On 6/27/2013 8:39 AM, dgk wrote:

It's a decision that you just can't win. Either you're going to feel
awful that you euthanized your cat too soon, or you're going to feel
awful that you made the cat suffer because you couldn't bear to let
go. Just be prepared to feel awful and do the best you can.

..........Amen to that! I don't regret the decision to toss a barrel of
money I couldn't really afford at the diagnosis. I just had to know.
It could have been something fixable and it would have haunted me that I
didn't find out for sure.

They said that he could live for another two years with a decent
quality of life, so I had them do what they could.
............Oh yeah, the primary speciality vet had done a smear sample
at the time of the rhinoscopy and told me it was lymphoma but they'd
wait for the path report to make sure. Then he gave me all the options.
And said lymphoma was weird. One chemo treatment and it could
disappear. Gosh, despite the horrific price tag, I felt I'd really have
to consider it. But I talked to an assoc vet when path report came in
and she said, yeah, it can, but it will come right back unless you keep
up with the chemo. Nothing like stretching the truth. He said 2 years
also but I read a journal article that realistically put it at around 8
months. Two years is the right hand side of the bell curve.


I would not do it again that way. Maybe I will make myself miserable
next time by doing it too soon, but I will not make a trusting
companion suffer like that.

.............Well, you never know how any disease or cat may react. It
could be a whole new ballgame. But you do know now they're not quite
telling the truth when they say 2 years and decent quality of life. One
has to ask oneself who the cat is being kept alive for, yourself or him/her.

My cat was over 15 also.


buglady
take out the dog before replying