This is why I hate Valentine's Day . . .

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My cat, who is 11yoa and has been in the kitty hospital for 2 days has massive intestinal cancer - which I found out for sure today . . . he did get to come home but he is not in good shape - he will be euthanized on 2/16 if he doesn't die on his own before then - he doesn't appear to be in pain, just not very coherent . . .
For me, my animals are my children and this is just devistating . . .

However, I do have to give my best friend credit - I had rather thought based on his reaction when I lost a bunch of my ferals a few years ago, that he would say 'its a cat - get over it!' but what he did was get the phone number of the mobile vet and the pet crematorium - set everything up for me and tell me he was going to stay with me for the actual euthaniasia - in other words, he is behaving no differently than he would if this were a human dying . . . which Seth might as well be . . .
Unfortunately, I accidentally scared the heck out of him this morning - well, last night - he left his phone in his partner's truck and I had called him about 5pm after a day of getting phone calls telling me how sick my cat was and how he might well die that night, etc . . . and so I called my friend and said I would really, really, really, really like to talk to him because I was feeling so dejected and just that the whole world was against me and was crying (remember this is the guy who saved me from killing myself 3 times when I was really depressed last time) so he calls me while I'm sitting at the vet this morning and the first thing he says is 'I am SOOOOO glad to hear your voice . . .' - ooooops . . .

ah, that sucks.

My cat is ancient (nobody really knows) and I've been debating putting her down for the past few months. She's got a lot of problems, but the vet says none of them are painful. I don't know what I'm going to do and I have to decide in less than two weeks. Sometimes she looks unhappy but I can't tell for sure. I just don't know if I'm going to be able to do it. It's tearing me up inside to think about every day.

Sounds like you've a good friend there. That's awesome. I wish you the best of luck- I know I'm going to miss my cat more than any person. For a lot of us AS folk our pets are our best friends and more. You're really lucky to have another friend there to help you through it.

crud I'm crying about it again. Really, best wishes in a tough time.

Good luck - I don't think we can ever be sure - I'm watching Seth who is having trouble walking and breathing and I know I'm doing the right thing and there is still this little part of me that says 'well, you never know - he could get better . . .'
I found a beautiful urn for him - it looks just like he used to sit when he was well . . .

Hermit,
think of....5 basic needs your cat has,such as eating,drinking,walking around,cleaning herself and go to the toilet,can she do each one of those? does she have much interest in the things she did when she wasn't too ill? if she has a lot of difficulty with her basic needs,and no interest in anything anymore,it might be best to opt for euthanasia sooner than later,as it's better to do it even a little earlier,than too far on.

Have you ever had a pet euthanased/seen it happen before?


animallover,it is good that you are able to get a mobile vet out,it's nicer for it to happen in a familiar place for them,instead of having to take them all the way to a vets,having to wait around strange people,strange smells and barking dogs.
About cremation,if not having seen the process before,make sure to ask them whether the cremation will be individual or not,as some crematoriums cremate animals together and ashes end up mixed.

trouble eating and drinking, a little trouble walking but not too bad, cleaning ok, toilet is a sometimes issue. Not too much interest in anything right now save eating and sleeping (and curling up next to me), but then again it's winter.

The biggest problems are bad kidneys, thryoid issues, and losing sight- her irises are deteriorating so she's sensitive to light.

I just can't see that she's actually uncomfortable, but she's certainly heading that way. It's been a slow decline so that makes it all the harder to judge. I'm leaving town for nearly a month in several weeks, so I have to choose a. put her to sleep or B. take her to a cat-kennel or whatever they're called. I'll be gone too long to ask friends to stop by all the time (don't really have any to begin with), and my folks are going somewhere else themselves, so I can't bring her over there.

For obvious reasons I don't want to do either; one of my biggest fears is taking her somewhere and her dying while I'm away. She takes a fair amount of care so I'm worried she wouldn't take it, plus the stress of it all. Except a few trips to the vet, she's never been off this property, outlived her original owner and then her nephew, and has been allowing me to live here ever since. I'd feel horrible if she didn't get to die at home, in comfort and peace if possible.

On the other hand, I don't know how I'm going to put her to sleep. That's going to hurt like hell. Worse.

thanks for that though, it helps organize my thoughts about it a bit better. Still don't know what I'm going to do though. I think I know what I should do but I don't know if I'll be able to do it.

I'm just totally avoiding the whole issue as much as possible, a habit of mine that is perhaps my biggest fault, and as such runs deep.

If it puts your mind at ease hermit, the actual euthanasia itself was not bad at all - Seth had spent most of the morning trying to get to this one spot in the yard so I picked that one - the vet gave him a big shot of anethestic and after about five minutes he was totally unaware of where he was then the vet gave him two shots and his head slumped over and that was it . . .

Of course, I had a meltdown shortly thereafter, but it looked completely peaceful and painless for him . . .

I would defintely recommend home euthanasia if you can afford it - this cost me $84 which isn't a whole lot more than I'd expect to pay if I'd taken him in . . . and this was much better for him, I'm sure . . .

thanks, animallover. I was hoping you made it through it ok, sounds like it wasn't too bad for you. Or Seth. I've given myself until the end of the weekend to at least decide what to do myself, as the days are passing quickly now. we'll see.

I cant add anything intelligent to try to ease your pain but *hug* anyway. *hughughug*

My kitties are my babies too.