Am I a terrible person for considering putting our cat down?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Could you give her one of your kidneys? |
Anonymous
|
No. If her quality of life is not good, you do what's best for your cat. We waited a bit too long with one of our previous cats and I don't want to make that mistake again.
We are in the early stages of seeing this coming with our beloved 11 yr. old girl who has developed liver problems. She's not there yet but I see the trend line and it's not good. Our vet has business cards for Lap of Love, Veterinary Hospice & in-home euthanasia... I have not used them but plan to do this for our girl, I don't want her stressed out with a vet visit, etc., when the time comes. I have no affiliation, etc., but the info is www.LapofLove.com -- good luck. |
Anonymous
p.s. at the web site enter your zip code ... our vet's referral is for Dr. Christine Shibley (No. Va.) |
Anonymous
| Thank you all so much! You have really made me feel much better about this. --OP |
Anonymous
| I am the most fervent animal lover out there and think that you are absolutely doing the right thing. She's had a good long life. I wish you all the best with your decision. |
Anonymous
|
So sorry op. I had to make this decision in December. She had been diagnosed with cancer in her mouth just a month before and was starting to get miserable. I had pain medicine for her but it was still taking her longer and longer to eat less and less.
I used dr. Shibley. She was professional and caring but I am still traumatized by the event 6 months later. I don't think it was anything against dr shibley, she did a wonderful job...just that I wasn't ready. I felt lots of guilt that I had chosen to kill my pet. I also had misunderstood that the sedation would pretty much make her unresponsive. I had thought she'd still be with me, just calm. So I felt like I missed my chance to say goodbye one last time. And I keep replaying in my head the moment she told me my sweet girl was gone. Maybe it would have been better for my sake if I had not been present but I wanted to be there for her. Anyway it was pricey but I thought it was worth it so she wouldn't be in fear during her last moments. About 2 weeks afterwards, dr. Shibley hand delivered the box of ashes. It was larger than expect but in a very nice box. I put it in a larger box that contains momentos (photo album, paw print, lock of hair and ashes). When her littermate sister dies, I plan to put her momentos in the box as well so they can be together. |
Anonymous
|
Just had to make this decision two weeks ago for our 15-year-old cat who had kidney issues + hyperthyroid + a slow-growing tumor. He had started urinating around the house and I *REALLY* struggled with whether I was making the decision because I couldn't deal with that long-term or whether it was the right thing for him. Our vet was SO kind and walked me through all the things we had done over the past several years to keep him alive with a decent quality of life. She also shared that in her opinion, we have as much responsibility to help our pets have good deaths as we do to help them have good lives.
In the end, it was very hard, but when I was looking through old photos of him later that evening with the kids, it was clear how ill he'd been without us really seeing it. As one PP said about her/his cat, he was a bag of bones. We miss him terribly, but seeing the visual evidence of how much he had changed, helped a lot. FWIW, I stayed with him during the process and it was very peaceful (well, except for my sobbing). We had him cremated and just received his ashes back and plan to bury them in his favorite place in our yard once we're ready. Sorry you're faced with this... |
Anonymous
I second for Sol Perl. Consider him for well pet care too- he is not more expensive than a regular vet in the final analysis. I have 12 years with him now! |