End-of-Life Pet Choices

[zoom-zoom]

Ugh, we don't know what to do. Our sweet almost 19 year old cat, Lola, is becoming increasingly incontinent. We just treated her for a suspected UTI (vet couldn't get a urine sample to verify that there was infection, but she's had off-and-on piddle issues for the past year. Sometimes blood-tinged and likely cystitis. She's been using the dirty laundry or any towel on the bathroom floor for #1 for over a year. We suspect this is mostly due to the trek to the basement being too much for her. For a while we had a litter box upstairs, but the only place we had to put it was off the kitchen--then our 3 lazy boys would use it, too, and track litter EVERYWHERE, including on kitchen counters. We dealt with that for about a month before we were just too grossed-out to keep the box up here. We figured pee in dirty laundry isn't really a big deal, since it's already dirty, anyhow.

Lola managed 9 of the 10 days she was prescribed the antibiotics. It was giving her horrible diarrhea all over the house and she suddenly started refusing her thyroid meds (she's hyper) in her formerly beloved Pill Pockets. She is supposed to have blood work done to check her thyroid levels in the next week, but after not taking her meds for several days I'm guessing the vet's going to want to wait, again. We have been getting her meds into her for the past few days by wrapping the pill in a glob of melted cheese (she really is my cat, heh).

Aside from being arthritic she doesn't seem to be in real pain...but all she does is sleep. And now she has a constant wet bottom from her bladder issues. She's happy and affectionate...but we wonder if we should be extending her life at this point. The vet did comment that there is a drug that can help cats with incontinence issues, but that it may be contraindicated with her thyroid issues, since it can apparently have a stimulant effect (I think this is what she said).

In 3.5 weeks we have an out-of-state friend's wedding to attend. We will be gone for 4 nights. We're afraid to leave Lola alone for so long. We could board her at our vet's, but that would be stressful for her, too.

WWYD? The last cat we decided to put down was 11 and had suffered a seizure just days before we decided to have him euthanized. He actually died at home just hours before his appointment. I've never had to take an elderly cat to be put down...I'm not even really sure when the time is right. It would be easier if she appeared to be in pain. I wonder if we're considering this out of our own convenience.

[jessmarimba]

It's a really tough decision. I had similar issues with my old blind kitty - and same situation. I had an out-of-town wedding and wasn't sure what to do. My sister actually stayed at my house and watched her while I was gone (with full permission to take her in if it came down to it) and they were fine for the weekend.

I was lucky that Pixar pretty much told me when she was done. One morning I woke up and couldn't find her. She hadn't eaten, wouldn't drink anything, and was hiding (something that attention-crazy cat never did. She was known to bite my nose if I was sleeping and she wanted someone to pet her). So I spent a few hours trying to get her interested in food and when she wouldn't even raise her head I ended up taking her in to the vet.

Three and a half weeks can be a long time for something to change in one direction or another. It's hard to wait until the last second if you're trying to plan around a wedding (especially if you have to fly!) Boarding her could be stressful but the vet's is the best place for her to be, and you never know what might happen in the meantime.

[zoom-zoom]

Three and a half weeks can be a long time for something to change in one direction or another. It's hard to wait until the last second if you're trying to plan around a wedding (especially if you have to fly!) Boarding her could be stressful but the vet's is the best place for her to be, and you never know what might happen in the meantime.

That's kind of what I'm thinking. I think I'll probably talk to the vet about the incontinence med, some more. I worry that if we don't get that under control that she'll end up with sores on her rear from it always being wet and urine can be caustic. Poor old girl. It would be so much easier if she were in real pain.

[GLC1968]

I had almost the exact same situation a few years ago with my older dog. She was dying of lymphoma, had already had a few seizures and was clearly not her old self at all. We had her on various steroids and each one seemed to make her feel so much better that I kept feeling like she was improving. Then, as she got used to the meds, she's start to degrade again.

Her last seizure happened when I was there about to leave for work. I freaked out, rushed her to the vet and they told me that it was the beginning of the end but that she was in no pain and was not uncomfortable. They also told me that she was completely unaware of having had a seizure which was good since I totally freaked out on her as it was happening.

I knew we were leaving the following weekend for a 4 day camping trip. I arranged for her to be boarded at the vet, but even then, they aren't with them 24-7. I just couldn't accept the possibility that she could die alone in an unfamiliar cage. We had her put down a couple of days before we were schedules to leave (one day after that last seizure).

To this day, I question my decision. Even as I type this, I can't help but think that I should have cancelled the trip to stay home with her. But at the time, we just knew she was on her way and I kept trying to think of if as letting her go. Had I not been pumping her full of steroids, she probably would already have been gone. Before we started the first round, she could not even stand to go outside - we had to carry her. This was no minor problem and yet, I still question our decision and my motives.

[spokewench]

It is probably what you can deal with now. I had a 20 year old cat and he was urinary incontinent for a long time before he went to the rainbow bridge. He had a wet bottom a lot and I washed him in the bathtub regularly so that he would not get too sore from the urine. I would just was his behind area and his legs where the urine would concentrate. He did not fight it as I think it soothed him.

I washed I don't know how many towels every day as wherever he slept would get wet; I also bought those doggie piddle pads and put those under the towels so that the furniture or wherever he layed did not get ruined. I did give him a cat box in the house on the same floor as he was but I did not have trouble with multiple cats. He still tried to use the catbox until he was ready to go.

He finally got really weak in the last week, lost his hearing, and did not eat much. He finally stopped eating and one morning he did not get up out of his bed in front of the fireplace at all so he finally said that he was ready to go. He was very sweet and did not want to give up - he was a very happy kitty.

When we left to go somewhere, I had a very good friend who loves kitties who would take care of him as if he were her own. So, if you can keep your kitty at home and get someone to come in and stay with him/her while you are gone or at least spend a lot of time with him/her, that would probably be best. The boarding is really hard on them when they are old.

[bmccasland]

When BonnieKat was still around, I'd board her and Herald at the vet - she was hyperthyroid (meds 2x daily) and Herald was insulin dependant diabetic. They both had their favorite vet techs twisted around their little paws. When I lived in Louisiana, the vet had a boarding facility ("spa") so the kitties shared a "condo", were not in a steal cage.

Zoom-zoom, I was where you were, wondering "when is it time." Got to where I fought with Bonnie to eat, force fed her on occasion. She got scary skinny. I talked to her vet, fretted here, but when getting her to eat got to be a real challenge; she'd cry for food, but the bowl was right by her; we decided it was time. I'd watch Bonnie sleep, just to see if she was still breathing, sometimes wishing that she'd just pass away so I wouldn't have to make the decision.

I hate to say it, but you might be there for your beloved Lola. Something to consider, that her vet asked me: Does she have more bad days than good days?

There's no point continuing the battle when the bad days far out number the good days, especially when every day is a struggle, and because of age, you know they aren't going to get better.

I feel for you. Can only offer zen hugs. I know this is a painful decision.

[goldfinch]

Animals are not like us in that they have no concept of the future. They live fully in the present. My inclination is that when an animal is approaching the end we do not need to "time" things just right. They are not thinking about tomorrow and are not trying to squeeze the last bit out of life as we humans often want to do. Cats often are very place bonded. I question whether it makes sense to board the cat down that she so old and has so many issues. I think you can let her go without guilt.

I understand the difficulty, we struggled with this with two of our dogs. Our current dog is 16 and deaf and crabby. Someday I may very well have to make the decision for her too.

[zoom-zoom]

He finally got really weak in the last week, lost his hearing, and did not eat much. He finally stopped eating and one morning he did not get up out of his bed in front of the fireplace at all so he finally said that he was ready to go. He was very sweet and did not want to give up - he was a very happy kitty.

See...that makes me think it's maybe not yet her time to go. She's still eating well and is alert and is still reasonably strong and able to get around (when we had to give her antibiotics last week she would see us put the "kitty burrito" towel on the floor and take off as fast as she could to get away) and onto our bed and up on our computer desks by using our chairs or cat tower to make her way up. Or even onto the kitchen counters if we leave the dishwasher door down. She's certainly still far from physically disabled, at this stage. We're pretty sure she's stone deaf, but she's equivalent to a 90+ year old, so deafness is to be expected.

We have given her a couple of lower-body baths in the past week and she really doesn't struggle. I think she also likes the warm water. Even as a young cat she was fascinated by the shower, so she tolerates it a lot better than most cats, I expect.

Our vet has yet to suggest that it's nearing her time. She had blood work done 4 months ago to check her thyroid and they also checked her kidney levels and those all looked good...no signs of kidney failure, which is the most common reason for cats to succumb to old age.

[TrekJeni]

Lola suddenly started refusing her thyroid meds (she's hyper) in her formerly beloved Pill Pockets. She is supposed to have blood work done to check her thyroid levels in the next week, but after not taking her meds for several days I'm guessing the vet's going to want to wait, again. We have been getting her meds into her for the past few days by wrapping the pill in a glob of melted cheese (she really is my cat, heh).
(

Zoom Zoom - have your vet prescribe her methizamole via transdermal pen. They do much better on it that the oral. Oral can give digestive issues. You can dose it on her ear instead with the pen. There is a video on youtube to show you how to do it. When Milford was diagnosed hyperT, I learned a wealth of information on the feline-hyperT yahoo group. I would post his full blood panels and within minutes, someone would be going through his charts and recommending different things. It was an amazing experience.

Good luck!

[zoom-zoom]

Someone else recently told me about the ear gel. Amazing. We haven't tried that, yet, since she DEMANDS her pill in a glob of melted cheese, now. I swear she can tell time. Like clockwork she sits in the kitchen and hollers at us every 11-12 hours to give her her pill treat.

Right now we're waiting to get her on meds for incontinence. We tried a tablet (actually intended for dogs), but she won't go near them...not in cheese, not in tuna juice, not in canned food. They have a pretty strong malt odor. So a compounding vet pharmacy is making an oral version for her.

At the vet they did her routine bloodwork for her thyroid levels and they had at least 2 people handling that. She is old and seems frail, but she can growl like a tiger and doesn't take crap. I think they get a kick out of her. The vet seems to think she's doing pretty well, incontinence aside. He was actually pretty surprised that she's dealing with that, since full incontinence is not all that common in cats, I gather. They are far more prone to choose not to use the box, rather than be physically unable to control their bladders.

[westtexas]

Zoom Zoom - have your vet prescribe her methizamole via transdermal pen. They do much better on it that the oral. Oral can give digestive issues. You can dose it on her ear instead with the pen. There is a video on youtube to show you how to do it. When Milford was diagnosed hyperT, I learned a wealth of information on the feline-hyperT yahoo group. I would post his full blood panels and within minutes, someone would be going through his charts and recommending different things. It was an amazing experience.

Good luck!

Just as a side note - scientific studies show that the transdermal gel does not work as well and is not as reliable in lowering thyroid levels consistently as the pill. A new study is coming out in a few weeks that show that most compounded medications only contain about 80% of the medication they are supposed to have (for example, a 100mg/ml solution is actually testing at 80 mg/ml).

Personally, if one of my kitties becomes hyperthyroid, I'm doing radioactive iodine and being done with it.

[zoom-zoom]

Personally, if one of my kitties becomes hyperthyroid, I'm doing radioactive iodine and being done with it.

I sometimes wonder why our vet didn't suggest this. Was it maybe an age thing? I think Lola was ~15 when she was diagnosed.

[TrekJeni]

Just as a side note - scientific studies show that the transdermal gel does not work as well and is not as reliable in lowering thyroid levels consistently as the pill. A new study is coming out in a few weeks that show that most compounded medications only contain about 80% of the medication they are supposed to have (for example, a 100mg/ml solution is actually testing at 80 mg/ml).

Personally, if one of my kitties becomes hyperthyroid, I'm doing radioactive iodine and being done with it.

The KEY to transdermal is to WASH the ear and let it dry before dosing again. No one ever mentions that and I'm always surprised at how many people aren't told by their vets to do it. While you might have to adjust the dosage, kitties with digestive issues do much better on it. I too would have done iodine but Milford never got well enough to go that route. We managed it for almost a year along with lymphoma before he decided to leave me.

[makbike]

You might ask your vet about y/d a new prescription diet made specificially for treating hyperthyroidism in cats.

[zoom-zoom]

You might ask your vet about y/d a new prescription diet made specificially for treating hyperthyroidism in cats.

Interesting...I have never heard of that. The only issue is it would mean isolating her from the other cats for feedings, which is tricky.