When to know it's time to make that final vet journey?

I'm_not_going_into · 30 July 2017 at 9:39AM

We had to do this with our beloved cat 2 years ago in February we lost her. She became very !!!! very quickly (and I mean quickly)! I think we took her to the vets at one point everyday for about 8/9 days. They didn't know what was wrong with her. They did blood tests, X-rays, even procedures in the operating room because they/we thought she was just constipated.
On the Thursday we took her in and when we went to collect her we were told the devastating news she had cancer. (Lymphoma) our vets were absolutely amazing and even said we could go down the route of having a colonoscopy and have a biopsy. They were only going to charge a small amount for this.
We took her home, cried all night, didn't sleep with what we'd just been told.
We then decided that we were going to wait until the weekend. But the more and more we thought about it just wasn't fair in putting her through the pain etc.

We took her back to the vets that afternoon. I'd personally not want to go through that again but as a responsible pet owner we have 3 other cats.

She was the most wonderful cat in the whole world and she is missed every single day.

I think when you are faced with the decision to have to go through that you need to look into the pets eyes. They will tell you when the time is right.

Thinking of you xxx

hunnycat · 18 August 2017 at 7:04PM

We took jack to the vets today, she said due to his breed they are proper little fighters and full of energy. I noticed his spine was a bit different last night (I check him all the time) and it was crunching.
The vets have given us a months worth of tramadol for him to give us time to arrange an afternoon for them to Come to the house to euthanise him. It will give us time to spend some quality time with him. So planning a few special treats.
The kids are devasted.

Thank you all for your support. X

thorsoak · 18 August 2017 at 8:39PM

I know that I'm coming to the end of the road with Freya (14 year old black lab) . She has cataracts, I suspect she has mammary cancer, and also suffers from a "wonky leg" - so probably her hip is giving out. She is also suffering, I believe, from canine dementia :-( Whilst her routine remains the same - I get up at 5.15 in order for her to go out and relieve herself (and I manage to pick up the poops from my other labs before she gets to them), then feed her before 5.45am, she is happy - at the moment. But if she isn't back in my bedroom by 7.a.m, I get "bark - bark bark bark. Bark bark bark bark! Whilst I can keep this routine going, she is happy - she still eats well, she galumphs along with the other two in the afternoon for a poodle around the park (though she ignores the other walk that the other two younger labs demand). The time will come when she doesn't want to take a walk, when she doesn't want her food, when she doesn't want to react with me, or the two younger labs - and that will be the time that we start to think about the last time......

Today my daughter has had to take the hard decision to say "enough is enough" for her springer spaniel ...whilst she is away on holiday. Lucy has had lymphoma and has been going through chemo - but whilst they are away, Lucy has gone downhill, and they've taken the brave decision to give her release. :-( It is so, so hard - always.

Kathy535 · 18 August 2017 at 9:17PM

Probably too late for your beloved cat but I found it helpful to identify the three things my cat liked doing best (in his case, sleeping, eating and being affectionate). When he could no longer do two of these three things I knew it was time. As you've planned, we asked the vet to come to us, it was more costly but worth it. The other thing we did was give to him the best last day we possibly could.

It was 20 months ago and I still miss him but it is some comfort to know that we gave him the best final gift we could.

hunnycat · 18 August 2017 at 11:07PM

thorsoak wrote: »

I know that I'm coming to the end of the road with Freya (14 year old black lab) . She has cataracts, I suspect she has mammary cancer, and also suffers from a "wonky leg" - so probably her hip is giving out. She is also suffering, I believe, from canine dementia :-( Whilst her routine remains the same - I get up at 5.15 in order for her to go out and relieve herself (and I manage to pick up the poops from my other labs before she gets to them), then feed her before 5.45am, she is happy - at the moment. But if she isn't back in my bedroom by 7.a.m, I get "bark - bark bark bark. Bark bark bark bark! Whilst I can keep this routine going, she is happy - she still eats well, she galumphs along with the other two in the afternoon for a poodle around the park (though she ignores the other walk that the other two younger labs demand). The time will come when she doesn't want to take a walk, when she doesn't want her food, when she doesn't want to react with me, or the two younger labs - and that will be the time that we start to think about the last time......

Today my daughter has had to take the hard decision to say "enough is enough" for her springer spaniel ...whilst she is away on holiday. Lucy has had lymphoma and has been going through chemo - but whilst they are away, Lucy has gone downhill, and they've taken the brave decision to give her release. :-( It is so, so hard - always.

I am so sorry to hear this, that must have been a tough decision.
We are going on holiday at end of October for 2 weeks and I was petrified that he would take a turn when we were away but as it turns out he isn't going to make it to then. It's just awful, these blooming animals getting right deep into our hearts! X

Merlin's_Beard · 21 August 2017 at 7:26PM

Some people find a quality of life scale useful - the HHHHHMM scale is popular over in the states, not so well known in the UK. It gets you to score different aspects of the animal's wellbeing (hurt, hunger, hydration, hygiene, happiness, mobility, more good days than bad) and sometimes it helps to break things down instead of trying to find a way to balance out the big picture all at once.

It can either be used as a one off, or more often used every so often (e.g. once a month) to put a number on how things are going.

hunnycat · 9 September 2017 at 2:08PM

Well the date is set for Thursday, the vet is coming to the house., I am struggling with my decision as he is still jumping about but his spine is deteriorating rapidly. I have upped his pain killers to make him more drowsy (vets advice) and it's not working! He is a stubborn little thing. Thank you all For your support through this. X

elsien · 10 September 2017 at 10:55AM

I'm sorry the time is coming to say goodbye. There'll always be a part of you hoping for one more day or week but you need to consider the impact and the distress if the spine suddenly goes without warning. It's such a difficult call to make.

Red-Squirrel_2 · 10 September 2017 at 11:44PM

hunnycat wrote: »

Well the date is set for Thursday, the vet is coming to the house., I am struggling with my decision as he is still jumping about but his spine is deteriorating rapidly. I have upped his pain killers to make him more drowsy (vets advice) and it's not working! He is a stubborn little thing. Thank you all For your support through this. X

It doesn't sound like he's in pain if he's still jumping about. Animals protect themselves from pain if they are injured and self-limit their mobility.

Has his spine been X-rayed? What is the problem with it?

hunnycat · 10 September 2017 at 11:49PM

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

It doesn't sound like he's in pain if he's still jumping about. Animals protect themselves from pain if they are injured and self-limit their mobility.

Has his spine been X-rayed? What is the problem with it?

The vet has said his breed is one that fights through pain. It's not been X-rayed. From mid back it crunches all the way down(sudden onset of the crunching) , severe arthritis is the cause as far as the vet is concerned. His back end has given way a couple of times this weekend. He is 16 so has had a full and wonderful life, just blind, deaf , incontinent and still Hyper!

When to know it's time to make that final vet journey?

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