Trying to decide if its time to let go...

My twelve year old cat, Kek, has been struggling with some kind of upper respiratory problem since February. We have previously had diagnoses of bronchitis, a simple cold, a bacterial infection, and a collapsed trachea. None of these has been medically confrimed and no medications seem to help with the exception of steriods, which only seem to make her feel better for 2-3 days.

Things got really bad mid-May and she stopped eating. We syringe fed her for a month and then put in an esophogeal feeding tube that we have been using for the past two and a half weeks. We have also relocated to a new state in the past week and I took her to a new vet this morning. He did x-rays and believes that she has a tumor in her left sinus passage. She also seems to be having vision issues on that side. (Since the beginning that has been the side with all the symptoms: the runny nose, watery eye, and dirty ear.) He says that one option is to biposy the mass, which will require removing a piece of bone from her face which is relatively risky in itself. The vet said that he is more than willing to do this, but seemed to allude that hospice care was a more preferable option. My husband and I agree with this. But here is where we aren't su Should we go ahead and put her to sleep now, or try another round of steriods?

Before our move, Kek was still showing signs of enjoying life: sunning herself, coming to us for love and attention. But since the move (last week), she hasn't been herself. She has completely lost her spark. She seems completely uninterested in everything. Sometimes she meow-growls when I pick her up or try to pet her. And she has been going to the bathroom everywhere but her litter box (although I have caught her sleeping in it). My husband thinks that it is time and that giving her another round of steriods is just prolonging the inevitable. I think that another round of steriods might give her a couple more good days.

Any thoughts or advice are welcome.

KeksMom wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:


My twelve year old cat, Kek, has been struggling with some kind of
upper respiratory problem since February. We have previously had
diagnoses of bronchitis, a simple cold, a bacterial infection, and a
collapsed trachea. None of these has been medically confrimed and no
medications seem to help with the exception of steriods, which only
seem to make her feel better for 2-3 days.

Things got really bad mid-May and she stopped eating. We syringe fed
her for a month and then put in an esophogeal feeding tube that we
have been using for the past two and a half weeks. We have also
relocated to a new state in the past week and I took her to a new vet
this morning. He did x-rays and believes that she has a tumor in her
left sinus passage. She also seems to be having vision issues on that
side. (Since the beginning that has been the side with all the
symptoms: the runny nose, watery eye, and dirty ear.) He says that
one option is to biposy the mass, which will require removing a piece
of bone from her face which is relatively risky in itself. The vet
said that he is more than willing to do this, but seemed to allude
that hospice care was a more preferable option. My husband and I
agree with this. But here is where we aren't su Should we go ahead
and put her to sleep now, or try another round of steriods?

Before our move, Kek was still showing signs of enjoying life: sunning
herself, coming to us for love and attention. But since the move (last
week), she hasn't been herself. She has completely lost her spark. She
seems completely uninterested in everything. Sometimes she meow-growls
when I pick her up or try to pet her. And she has been going to the
bathroom everywhere but her litter box (although I have caught her
sleeping in it). My husband thinks that it is time and that giving her
another round of steriods is just prolonging the inevitable. I think
that another round of steriods might give her a couple more good
days.

Any thoughts or advice are welcome.

I am so sorry to hear this.

It is always sad when a loved pet is in travail, but it seems you've
done all that is reasonable and beyond what some would do with the
feeding tube.

I am sure your vet did many tests already on liver and kidney function
as well as any possible infections of the bladder etc.

I hate to say it but have a long talk with your vet. It sounds like it
is time to assist her over the bridge. Waiting too long may make *you*
feel better those extra days, but will haunt you forever after. You
aren't being selfish to wish her a few good days, but there may not be
any.

Let us know how it goes for you ok?

--

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT HER DOWN,
GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE



michael lane
n Tennessee
































**
**

Michael Lane wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT HER DOWN,
GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE

Did you miss that her condition is so bad, they had to install a
feeding tube even before the move?

There is a time and a place to let go. From all that has been posted,
my advice is to talk to the vet about it. This is a medical issues cat
before the move. She may be suffering badly and faltering on
'presenting a stiff upper lip' about it at last.

I wish Michael well and his lady cat.

cshenk wrote:
Michael Lane wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT HER DOWN,
GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE

Did you miss that her condition is so bad, they had to install a
feeding tube even before the move?

There is a time and a place to let go. From all that has been posted,
my advice is to talk to the vet about it. This is a medical issues
cat before the move. She may be suffering badly and faltering on
'presenting a stiff upper lip' about it at last.

I wish Michael well and his lady cat.

I too, wish him well. It is very sad to see a cat suffer. By the way, today,
a dog that I almost nefver see because he lives several houses away, down
the block, came into my house. (The whether is nice, and I had the front
door open. He paid no attention to me, but sniffed over the whole street
level floor of my house, and then went out and lay down on the front door
mat for about 10 minutes, and then went back hjome. My B-K died on that
front door mat last month on the 10th. I knew immediately what he was doing.
He had traced B-K back home, and was wondering where he was. He sniffed over
the house looking for him, found his smell was strongest on the doormat;
Stayed there for a while, and then left. I wish I could have told him what
happened to his friend, and that he would never be back, but I couldn't.
Perhaps he could tell from the smell that B-K died there. I will never know.
I don't know how much animals understand about death. But I accepted that
dog's actions as a memorial for my beloved cat.

On 07/10/2011 04:20 PM, Bill Graham wrote:
cshenk wrote:
Michael Lane wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT HER DOWN,
GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE

Did you miss that her condition is so bad, they had to install a
feeding tube even before the move?

There is a time and a place to let go. From all that has been posted,
my advice is to talk to the vet about it. This is a medical issues
cat before the move. She may be suffering badly and faltering on
'presenting a stiff upper lip' about it at last.

I wish Michael well and his lady cat.

I too, wish him well. It is very sad to see a cat suffer. By the way,
today, a dog that I almost nefver see because he lives several houses
away, down the block, came into my house. (The whether is nice, and I
had the front door open. He paid no attention to me, but sniffed over
the whole street level floor of my house, and then went out and lay down
on the front door mat for about 10 minutes, and then went back hjome. My
B-K died on that front door mat last month on the 10th. I knew
immediately what he was doing. He had traced B-K back home, and was
wondering where he was. He sniffed over the house looking for him, found
his smell was strongest on the doormat; Stayed there for a while, and
then left. I wish I could have told him what happened to his friend, and
that he would never be back, but I couldn't. Perhaps he could tell from
the smell that B-K died there. I will never know. I don't know how much
animals understand about death. But I accepted that dog's actions as a
memorial for my beloved cat.



That is a sad little story. MLB

Bill Graham wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

cshenk wrote:
Michael Lane wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT HER
DOWN, GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE

Did you miss that her condition is so bad, they had to install a
feeding tube even before the move?

There is a time and a place to let go. From all that has been
posted, my advice is to talk to the vet about it. This is a
medical issues cat before the move. She may be suffering badly and
faltering on 'presenting a stiff upper lip' about it at last.

I wish Michael well and his lady cat.

I too, wish him well. It is very sad to see a cat suffer. By the way,
today, a dog that I almost nefver see because he lives several houses
away, down the block, came into my house. (The whether is nice, and I
had the front door open. He paid no attention to me, but sniffed over
the whole street level floor of my house, and then went out and lay
down on the front door mat for about 10 minutes, and then went back
hjome. My B-K died on that front door mat last month on the 10th. I
knew immediately what he was doing. He had traced B-K back home, and
was wondering where he was. He sniffed over the house looking for
him, found his smell was strongest on the doormat; Stayed there for a
while, and then left. I wish I could have told him what happened to
his friend, and that he would never be back, but I couldn't. Perhaps
he could tell from the smell that B-K died there. I will never know.
I don't know how much animals understand about death. But I accepted
that dog's actions as a memorial for my beloved cat.

Sorry to hear that your little 4foot has passed on. I lost 'Unca
Sammy' less than a year ago. His brave heart was a joy. He came to us
age 17 (dog, very elderly, similar to a 28 year old cat I imagine).

His passing was peaceful and we were to the vets several times with him
as he started to fail. He was in no pain other than his normal
arhtritis he'd had for close to 10 years (tramadol tucked in a
fingerling fish 3 times a day made him feel fine).

Smile, I am an odd one. I rescue elderly medical issues pets to a
final home. Dogs and cats. I have 1 cat and 2 dogs now. They will
probably be here for many years though Aunti Mabel (dog) came to us age
14 just this past Thanksgiving. Extremely healthy for her age, my vet
says she's the oldest currently at her practice and looks like she's
another 3 years of love and lickifications in her.

--

cshenk wrote:
Bill Graham wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

cshenk wrote:
Michael Lane wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT HER
DOWN, GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE

Did you miss that her condition is so bad, they had to install a
feeding tube even before the move?

There is a time and a place to let go. From all that has been
posted, my advice is to talk to the vet about it. This is a
medical issues cat before the move. She may be suffering badly and
faltering on 'presenting a stiff upper lip' about it at last.

I wish Michael well and his lady cat.

I too, wish him well. It is very sad to see a cat suffer. By the way,
today, a dog that I almost nefver see because he lives several houses
away, down the block, came into my house. (The whether is nice, and I
had the front door open. He paid no attention to me, but sniffed over
the whole street level floor of my house, and then went out and lay
down on the front door mat for about 10 minutes, and then went back
hjome. My B-K died on that front door mat last month on the 10th. I
knew immediately what he was doing. He had traced B-K back home, and
was wondering where he was. He sniffed over the house looking for
him, found his smell was strongest on the doormat; Stayed there for a
while, and then left. I wish I could have told him what happened to
his friend, and that he would never be back, but I couldn't. Perhaps
he could tell from the smell that B-K died there. I will never know.
I don't know how much animals understand about death. But I accepted
that dog's actions as a memorial for my beloved cat.

Sorry to hear that your little 4foot has passed on. I lost 'Unca
Sammy' less than a year ago. His brave heart was a joy. He came to
us age 17 (dog, very elderly, similar to a 28 year old cat I imagine).

His passing was peaceful and we were to the vets several times with
him as he started to fail. He was in no pain other than his normal
arhtritis he'd had for close to 10 years (tramadol tucked in a
fingerling fish 3 times a day made him feel fine).

Smile, I am an odd one. I rescue elderly medical issues pets to a
final home. Dogs and cats. I have 1 cat and 2 dogs now. They will
probably be here for many years though Aunti Mabel (dog) came to us
age 14 just this past Thanksgiving. Extremely healthy for her age,
my vet says she's the oldest currently at her practice and looks like
she's another 3 years of love and lickifications in her.

That is a wonderful thing you do for the animals. The older I get, the more
I wish that I could have done the same kind of thing. But most people, like
me, are too concerned with themselves,and their other hobbies. I am still
trying to decide if I should get another cat. I already have four others,
and there will never be another cat like B-K, so I don't think I will. I
used to wish that he would die before me, because I didn't want him to think
that I had left without taking him with me. Now, I am sorry that I wished
for that. - Be careful what you wish for......

On Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:58:38 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

cshenk wrote:
Bill Graham wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

cshenk wrote:
Michael Lane wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT HER
DOWN, GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE

Did you miss that her condition is so bad, they had to install a
feeding tube even before the move?

There is a time and a place to let go. From all that has been
posted, my advice is to talk to the vet about it. This is a
medical issues cat before the move. She may be suffering badly and
faltering on 'presenting a stiff upper lip' about it at last.

I wish Michael well and his lady cat.

I too, wish him well. It is very sad to see a cat suffer. By the way,
today, a dog that I almost nefver see because he lives several houses
away, down the block, came into my house. (The whether is nice, and I
had the front door open. He paid no attention to me, but sniffed over
the whole street level floor of my house, and then went out and lay
down on the front door mat for about 10 minutes, and then went back
hjome. My B-K died on that front door mat last month on the 10th. I
knew immediately what he was doing. He had traced B-K back home, and
was wondering where he was. He sniffed over the house looking for
him, found his smell was strongest on the doormat; Stayed there for a
while, and then left. I wish I could have told him what happened to
his friend, and that he would never be back, but I couldn't. Perhaps
he could tell from the smell that B-K died there. I will never know.
I don't know how much animals understand about death. But I accepted
that dog's actions as a memorial for my beloved cat.

Sorry to hear that your little 4foot has passed on. I lost 'Unca
Sammy' less than a year ago. His brave heart was a joy. He came to
us age 17 (dog, very elderly, similar to a 28 year old cat I imagine).

His passing was peaceful and we were to the vets several times with
him as he started to fail. He was in no pain other than his normal
arhtritis he'd had for close to 10 years (tramadol tucked in a
fingerling fish 3 times a day made him feel fine).

Smile, I am an odd one. I rescue elderly medical issues pets to a
final home. Dogs and cats. I have 1 cat and 2 dogs now. They will
probably be here for many years though Aunti Mabel (dog) came to us
age 14 just this past Thanksgiving. Extremely healthy for her age,
my vet says she's the oldest currently at her practice and looks like
she's another 3 years of love and lickifications in her.

That is a wonderful thing you do for the animals. The older I get, the more
I wish that I could have done the same kind of thing. But most people, like
me, are too concerned with themselves,and their other hobbies. I am still
trying to decide if I should get another cat. I already have four others,
and there will never be another cat like B-K, so I don't think I will. I
used to wish that he would die before me, because I didn't want him to think
that I had left without taking him with me. Now, I am sorry that I wished
for that. - Be careful what you wish for......

Either ending is no good, but I worry greatly about what will happen
to my cats when I die. I'd best get that Will done.

Bill Graham wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

cshenk wrote:
Bill Graham wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

cshenk wrote:
Michael Lane wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

She may be missing the home place + other things.DO NOT PUT
HER DOWN, GIVE HER TIME , PLEASE

Did you miss that her condition is so bad, they had to install a
feeding tube even before the move?

There is a time and a place to let go. From all that has been
posted, my advice is to talk to the vet about it. This is a
medical issues cat before the move. She may be suffering badly
and faltering on 'presenting a stiff upper lip' about it at
last.

I wish Michael well and his lady cat.

I too, wish him well. It is very sad to see a cat suffer. By the
way, today, a dog that I almost nefver see because he lives
several houses away, down the block, came into my house. (The
whether is nice, and I had the front door open. He paid no
attention to me, but sniffed over the whole street level floor of
my house, and then went out and lay down on the front door mat
for about 10 minutes, and then went back hjome. My B-K died on
that front door mat last month on the 10th. I knew immediately
what he was doing. He had traced B-K back home, and was wondering
where he was. He sniffed over the house looking for him, found
his smell was strongest on the doormat; Stayed there for a while,
and then left. I wish I could have told him what happened to his
friend, and that he would never be back, but I couldn't. Perhaps
he could tell from the smell that B-K died there. I will never
know. I don't know how much animals understand about death. But
I accepted that dog's actions as a memorial for my beloved cat.

Sorry to hear that your little 4foot has passed on. I lost 'Unca
Sammy' less than a year ago. His brave heart was a joy. He came to
us age 17 (dog, very elderly, similar to a 28 year old cat I
imagine).

His passing was peaceful and we were to the vets several times with
him as he started to fail. He was in no pain other than his normal
arhtritis he'd had for close to 10 years (tramadol tucked in a
fingerling fish 3 times a day made him feel fine).

Smile, I am an odd one. I rescue elderly medical issues pets to a
final home. Dogs and cats. I have 1 cat and 2 dogs now. They will
probably be here for many years though Aunti Mabel (dog) came to us
age 14 just this past Thanksgiving. Extremely healthy for her age,
my vet says she's the oldest currently at her practice and looks
like she's another 3 years of love and lickifications in her.

That is a wonderful thing you do for the animals. The older I get,
the more I wish that I could have done the same kind of thing. But
most people, like me, are too concerned with themselves,and their
other hobbies. I am still trying to decide if I should get another
cat. I already have four others, and there will never be another cat
like B-K, so I don't think I will. I used to wish that he would die
before me, because I didn't want him to think that I had left without
taking him with me. Now, I am sorry that I wished for that. - Be
careful what you wish for......

Love you well my friend.

With 4 cats currently, I would not add a 5th just as you say.

I have a cat who selected us. She's got all sorts of social issues
with other cats (true feral, lived wild apparently 6 years). As long
as she lives, I can not add a cat to this house. I made that choice
knowingly and am good with it. She has a personality quirk from some
distant past that makes her love dogs.

Daisy-chan is the exception here among the current 4foots. She has no
medical issues and wasn't that old when we got her.


--