End-of-Life Pet Choices

[macski]

We faced that awful last trip to the Vet about 2 months ago and to be honest, I think we waited 4 days too long.

Our beautiful blue Burmese girl, Sapphire, was 18 when she was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal lymphoma. She had chemotherapy and went into remission for a few months and then started to go downhill quite rapidly. She lost a lot of weight quite quickly and then she had an episode of bowel leakage with blood in it. She was in hospital for about a week on a drip and recovered from the bowel infection which caused the leakage but would barely eat and started losing weight again. We took her to the Vet and he gave her a steroid injection which he said would either give her a bounce or not and if it didn't we had to face the fact that it was time. This was a Tuesday and he suggested an appointment for the Saturday. We force fed her a bit for the last few days. She wanted to eat but couldn't manage it. She would lap at water but none was getting in. But she still purred and wanted to be hugged at night and managed to make her way to the table when we had dinner as was her habit. I knew that Saturday would be her final trip but in the middle of the night early on the Saturday morning she tried to get up to go to the litter tray but couldn't stand.

For the last few weeks of her life we had towels everywhere she liked to sleep because she was still having a bit of bowel leakage.

Once she couldn't stand at all we knew it was time - in fact I regretted leaving it for the four days because it was very distressing for her and us to see her like that.

Our Vet could not have been better. I held her in my arms and my partner sat beside me and stroked her head. The Vet gave her a mild sedative to relax her and then the 'green dream' injection. He said to us that her last moment would be spent knowing that she was being held and loved. That gave us some comfort.

zoom-zoom, I know only too well what a tough decision it is and only you can know when it is time. In our case I think we put our little cat through more suffering than was necessary because we weren't brave enough to make the decision earlier.

[zoom-zoom]

Aww...I feel so bad for your furbaby mamas who have had pets with cancer or nervous system issues. I will never forget how fast our Gus declined after his stroke. At first we didn't even know he had a stroke. The vet had just started him on a very low dose of anti-anxiety meds, since he was having issues with a couple of strays who liked to wander through our yard (our cats are all indoors and don't deal well with the strays who spray around their home).

At first we thought Gus was having a very strong reaction to the very low-dose valium, so we didn't give him a dose after that first one. He never recovered. Upon examination the vet thought he felt a potential tumor or two in Gus's abdomen. He suspected that Gus may have had a brain tumor, as well (Gus had had a few very odd sort of mini seizures/strokes a few times in his younger years, so we suspect there was something a bit dysfunctional in his brain for a long time). It broke our hearts to see our big, strong boy go from the boss of the house to a shell of himself; mostly unable to walk, no bladder or bowel control and unable to eat.

On his last night before his scheduled euthanization we gave him run of the house. He had this sort of last-ditch burst of energy that night. When I woke in the morning I had this sort of 6th sense that our boy was gone. We found his still warm and soft body just inches from his food dish. Just bringing his body to the vet broke me up so bad. It was 6 years ago, but it still makes me sad when I think about it. In a matter of just 3-4 days he went from the prime of his life to an invalid kitty.

At least for Lola we have seen her lead a very long and happy life. We know she doesn't have long, but we'll talk to our vet to get her opinion on how treatable Lola's bladder leakage is. She's probably not a good candidate for the sort of standard medication, because of her overactive thyroid, but it appears that estrogen can also help female cats with bladder issues, so that might be something we can try.

[Becky]

Zoom, I'm sorry that you're having to go through this. ((Zoom))

Westtexas, thanks for sharing your insight. Our fur-kids are all getting older, and I often think about what we'll do... I like your idea to remove (some of) the emotion from the decision.

[zoom-zoom]

Silly Lola...except for the incontinence issues she's still her same old self. She woke me an hour ago by standing on me and meowing repetitively, like Simon's Cat. She wanted "mushy food" and her dish was empty.

[PamNY]

Zoom no advice, but lots of sympathy and goodwishes.

Westtexas your advice is helpful. My bulldog is healthy, but he will be 11 years old in July.

[Brandi]

has anyone suggested shaving her bottom? At least it would stay cleaner and you could help her better. Long haired cats sometimes have to have their bottoms shaved for that reason.
Just my two cents.

[zoom-zoom]

has anyone suggested shaving her bottom? At least it would stay cleaner and you could help her better. Long haired cats sometimes have to have their bottoms shaved for that reason.
Just my two cents.

That's something we'd maybe consider--we have a really good Oster clippers for our long-haired doofus who doesn't groom himself and gets overstimulated when we brush him.

Lola is on a med (Proin) to help her incontinence...and it works great. Except for the fact that it makes her foam at the mouth and vomit. She HATES it. It must be really bitter. So it doesn't work as well as it could, since she's losing most doses. The vet is looking into transdermal application or trying the estrogen treatment.

[Becky]

Lola is on a med (Proin) to help her incontinence...and it works great. Except for the fact that it makes her foam at the mouth and vomit. She HATES it. It must be really bitter. So it doesn't work as well as it could, since she's losing most doses. The vet is looking into transdermal application or trying the estrogen treatment.

My sister swears by the Bitter-Block chewables at Wedgewood Pet Pharmacy, having tried all sorts of methods to administer her cat's fluoxetine.

[zoom-zoom]

*sigh* So we made the call and our sweet Lola will be crossing the Rainbow Bridge Weds. AM. We could maybe try different things to get the meds into her (our vet can use a compounding pharmacy to make different chewables or a liquid suspension), but the meds (which seem to work) are apparently giving her diarrhea and she no longer wants to use her litter box for anything, so we've been cleaning up puddles of pee and poop. We're leaving for a friend's out-of-state wedding on Thurs., so we knew we couldn't leave her alone under the circumstances...and boarding would be stressful for her, too. At this point keeping her alive and "healthy" with several meds is just delaying the inevitable.

[indysteel]

((((Zoom)))). I'm really sorry to read this. Based on what you've shared, I totally understand; it sounds like it's time. Lola's lived a good life. Hugs to you and your family.