Time to kill Jackie? I hate this.

Jackie is the old girl I adopted about seven months ago because she
looked so miserable. We took care of her primary problem, which
required extracting all of her teeth. She got somewhat better but her
diarrhea, presumably Inflamatory Bowel Disease, did not get better.
She's been on 7.5mg Prednisone for three months.

She has been leaving brown streaks around for a few months and it was
mostly leftovers from going to the litterbox, but the last few days
the stuff has been trickling out her butt. Little brown shimmering
pearls. I have been cleaning her with baby wipes for several weeks.
She always smells of poop and now my whole bedroom is smelling of
poop. I have to cover the comforter with a thin blanket that I can
wash easily. And I cover the pillows with extra pillow cases. My
significant other is less than pleased.

I guess that it's "back to the vet" time but I've already been told
that there isn't really much he can do. At least she mostly just hangs
out on the bed. If she starts spreading this all over the house, well,
that can't be.

She's getting Wellness and Avo/Derm and other healthy type stuff. I've
been on the Feline IBD forum and I'm not really ready to go with a raw
food diet. I'm not convinced that it will make any difference. I do
try to avoid grains.

I don't know about her quality of life. I think that she is in pain
all the time from some injury to her back legs. Her back end is weak
and she sways somewhat when she walks. Yet she did go outside into the
backyard for a few minutes over the weekend and she is just such a
tough little critter. She doesn't look as miserable as she did when I
got her but she still mostly looks sad. I've never seen a cat with
such expression on its face.

Well, any advice or suggestions is welcome.

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 13:35:30 -0500 (EST), "Mary"
wrote:

dgk wrote:

Jackie is the old girl I adopted about seven months ago because she
looked so miserable. We took care of her primary problem, which
required extracting all of her teeth. She got somewhat better but her
diarrhea, presumably Inflamatory Bowel Disease, did not get better.
....

It saddens me to hear this--and you know that only you can make the
decision. If I felt my cat was in pain all the time and there was nothing
I could do about it, I think I might choose to end her life. But I know you really
love Jackie, and that it will be a hard decision. You have already given her
so much more than most people would.



Thanks. The problem is, the cats that I've had to euthanize gave me no
other choice. They were just going to die miserably if I didn't do it.

I don't know how sick Jackie is. She is clearly losing weight and was
back under six pounds a few weeks ago at her last vet visit. But she
still puts up a good struggle when I put in her eye medicine (she has
a reoccuring infection).

Every time I look into those sad eyes I just can't see myself taking
her to the vet and not bringing her back home. Then I look at that
sore and bleeding and oozing butt and don't know what to think.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 13:35:30 -0500 (EST), "Mary"
wrote:

dgk wrote:

Jackie is the old girl I adopted about seven months ago because she
looked so miserable. We took care of her primary problem, which
required extracting all of her teeth. She got somewhat better but her
diarrhea, presumably Inflamatory Bowel Disease, did not get better.
...

It saddens me to hear this--and you know that only you can make the
decision. If I felt my cat was in pain all the time and there was nothing
I could do about it, I think I might choose to end her life. But I know
you really
love Jackie, and that it will be a hard decision. You have already given
her
so much more than most people would.



Thanks. The problem is, the cats that I've had to euthanize gave me no
other choice. They were just going to die miserably if I didn't do it.

I don't know how sick Jackie is. She is clearly losing weight and was
back under six pounds a few weeks ago at her last vet visit. But she
still puts up a good struggle when I put in her eye medicine (she has
a reoccuring infection).

Every time I look into those sad eyes I just can't see myself taking
her to the vet and not bringing her back home. Then I look at that
sore and bleeding and oozing butt and don't know what to think.

It is so hard to tell if they are suffering. That for me is the big
problem. I let my Gnarly go too long because I did not
understand how stoic cats are. Does she seek you for
affection, and is she eating well? Does she seem "turned
inward?" No matter what, you know you have been a
great friend to her.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
Thanks. The problem is, the cats that I've had to euthanize gave me no
other choice. They were just going to die miserably if I didn't do it.

I don't know how sick Jackie is. She is clearly losing weight and was
back under six pounds a few weeks ago at her last vet visit. But she
still puts up a good struggle when I put in her eye medicine (she has
a reoccuring infection).

Every time I look into those sad eyes I just can't see myself taking
her to the vet and not bringing her back home. Then I look at that
sore and bleeding and oozing butt and don't know what to think.

Have you had an endoscopy done, or is Jackie not well enough for that? That
would at least tell you if it's IBD or cancer, and you can make a decision
from there.
Jackie sounds a lot like how my Dash was. She had multiple problems;
hyperthyroid, bad heart murmur, and IBD or cancer, couldn't do the endoscope
because of the heart murmur. She didn't leak, but towards the end, she
stopped using the litterbox and would leave horrible piles or diarrhea
around the house. She was down to 5 lbs, kept becoming dehydrated, even
thought we did sub-q fluids.
The only other thing I can suggest is trying Metamucil mixed in her wet
food. It may help solidify the stool.

I'm really sorry all this has happened and poor Jackie hasn't gotten better.

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
"Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG

In article ,
dgk wrote:

I don't know how sick Jackie is. She is clearly losing weight and was
back under six pounds a few weeks ago at her last vet visit. But she
still puts up a good struggle when I put in her eye medicine (she has
a reoccuring infection).

Every time I look into those sad eyes I just can't see myself taking
her to the vet and not bringing her back home. Then I look at that
sore and bleeding and oozing butt and don't know what to think.

I think you may need to remind yourself that cats hide pain and
suffering very very well. She may be in much more discomfort than she
lets on.

Putting a beloved pet at ease from its pain may be the most loving thing
we can ever do for them.

Priscilla
--
"And what's this crap about Sodomites? It's always Sodomites this and
Sodomites that. What about us Gomorrahians? We were there too; we
deserve some mention. Sodom always gets the credit, and Gomorrah always
does the work." - JohnN in alt.religion.christian.episcopal

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:29:44 -0500, "KellyH"
wrote:

"dgk" wrote in message
.. .
Thanks. The problem is, the cats that I've had to euthanize gave me no
other choice. They were just going to die miserably if I didn't do it.

I don't know how sick Jackie is. She is clearly losing weight and was
back under six pounds a few weeks ago at her last vet visit. But she
still puts up a good struggle when I put in her eye medicine (she has
a reoccuring infection).

Every time I look into those sad eyes I just can't see myself taking
her to the vet and not bringing her back home. Then I look at that
sore and bleeding and oozing butt and don't know what to think.

Have you had an endoscopy done, or is Jackie not well enough for that? That
would at least tell you if it's IBD or cancer, and you can make a decision
from there.
Jackie sounds a lot like how my Dash was. She had multiple problems;
hyperthyroid, bad heart murmur, and IBD or cancer, couldn't do the endoscope
because of the heart murmur. She didn't leak, but towards the end, she
stopped using the litterbox and would leave horrible piles or diarrhea
around the house. She was down to 5 lbs, kept becoming dehydrated, even
thought we did sub-q fluids.
The only other thing I can suggest is trying Metamucil mixed in her wet
food. It may help solidify the stool.

I'm really sorry all this has happened and poor Jackie hasn't gotten better.

Jackie did get better. Just not enough and it seems to be slipping
pretty fast. The endoscopy is a good idea, I guess we should try it.
But she would need to be put under for that and, really, what is the
difference? The IBD is getting so bad that cancer couldn't be much
worse. She doesn't puke though. I guess the IBD is in the lower tract.

The vet isn't in today. I'll try again tomorrow. I will certainly ask
about the metamucil.

If it comes to it then I won't wait too long. I promised her a
comfortable place to end her life. We may be getting there. I think I
waited too long with the others.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
Jackie did get better. Just not enough and it seems to be slipping
pretty fast. The endoscopy is a good idea, I guess we should try it.
But she would need to be put under for that and, really, what is the
difference? The IBD is getting so bad that cancer couldn't be much
worse. She doesn't puke though. I guess the IBD is in the lower tract.

That's how it was with Dash. The vet said if it was IBD, at least one of
the things we tried would have worked. Dash would puke once in a while,
but not all the time.

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
"Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG

On 2005-02-17, dgk penned:

Thanks. The problem is, the cats that I've had to euthanize gave me no other
choice. They were just going to die miserably if I didn't do it.

I don't know how sick Jackie is. She is clearly losing weight and was back
under six pounds a few weeks ago at her last vet visit. But she still puts
up a good struggle when I put in her eye medicine (she has a reoccuring
infection).

Every time I look into those sad eyes I just can't see myself taking her to
the vet and not bringing her back home. Then I look at that sore and
bleeding and oozing butt and don't know what to think.

Is it possible to go to another vet for a second opinion? Maybe they will
have some ideas your vet hasn't hit upon.

I don't want to give you false hope, but someone posted here over the last
month or two about his cat Moses. In the first few posts I was sure that cat
was going to die soon, but after a lot of research and visiting specialists,
Moses is actually doing much better, eating well, etc.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On Thu 17 Feb 2005 10:02:04a, dgk wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
):


Well, any advice or suggestions is welcome.

I know you've had a cat before with IBD, and knowing what is coming,
and how things are deteriorating has got to be so worrying. Shadow
was like that, too. The drips of diarrhea that he couldn't control.
The vet also didn't have any hope for making him better. I just
watched him (probably TOO much) for signs of being ready to go. I had
promised him no more invasive treatments, no more prolonging the
inevitable when the time came and I had to keep that promise and yes
it was very very hard. But it was harder seeing him getting worse all
the time. You've done very well for Jackie in the time she's been
with you, and I'm sure she knows you love her very much.

God bless in whatever you decide.

--
Cheryl

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:29:44 -0500, "KellyH"
wrote:

"dgk" wrote in message
.. .
Thanks. The problem is, the cats that I've had to euthanize gave me no
other choice. They were just going to die miserably if I didn't do it.

I don't know how sick Jackie is. She is clearly losing weight and was
back under six pounds a few weeks ago at her last vet visit. But she
still puts up a good struggle when I put in her eye medicine (she has
a reoccuring infection).

Every time I look into those sad eyes I just can't see myself taking
her to the vet and not bringing her back home. Then I look at that
sore and bleeding and oozing butt and don't know what to think.

Have you had an endoscopy done, or is Jackie not well enough for that?
That
would at least tell you if it's IBD or cancer, and you can make a
decision
from there.
Jackie sounds a lot like how my Dash was. She had multiple problems;
hyperthyroid, bad heart murmur, and IBD or cancer, couldn't do the
endoscope
because of the heart murmur. She didn't leak, but towards the end, she
stopped using the litterbox and would leave horrible piles or diarrhea
around the house. She was down to 5 lbs, kept becoming dehydrated, even
thought we did sub-q fluids.
The only other thing I can suggest is trying Metamucil mixed in her wet
food. It may help solidify the stool.

I'm really sorry all this has happened and poor Jackie hasn't gotten
better.

Jackie did get better. Just not enough and it seems to be slipping
pretty fast. The endoscopy is a good idea, I guess we should try it.
But she would need to be put under for that and, really, what is the
difference? The IBD is getting so bad that cancer couldn't be much
worse. She doesn't puke though. I guess the IBD is in the lower tract.

The vet isn't in today. I'll try again tomorrow. I will certainly ask
about the metamucil.

If it comes to it then I won't wait too long. I promised her a
comfortable place to end her life. We may be getting there. I think I
waited too long with the others.

I did this, and it is the one regret I have with regard to any animal
I have been responsible for. I still regret it. My heart goes out to you.