Quote from: Mercury on April 24, 2015, 07:25:25 PMQuote from: kosmo on April 24, 2015, 07:17:01 PMHas a vet talked about giving her (subcutaneous) fluids to keep her from dehydrating? I had two cats that became ill in old age.One cat, I was able to keep her happy for a few months before I had to let her go. She had some strange long term illness that suddenly came on, at about 13 y.o. Until that point you would have though she was only 7 or 8 y.o. Suddenly one year she started loosing weight. I had her back and forth to the vet several times, but hey were not able to figure out for sure what was wrong. She did live another 5 or 6 relatively happy months. She would become lethargic when dehydrated, but after giving her subcutaneous fluids (I don't remember if it was once or twice a day per vet's recommendations), she would be up and around, almost normal, until she would become dehydrated again.My other cat lived to be 19 y.o. I also ended up giving her subcutaneous fluids, but her illness was much more rapid.Our Vet hasn't mentioned that yet, though she had to go on SCF before when she ate a piece of ribbon and almost died. I'm all for it, but he's wanting to try this steroid medicine all the way through first. If her labs weren't so bad I'm sure he'd do that. Her platelet count was 39. That would kill a human. She's terrible anemic, he's worried it's an autoimmune disease and he says the steroid medicine will either reverse the effects or do nothing. Beyond that, he told us the treatment options are really guesswork and that it would be expensive. It truly tears me apart to admit it, but we have already decided we aren't pursuing any options past the steroids. My wife made the initial decision and cried the whole time she was telling me. She doesn't want Zoe to suffer at all, if it's her time it's her time. One thing I regretted was the vet doing exploratory surgery on my 13 y.o. cat to try to find out what was wrong. There were no results from the surgery and it shortened her life in the last year. I should not have let them do it at 13 y.o. I know better now.
Quote from: kosmo on April 24, 2015, 07:17:01 PMHas a vet talked about giving her (subcutaneous) fluids to keep her from dehydrating? I had two cats that became ill in old age.One cat, I was able to keep her happy for a few months before I had to let her go. She had some strange long term illness that suddenly came on, at about 13 y.o. Until that point you would have though she was only 7 or 8 y.o. Suddenly one year she started loosing weight. I had her back and forth to the vet several times, but hey were not able to figure out for sure what was wrong. She did live another 5 or 6 relatively happy months. She would become lethargic when dehydrated, but after giving her subcutaneous fluids (I don't remember if it was once or twice a day per vet's recommendations), she would be up and around, almost normal, until she would become dehydrated again.My other cat lived to be 19 y.o. I also ended up giving her subcutaneous fluids, but her illness was much more rapid.Our Vet hasn't mentioned that yet, though she had to go on SCF before when she ate a piece of ribbon and almost died. I'm all for it, but he's wanting to try this steroid medicine all the way through first. If her labs weren't so bad I'm sure he'd do that. Her platelet count was 39. That would kill a human. She's terrible anemic, he's worried it's an autoimmune disease and he says the steroid medicine will either reverse the effects or do nothing. Beyond that, he told us the treatment options are really guesswork and that it would be expensive. It truly tears me apart to admit it, but we have already decided we aren't pursuing any options past the steroids. My wife made the initial decision and cried the whole time she was telling me. She doesn't want Zoe to suffer at all, if it's her time it's her time.
Has a vet talked about giving her (subcutaneous) fluids to keep her from dehydrating? I had two cats that became ill in old age.One cat, I was able to keep her happy for a few months before I had to let her go. She had some strange long term illness that suddenly came on, at about 13 y.o. Until that point you would have though she was only 7 or 8 y.o. Suddenly one year she started loosing weight. I had her back and forth to the vet several times, but hey were not able to figure out for sure what was wrong. She did live another 5 or 6 relatively happy months. She would become lethargic when dehydrated, but after giving her subcutaneous fluids (I don't remember if it was once or twice a day per vet's recommendations), she would be up and around, almost normal, until she would become dehydrated again.My other cat lived to be 19 y.o. I also ended up giving her subcutaneous fluids, but her illness was much more rapid.
This sucks, I have been in that situation some years ago with a cat I had. He got high blood pressure and became really skinny and was just hiding under the bed and couch all the time and he also had some seziurs.It was a really sad day when we had to put him to sleep, but it was also a comfort knowing that he had a very good life and that he would not suffer. I feel for you, it's always hard loosing a pet but try and think of the good times.
Update.After a full week on the steroid, she's not doing any better. In fact I'm pretty sure the meds are all that's keeping her alive. She won't eat or drink. If we get her to eat anything it's just a nibble. She's lost more weight too. I think she's ready to go, but my wife can't come to grips and wants to keep giving her the meds. This is awful.
She's gone. Last night she shut down and stopped eating, drinking, and moving completely. She lost the ability to stand and couldn't see anymore.We took her to the Vet this morning and he told us she was still terribly anemic and had a massive buildup of fluid in her abdomen likely due to liver failure, to which she would have succumbed sooner rather than later. My wife and I agreed to put her to sleep, which, as it turns out, is a horribly gutwrenching thing to do and anyone who says otherwise has no heart. Zoe was our second pet, we got her 3 months after our first cat Molly, who is still with us. We got Zoe 10 years ago, in our first house together back when we could scarcely afford cat food. She was a surprise from my wife to me, and a treat to have around the house her whole life.Thank you guys for allowing me to air this out on the forum, I know it's not your problem and it's technically a private thing but for some reason typing it out helps and hearing kind words and stories from folks who have gone through it helps me.
We are taking comfort in knowing she isn't suffering anymore, that's why we did it. She was in a ton of pain and there was no saving her.
So sorry for your loss Sean. My heart goes out to you and your family, I know how hard it is .
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