u/hurricaneolive

Hiya, I currently live in the UK and my 12 year old senior cat is in the US. My parent said they can no longer care for him due to his worsening urinary issues which may need further testing, and thinks I should say goodbye and euthanise him. I am trying to figure out the best solution, but there are a lot of factors into this decision.

About Beans

* Species: Feline Cat
* Age: 12
* Sex/Neuter status: neutered
* Breed: Tuxedo Domestic Short Hair. He is a polydactyl and has an extra toe on each limb.
* Body weight: 12.03
* History:

Beans was rehomed at age 8 and has had spraying issues since early adoption. Previously, he seemed to have a substrate preference and liked peeing on the installed carpet. After blocking his access, he started to spray on the walls. This has been managed for years with pee pads. He used to only spray occasionally, but now it has been getting worse and he only uses the litter box for pooping.

When the urinary issues were discovered, we tried prozac for him but his urinary issues did not change. He seemed more aloof and less cuddly, so we took him off of it. I think he was only on the medication for 8 weeks. We also tried the Feliway plugin, different litters and litter boxes, but just learned to manage this with pee pads taped to the wall. It's worked much better with this method!

I am Beans' mom and I moved away in September to attend grad school in the UK. My mother offered to take care of Beans while I am away. I recently got a job here and plan to stay here for a few years. She no longer can take care of him, thinks he is ill, and believes we should put him down.

Beans is an indoor outdoor cat, much to my dismay. My parents indulged him and he loves to be outside. He is does not chase or really interact with any creatures out there: he mainly lays somewhere and vibes. If I bring him to the UK, he will have significantly less outdoor time and I worry for his happiness. I also worry for his current mental health at my parents since they refuse to play with him. He uses his scratching post, but the only toys he likes are hairties and yarn, which are always supervised. He hasn't been played with in months.

Apparently his urinary issues are getting worse. In addition, he has been vomiting a bit more and our vet recommended further testing. I am trying to find a solution, and am unsure what to do. Any recommendations or advice would be endlessly appreciated.

* Clinical signs: inappropriate urination, restlessness, vomiting about once a week.
* Duration: 3 months

Hiya, I currently live in the UK and my 12 year old senior cat is in the US. My parent said they can no longer care for him due to his worsening urinary issues which may need further testing, and thinks I should say goodbye and euthanise him. I am trying to figure out the best solution, but there are a lot of factors into this decision.

About Beans

* Species: Feline Cat
* Age: 12
* Sex/Neuter status: neutered
* Breed: Tuxedo Domestic Short Hair. He is a polydactyl and has an extra toe on each limb.
* Body weight: 12.03
* History:

Beans was rehomed at age 8 and has had spraying issues since early adoption. Previously, he seemed to have a substrate preference and liked peeing on the installed carpet. After blocking his access, he started to spray on the walls. This has been managed for years with pee pads. He used to only spray occasionally, but now it has been getting worse and he only uses the litter box for pooping.

When the urinary issues were discovered, we tried prozac for him but his urinary issues did not change. He seemed more aloof and less cuddly, so we took him off of it. I think he was only on the medication for 8 weeks. We also tried the Feliway plugin, different litters and litter boxes, but just learned to manage this with pee pads taped to the wall. It's worked much better with this method!

I am Beans' mom and I moved away in September to attend grad school in the UK. My mother offered to take care of Beans while I am away. I recently got a job here and plan to stay here for a few years. She no longer can take care of him, thinks he is ill, and believes we should put him down.

Beans is an indoor outdoor cat, much to my dismay. My parents indulged him and he loves to be outside. He is does not chase or really interact with any creatures out there: he mainly lays somewhere and vibes. If I bring him to the UK, he will have significantly less outdoor time and I worry for his happiness. I also worry for his current mental health at my parents since they refuse to play with him. He uses his scratching post, but the only toys he likes are hairties and yarn, which are always supervised. He hasn't been played with in months.

Apparently his urinary issues are getting worse. In addition, he has been vomiting a bit more and our vet recommended further testing. I am trying to find a solution, and am unsure what to do. Any recommendations or advice would be endlessly appreciated.

* Clinical signs: inappropriate urination, restlessness, vomiting about once a week.
* Duration: 3 months
* Your general location: Maryland and UK

* Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have:

Email from vet about health

The good news is that Beans’ labwork showed no significant abnormalities which is great news. I heard he had some blood in his urine over the weekend which was likely secondary to stress which I know is a common theme with his urinary issues. I think we have a couple of options for how we move forward from here- the biggest decision that needs to be made is if we are moving Beans to Scotland.

1. If Beans is going to Scotland our focus will be on short term comfort while we work to get him to Olivia as soon as possible. Once in Scotland, we can see how he does and then set him up with a local veterinarian for possible additional workup. I would not recommend starting workup here if he’s going to move in the near future as switching between veterinarians during that time may make things much more difficult. This would look like starting gabapentin now to treat his anxiety and any possible discomfort. We can adjust the gabapentin dose as needed so that he is relaxed, but not overly sedate. In regards to getting into Scotland, we would need to do the following-
   1. See him again and repeat his Rabies vaccine. Technically his last vaccine was 1 day overdue so we will need to do another to meet their requirements.  
   2. Wait at least 28 days from date of vaccination. The date the vaccine is given is considered day 0.
   3. Complete his health certificate. This may be tricky because, since no one will be flying with him (please let me know if that isn’t the case). As an unaccompanied kitty, we have to use a commercial health certificate. This can only be completed 48 hrs prior to travel- leaving us a very very narrow window to get it back. You would definitely want to book refundable/ movable transportation for him in case the USDA does not get the certificate back to us in time.

    

2. If Beans is going to be staying in the US, we will shift our focus to trying to find a long term solution that will keep everyone happy. This would likely be a multi-factorial approach because, as we discussed, Beans probably has more than one issue causing him to urinate outside the box
   1. We would restart his fluoxetine along with gabapentin. The gabapentin would be a short term option while we wait to see how he will respond to fluoxetine. We expect that fluoxetine will take 8-12 wks to see full results
   2. I recommend proceeding with the GI work up we’ve discussed before. Urinating outside the box is a stress response. Stress is commonly behavioral, but it can also be physiologic if he is ill from other things. Vomiting every 7-10 days is more than we should be seeing. Our next steps would be an abdominal ultrasound and a GI panel. Ultrasounds can either be done here with Dr. Carpenter or with an internal medicine specialist. An ultrasound with us is less expensive and can typically be scheduled more quickly, but if something unexpected is found, referral to a specialist may be recommended at that time and the specialist is likely to repeat the ultrasound. With internal medicine, an abdominal ultrasound with consult is typically ~$600-1000, but their machine is higher quality than one in a general practice setting so may be able to detect more subtle changes. An internist would also be able to perform any additional diagnostics should they be needed. Pending the results of these tests, we would discuss next steps.
   3. We would have to understand that Beans may always urinate outside the box regardless of what we try. We still have many things in our toolbox and I hope that we can see improvement, but we need to go into this with reasonable expectations. This problem did not occur overnight and we cannot expect to fix it overnight as much as I wish we could.

Hiya, I’m a current international postgraduate student in the ARIM/IMP programme and I thought I’d share my review of the programme for prospective students. 

I love the programme, but there are certain caveats that you need to know to inform your decision. 

I came back to school after 5 years of working professionally in various sectors. Because of this, I know how difficult the job market is and how to utilise LinkedIn and networking to my advantage. Approaching this degree with a networking and future job focused mindset is crucial for your success and actually gaining value in your education. I am friendly and pretty chatty, which I think is a plus for networking. I received a full time offer with a small company in January that will sponsor my visa. This is solely due to networking skills and they actually created the position for me without posting the job. 

Pros 

ARA, CILIP, and ALA accreditation

From my understanding, Glasgow is the only programme in the UK that gives dual-accreditation to be an archivist and a librarian. Additionally, the American Library Association has a reciprocity agreement to honour CILIP accreditation so you can work in the US, UK or Australia!

Instructor’s passion 

I find that most of the lecturers are knowledgable and passionate about information studies and digital humanities. Paul Gooding is absolutely incredible and so passionate about cultivating student scholarship, and I am so thankful for his input and guidance. Adele Redhead is the programme convenor and is a lovely person, but stretched quite thin with all of her responsibilities with the university. 

Some interesting classes 

I loved Records and Evidence and having the opportunity to interact with archival materials. I found Professional Issues in Archives and Records less interesting but still a good introductory course for the profession. 

Law, Information Governance, and Collections 

I liked this class because it gives you the most relevant information for jobs in the sector. My mentors at a world-renowned cultural heritage institution basically forced me to take this course and I don’t regret it. However, the instructor is changing next year and I am unsure if the instruction will be as good. 

Cons 

Intro to Digital Curation 

This class was a disaster, which is quite sad because I was most looking forward to it. It is all self-taught and they have recorded lectures to complete in your own time. The labs for this were an absolute waste of time. However, I actually enjoyed the assignments and did quite well in this course because I am passionate about digital preservation and archiving. You are able to choose really interesting projects! I did a data report on preserving the defunct Vine app and its revival, DiVine. My other project was a digital preservation guide for Spotify. TLDR: you teach yourself everything but if you find interesting topics, you can find value in the course. 

Outdated information 

I found some of the information and labs they taught us to actually be outdated. One of the labs had us try to use Conifer for web archiving, but that is a defunct platform with security issues now. 

Work Placement/Description, Cataloguing and Navigation 

I found this class to be pointless. This course was supposed to have a practical in-person placement but they were unable to find placements for everyone in the programme. The info studies department added a Library course and they also had issues finding placements. I am begging the department to hire a person to organise placements like the Museum Studies course has. 

International students stuff

Do not expect to get a work visa sponsorship. The sector is chronically underfunded and doesn’t have the capacity to sponsor visas. I was lucky because I marketed the graduate student visa, which is quite expensive, and then did independent research and found out that my company is eligible for a £611 visa. Find small companies and market yourself! 

I hate student accommodations but it was the easiest choice to find housing. You could find housing on other sites but finding a guarantor is difficult. Fortunately, Scotland has amazing rental rights and you can leave your place if you don’t like it within 30-60 days. 

Advice 

1. Advocate for your needs. If you are silent and do not develop relationships with the lecturers, you will struggle finding gainful employment. 
2. Network like crazy and attend conferences. This will help you find jobs! 
3. Find volunteering opportunities. The programme does not help you find independent work experience, but you can certainly find volunteer positions to beef up your CV.

If I think of anything else I will add/edit this post! Hope it helps. 

Hiya, I’m a current international postgraduate student in the ARIM/IMP programme and I thought I’d share my review of the programme for prospective students. 

I love the programme, but there are certain caveats that you need to know to inform your decision. 

I came back to school after 5 years of working professionally in various sectors. Because of this, I know how difficult the job market is and how to utilise LinkedIn and networking to my advantage. Approaching this degree with a networking and future job focused mindset is crucial for your success and actually gaining value in your education. I am friendly and pretty chatty, which I think is a plus for networking. I received a full time offer with a small company in January that will sponsor my visa. This is solely due to networking skills and they actually created the position for me without posting the job. 

Pros 

Instructor’s passion 

I find that most of the lecturers are knowledgable and passionate about information studies and digital humanities. Paul Gooding is absolutely incredible and so passionate about cultivating student scholarship, and I am so thankful for his input and guidance. Adele Redhead is the programme convenor and is a lovely person, but stretched quite thin with all of her responsibilities with the university. 

Some interesting classes 

I loved Records and Evidence and having the opportunity to interact with archival materials. I found Professional Issues in Archives and Records less interesting but still a good introductory course for the profession. 

Law, Information Governance, and Collections 

I liked this class because it gives you the most relevant information for jobs in the sector. My mentors at a world-renowned cultural heritage institution basically forced me to take this course and I don’t regret it. However, the instructor is changing next year and I am unsure if the instruction will be as good. 

Cons 

Intro to Digital Curation 

This class was a disaster, which is quite sad because I was most looking forward to it. It is all self-taught and they have recorded lectures to complete in your own time. The labs for this were an absolute waste of time. However, I actually enjoyed the assignments and did quite well in this course because I am passionate about digital preservation and archiving. You are able to choose really interesting projects! I did a data report on preserving the defunct Vine app and its revival, DiVine. My other project was a digital preservation guide for Spotify. TLDR: you teach yourself everything but if you find interesting topics, you can find value in the course. 

Outdated information 

I found some of the information and labs they taught us to actually be outdated. One of the labs had us try to use Conifer for web archiving, but that is a defunct platform with security issues now. 

Work Placement/Description, Cataloguing and Navigation 

I found this class to be pointless. This course was supposed to have a practical in-person placement but they were unable to find placements for everyone in the programme. The info studies department added a Library course and they also had issues finding placements. I am begging the department to hire a person to organise placements like the Museum Studies course has. 

International students stuff

Do not expect to get a work visa sponsorship. The sector is chronically underfunded and doesn’t have the capacity to sponsor visas. I was lucky because I marketed the graduate student visa, which is quite expensive, and then did independent research and found out that my company is eligible for a £611 visa. Find small companies and market yourself! 

I hate student accommodations but it was the easiest choice to find housing. You could find housing on other sites but finding a guarantor is difficult. Fortunately, Scotland has amazing rental rights and you can leave your place if you don’t like it within 30-60 days. 

Advice 

1. Advocate for your needs. If you are silent and do not develop relationships with the lecturers, you will struggle finding gainful employment. 
2. Network like crazy and attend conferences. This will help you find jobs! 
3. Find volunteering opportunities. The programme does not help you find independent work experience, but you can certainly find volunteer positions to beef up your CV.

If I think of anything else I will add/edit this post! Hope it helps.