!

[Lisa V]

We bought a bagless Hoover Windtunnel, that thing lasted shorter than my first marriage. Which was short. Very short. Under a year.

We were given another Windtunnel, with a bag and it's been around 5 or 6 years with no problem.

[Adi V.]

I myself have been using a Bissell Clearview for the past, um, seven years or so and LOVE IT! My favorite part is that the two primary filters are washable and if I put them back in while they are ever so slightly damp they will catch nearly everything before it has a chance to get to the non-washable HEPA filter. It is a good enough vac that when I have gotten cold calls in the past offering an in-house demo for some ultra vac or another the sales reps will hangup within six seconds of hearing what kind it is (even my grandad's Rainbow didn't get rid of the demo offers that quickly.)
And speaking of Rainbow vacuums. The first vac that I ever really fell for was grandad's Rainbow. I think I was around 14 at the time and was absolutely STUNNED by it. Vacuuming was no longer torture to my eyes, nose and throat! Because the water? Trapped EVERY SINGLE THING THAT CAME OUT OF THE RUG! Oh, the joy!
It does have its drawbacks though and I would advise you against getting one until such time as you have either a medium sized house (preferably a ranch style) or a large apartment as it is one of the largest vacuums I have ever used and will be a complete PITA to move up or down even two steps. Also if you get a Rainbow you will still need to keep a "normal" vacuum in reserve for the uninitiated to use because if it is run without water in the tank the motor will die a painful, smelly death and it will almost feel like a friend died.

As for the Siggy situation it sounds like El C has a pretty good grasp of what is going on. The only thing that came to my mind that no one mentioned was something that startled me when I went with my brother to help his beloved rat EEK! die. At the moment she died a drop of blood came out of her nose which was a bit disconcerting to both of us but turned out to be fairly common in rats. No idea if this sort of thing might happen with a cat and the only reason I mention it is that it was more distressing to be surprised by it than I think it would have been if we had been warned ahead of time. EEK! was clearly gone at that point and had gone peacefully making only a small squeaklet when the needle pricked her leg, then a sigh, then her back leg twitched like she was dreaming. It was both sad to see her go and at the same time a relief to know that she didn't have to feel the pain of spinal cancer anymore (she had been an incredibly cheerful trooper for months without showing signs of being in pain but the day she woke up listless and squeaked when we held her was the day we took her in.) We still miss that damned rat but in time it got easier to talk about how cool she was without feeling so sad. Just like all our other fur buddies that have gone before us.

Adi V.

[Elena]

You're doing the right thing. And, you'll feel better later about the special attention and food you give her now.

I'm on my second Panasonic (the first one I used for about 12 years, two kids plus our family daycare, 4 dogs... it didn't even break, it was just that the attachments were inconveniently located. The newer model is better), I really like them. And even if I didn't, they're only around $175-$250.

[Foster]

Rainbow. The only thing I think is cumbersome about them is that the wheels are not attached, so if you take it upstairs without popping them off, they might fall off on the way, and youd have to go back down to retrieve them anyway. This vacuum sucks up *everything* no filters, nothing. My parents got one when I was a kid, and I used to use it even then. You dont need a second "regular" vacuum w/ it! Who is vacuuming besides you and your husband?? And I had one in a studio apartment and it was definitely not too big for the apt at all. AND you can run a Rainbow w/out the hose attached to clean the air in your house. You can even add scented oil to the water to disperse while it cleans. When we eventually get a house, this is my dream vacuum, and I want to get one then. No bags, no filters, no dust!!

[Num Num]

I have the Miele and so do my kids. We love it. It's really very quiet.

[Adi V.]

Foster, one of my aunties killed the Rainbow because she forgot that there are things that must be done with it before vacuuming can be started. Also I should have mentioned that it really was my gramma's baby and grandad never touched it if he could help it and only used the same red vac that they'd had since forever (don't know what brand.) As for who else would be using it, depending on what personality type your cat sitter is they might not be able to stand the sight of pet hair on the rug and could feel compelled to do something about it like my auntie did, and then *poof* no more hugely expensive and fabulously divine Rainbow vacuum.

Num Num, I had forgotten about my arch-nemesis the Miele! Tell me, does it ever shock your fingers on dry days? Or is it only me that this happens to? Or only those two specific Miele that I had to fight with while cleaning someone else's house? What I'm talking about is the thin metal strip that runs along the finger grip part of the handle, damned thing shocked me every twelve feet or so and by the time I finished the kitchen/living room area I was just about ready to throw that bugger down a long steep hill. I quickly learned to wrap the handle with rags any time I am forced to use one.

Adi V.