Official RJ Pet Thread

[Mithrandir]

Very sorry to hear about this. As someone else stated, a tougher decision you will not make. I lost two dogs this past year and have a 21 year old cat that just won't quit.

[Judge Jude]

sitting here feeling oh so fortunate that the title character in this thread has again settled in to rest near my left foot as I type.

He's drinking his way out of kidney problems (just water, sorry fellas), and the daily diabetes shot seems to work, and he's back to eating solid foods and some canned as well.
The one glitch is, I think from all the early-year trauma, he tends to demand I be awake by 4:30 to 6 am. He's loud, and Mrs Judge has a lot of stress currently, so I go out to the living room with him. The last 2 days, we seem to be nearing a truce - as long as I go into the living room, he will let me sleep there til 8 or so, and sometimes jumps up for a spooning.

We call him "2.0" - he's a lot lighter (8 lbs) and slower, so Mrs Judge can catch him easily. She calls him a stuffed animal, as he's less feisty in resisting. We are greatly appreciating each of these days that we have.

My condolences to The Dane, merely one step ahead of me is all....

[SeaDogStat]

Yeah, very sorry to hear mate... sounds you like you are doing right by her though. It's the last good thing you can do for them.

That might be the best phrase I've ever heard in regards to putting down a beloved pet, heye... thanks for that...

[nullnor]

have a 21 year old cat that just won't quit.

thats awesome. thats what i wanted to be able to do with my cat. i want to be able to raise a 21 year old cat. my cat should've made it there, but i ran into some problems.

[TranaGreg]

Well, today at 3pm, I'm having my old cat, Turtle, put down. She has kidney failure and hyperthyroid, so she really doesn't want to eat anything and when she does she either fails to metabolize it or pukes it up. She's less than 5 pounds and I decided that today is the day. She isn't acutely suffering but her quality of life is very poor and I don't want to see her have to drag her little carcass around all day when it just isn't working right. She can't retract her claws anymore so she sticks to the carpet at almost every step, and takes fluids with a needle in her skin from me every day which she doesn't like one bit.

I just finished digging her little grave under a big Japanese Maple in my backyard, and I will find a cement turtle garden sculpture to put there as a marker. I will miss her. She's been my girl for 14 years.

Sorry to hear. I put my cat down a couple of years ago after 16 great years with the same issues ... she was the one constant with me over a lot of change; makes it tough, but she was down to barely 7 lbs and looking her in the eyes I could tell she just wanted it to be over.

[senorsheep]

...but she was down to barely 7 lbs and looking her in the eyes I could tell she just wanted it to be over.

:shiver:

I had the same experience when I put down our last two pets, a poodle and a cat. They were both old and in ill health and having trouble getting around, I could tell they were near the end, but they both had enough good days where I wasn't sure if it was time or not. Both of them let me know with "that" look - "I've had enough. I don't want to do this anymore." It was as clear as if they had spoken it out loud. And when they gave me that look, I did it that day. Tough, tough stuff.

It's brutal. I take it so hard, I'm not sure if I can go through it again after Charlie (our charming and adorable dick of a Siamese) and Pudge (our golden retriever with a heart of pure gold) pass on.

Sorry for your loss, Dane.

[The Dane]

We are greatly appreciating each of these days that we have.

As I reflect, I find this has really made a difference. If she'd been struck by a car or killed in some accident, I suppose the shock would have amplified the sadness. But, as it is, she had been getting sicker and sicker for a year now and I had time to brace myself and get my head around the idea of being without her long before the day came, and a day that I could choose, for the most part. I had even pre-dug her grave in a nice spot, well ahead of her passing, mainly because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep it all together with her body in a box while I shoveled. And seeing the yawning little hole out there everyday while I watered the garden was a not-so-subtle reminder to appreciate every minute I had left. So, even though I miss her greatly, and am still very sad, I can at least feel like I did good by her and I feel comforted by the fact that a rescued cat that was about the only ugly kitten I ever saw (an ugly duckling type, because by all accounts, she was a strikingly gorgeous cat in adulthood) that had a serious UPI and was about to be put down before some softy schmuck with an overblown superheroic sense of self showed up to save her crappy little life, ended up doing pretty well for herself by landing me. Which is a lot more than any of my exes can say.

In short, my relationship with her, from start to finish, is one of the better things I've done in this life, something I didn't jack up or ignore or fail to appreciate.

[Pogues]

It makes me sad to read all these stories. I had a cat pass away 2 years ago...first cat that *I* ever chose, and it was hard. We didn't know anything was wrong with her, and suddenly one day she was found behind the couch, laying all peaceful like.

I can't even imagine making the decision some of you have...but if we keep getting cats I'm sure someday that decision will be made by me. I surely won't enjoy it, as I vowed at an early age to never intentionally hurt another living creature outside of insects.

[Judge Jude]

The Dane, thanks again for those latest thoughts.


".but she was down to barely 7 lbs and looking her in the eyes I could tell she just wanted it to be over."

I thought that was always how it would be, and I could deal with that. Started this thread because my cat had no such reservations and still doesn't.

Sad when he gets there, but I look one foot left just now and he still acts like he's in it for the long haul.
My bad giving a cat an Irish name.

[nullnor]

Jude i've discovered that the human baby food Gerber stage 2 turkey in turkey gravy is a good food for them in a pinch. my cat's put on like 2 pounds eating it this past week. it's phosphorus levels are a little high but the sodium and protein levels seem ok. the cat should eat it.

Dane, it's better to see off a pet that way than lose it outside and not know what happened. anyway that you can avoid the 'live together die alone' thing is better. my cats father was sick and i let him out the night he died and he never came back. although i'll never know just how sick he was. i think he could've lasted longer but he decided to go out with a bang anyways and not burden me with his death. still, i would've rather known and been with him. he was a good boy. i hope to see him again in the next life.

[nullnor]

perhaps it's important to be able to choose when it's your time, the day or night.

[Wonderboy]

We lost out 20 year old cat a few months ago and were so grateful that we didn't have to put her down. We had some mild pain killer to ease her discomfort and wrapped her in warm towels. Same thing with her looking at us -- she was just tired of fighting and let go. Very peaceful, so we were really blessed. Not just in how she died, but in how long and well she lived.

[nullnor]

dropped my cat off for 24 hours at the vet until the doctor and cardiologist i want come in tomorrow. gave her fluid last week and she acted like it was an event. like water in her lungs or the aorta dissection moving. but neither seem to be the problem of her sudden change. 16 and a half years old, dropped from 9 pounds to 7.2 the last few months. not eating.

..not that reality works like this, but i could spend the rest of it with just her as a companion. she's pretty interesting... when something is interesting it seems unarbitrary.

Al Stewart, 2012 is turning out the to be the year of the cat. everyone i know had to let one go. my turn is coming.

each individual makes a big deal about death. it's good that we do. perhaps if we make a big enough protest, we can do something about it.

[nullnor]

hey, that was bad advice about the baby food. i let her get too dehydrated. she's lost 2 pounds over 5 months. from 9 pounds to 7. her creatine was 8.5 and bun 200. which ius bad because you can't survuve at all with creatine over 10 (6.5 now). phosphorus level thru the roof too with the baby food had a lot of. she's on IV for the last few days. still in the ICU. 20ml and hour and she's still about half way to normal hydration. i missed most of the signs of her crash and only caught it at the end. if she can make it im looking at fluids everyday now.

i guess its like a cycle. once you become dehydrated you stop eating. and once you stop eating you become more dehydrated. i should've been giving her fluids and hills k/d food more and i probably could've prevented the crash. im pretty sure im her to say that with kidney disease when an animal is really dehydrated and not eating a crash is right around the corner. ..and i don't mean to be sadistic but, i'll be interested to see if we can get her to recover and be able to maintain her kidney disease better after this.

[nullnor]

i ****ed up. when i brought her in at the beginning of the year her creatinine level was 5. then i stopped giving her lisinopril and brought her in in may and he creatinine was 3. bad idea to stop lisinopril as all that did was mask the problem not make it better. lisinopril is a good drug. it really does protect the kidneys. ppl that experience problems with it probably do so because they are nearer to end stage cronic failure. but it does help. http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proce...2986&O=Generic

Angiotensin-II activity within the kidney causes vasoconstriction of glomerular arterioles with a preferential effect exerted at the efferent arteriole compared to the afferent arteriole. Vasoconstriction of the efferent arteriole at a time of no change in the afferent arteriole increases intraglomerular capillary pressure.

hence the so called beneficial effects of ace-inhibitors on kidneys. the things i did wrong after may was 1) not putting her on a strict renal diet. 2) giving her milk sometimes, dairy is bad for weak kidneys. 3) not giving her her amlodipine blood pressure drugs all the time, like i had been. 4) not giving lisinopril at all, because it seemed to make the CRF worse. 4) giving her too much miralax last week and then mistakingly thinking it was heart and lung problems from the fluids making her weird. the miralax cause an acute kidney failure (i think) from rapid dehydration. which obviously isn't good in a cat with cronic renal failure. 5) giving her omega 3 fish oil for kidney or organ inflamation.... basically i caused her kidney(s) to decompensate more rapidly from de-inflamation, rapid dehydration, high blood pressure. .. if there was acute damage it will take up to 4 weeks to heal. and at this point that will be hard to maintain.

im gonna try to get her a kidney transplant. it's about $12,000. thats not my biggest worry tho. they may not accept her with her heart disease. although surprisingly cats do seem to be able to live with a dissected aorta just fine. hers doesn't even budge much. if so i also adopt the donor cat. so i get a 2nd cat out of the deal. one i can take care of better now having some experience.

i just don't think i can get her there in time and accepted to the program. it's not like i have to money either, but i'll spend everything i have. it's my way. im kind of generous like that. but life has never let me down. not really.