My Cat is Dying

Fatpants

Hi

i just wondered if anyone has been through the same situation and could offer some advice.

My beautiful cat is dying. She is 15yrs old, diagnosed with tumor on the kidney, damaged liver, increased heart rate. Vet says she has days, possibly weeks but certainly not a month to live.

Last few days she has barely eaten anything but drank lots of water, yet this morning she seemed chirpy, ate some Sheba and went and sat in favourtie spot in the sun.

i suppose i want to know the signs to look out for really when she might be near to going and how we would know if she was suffering? Although i would prefer for her to be at home when she dies, if she is pain I would want to have her PTS.

many thanks

Belisarius

I went through this quite recently, but with a young cat. It was devastating & I do sympathise. It's a very good sign that she's eating & sitting out in the open. Most cats will stop eating & drinking, and also hide & sleep a lot, when they are dying. I put mine to sleep when his legs failed & he couldn't see anymore, but think I left it too late.

geri1965_2

I'm so sorry to hear this, Fatpants.

I went through this earlier in the year, with my cat Spook, who had an abdominal tumour.

She was perky enough in herself but didn't have a great deal of energy - she spent most of the day lying outside on the bench in the sun, and we would carry her in at night or she would have stayed there! Once inside she would just crouch by the cat flap, but if we opened the fridge she would come running just like she always did.

After a few weeks, she refused to eat cheese (normally her favourite) and I knew then that there wasn't much time left. Her legs started getting wobbly, and I said to myself that I didn't want to get to the stage where she couldn't move of her own accord. I told my OH that I wanted to take her to the vets, but he was very resistant and begged me to leave it for a few days. The next day she collapsed as she was trying to get up the step to the back door, and he had to carry her in. We decided then that her time was up, and it was better to put her out of her suffering (I assume she was suffering, even though she didn't show it).

It wasn't an easy decision, but what I will say is that the actual act of getting her put to sleep was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. We were in the room, and I stroked her whilst the vet gave her the injection. It was almost instantaneous and I know she didn't suffer - in fact it was so quick I didn't think she was gone, and I had to put my hand on her again to make sure.

My heart goes out to you - it really was a difficult time for me.

Fatpants

thanks for your replys.

She spends all day lying down staring into space, and wont touch chicken any more - her all time favourtie food, so i know shes not got long.
shes had a good life and made us both happy so that will make it a bit harder accept when shes gone.

thank you x

lowis

i'm so sorry you are dealing with this, it is devastating when our pets have to leave us. i had a cat with intestinal lymphoma, although she was getting skinny she was still interested in life, ate her food, played, wanted fuss and attention etc. she eventually went off her food - i couldn't tempt her with hardly anything, and if i did manage to she would only take a couple of small bites; she seemed to get quiet and lethargic and then one morning she seemed kind of disinterested in her surroundings and she was a little bit wobbly on her legs - this is when i knew it was definitely the right time. this all happened over a period of about 4-5 days. i looked her in the eyes and i knew she needed to go. broke my heart but it was the kindest thing i did for her before she started suffering and experiencing pain. i still miss her terribly...i am sure you will miss your baby too, but right now she needs you to be strong for her. i wish you all the best *hugs* x

Hughesy84

Best to put her out of her misery if its that bad.

When she is going, she may well go off to a quite place to leave you....alot of cats do that!

Fire_Fox

My last cat had a terminal illness and stopped eating for a couple of days, so I was called for one last visit (cats stayed with ex). While I was there Tom started eating again and I didn't think my ex-husband would have the strength to go through with PTS. He did which was the best thing as I know we didn't leave it too long for our own benefit. It's one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make, and it's natural to want to wait 'just one more day' but try not to. Thinking of you.

mellymeep

Cats seem to have an instinct that makes them go find somewhere quiet and hidden to die, we knew it was time for our Daisy to go when she hid under the bed and wouldn't come out. Its terribly sad, my thoughts are with you.

loulou123

I no how you feel after having a dog with terminal cancer. Knowing when was the right time, was the hardest thing, but we made the decision to have him PTS before he began to suffer and lose quality of life. One day we woke up and he couldnt keep any food down (he had secondery stomach cancer) and we knew the time had come. He actually walked to the vets (which made it all the more heartbreaking) but the vet agreed with our desicion that as he had always been the kind of dog that had lived life at 100 miles per hour, it was not fair to let his quality of life deteroiate.

The actual having him put to sleep part was done very quicky, and the staff showed alot of care in the situation. I dont regret for one minute, having him PTS when i did, even though the vet did say he might be able to go on for another couple of weeks with some extra medication, i knew this wasnt in his best interests.

I'd say that only you really know what is best, but i would consider quality of life as well as pain management, also worth bearing in mind that animals will rarely show they are in pain, as this is seen as a weakness to to other animals.

Of course your miss her and be very sad, but making this desicion at the best time for her, is the final act of kindness by any pet lover.

Big hugs.

January20

I have no advice, my only experience being of having my 15 yo cat pts about 4 years ago, but as the owner of a 19 yo cat and knowing very well that everyday with him counts so much, I want to tell you how sorry I am to hear about your cat. My thoughts are with you.

BitterAndTwisted

It's an animal's natural tendency to hide illness or injury so it will probably be very, very hard to know when the time is right for your darling's last vet-visit. But always it's better a day too soon than a day too late. At least for your darling, not you. It's going to be heartbreaking but if you're lucky your darling will be able to tell with its eyes when it's ready to go.

I went through a similar situation myself with my darling girly a couple of years ago and I still have a little cry now and then. The sadness and regret is a small price to pay for the years and years of loving