This past Friday I took my cat in after she stopped eating. Everything looked normal, her blood looked normal, but her xrays implied fluid in her lungs and masses on her liver and throughout her body. The vet believes she has lymphoma. They gave her a steroid shot and the plan is to continue those until they no longer work. My heart is absolutely broken. She's been my best friend for 16 years and was with me during my own treatment for lymphoma.
I've been thinking a lot about her eventual death. My vet does euthanasia for free and I can pay to have her cremated. I decided immediately I want her cremated and to keep her ashes. I've ordered an urn for her already. I'm making her a fleece blanket to carry her in, she's loved the two fleece blankets I have and often cuddled up in them so I feel she deserves her very own.
The two things I am hesitating on is when to actually bring her in for euthanasia and my hesitancy to do it at the vets office. My vet has been amazing, very empathetic and had me go straight into an exam room rather than wait in the lobby after my cat's diagnosis, let me pay in the room so I didn't have to wait in the line and said I can take as long as I needed. They will let me be with my cat when it's time and stay as long as I need. I'm just very nervous about having my cat be scared in the car ride over and in an unfamiliar place. However, when I look up any at home euthanasia options in my area it's incredibly expensive and I can't reasonably spend that amount of money.
So I'm trying to think of ways to make my kitty as comfortable as possible. I want to do it on a weekend so we can enjoy the day together, go towards the end of the day. I want to carry her into the vet in her blanket so she's not stuck in a crate. Does anyone have any advice on how I can make her as relaxed as possible? Should I request some kind of anxiety medicine beforehand?
Secondly, I'm struggling on deciding when to do it. I know the answer is typically "When there is a question of quality of life" but I, personally, don't want to go through a steady decline in her health. My previous childhood cat (who lived in another state at the time so I did not first-hand witness) had a horrible decline in health that ended very badly. I felt haunted by it when I heard about her last day. I don't think I can bare seeing my cat get progressively worse but I feel extremely guilty wanting to do euthanasia sooner because shouldn't she have as much time as she can? The waiting almost feels like the worst to me, I want almost want to just schedule it in the next month so I can focus more on making her last weeks as comfortable and joyful as possible instead of wondering whether she will make it 3-6 months (which is the average with steroid treatment) and worry about how much she can take. I can tell while she feels slightly better (she's eating again) she's not 100% because she has zero interest in playing (she's always been a super playful cat) and sleeps most of the day.
To summarize, please share with me your thoughts/stories/experiences on euthanizing a pet. Can I call the vet and explain what I want when it comes time? How can I make the trip the most comfortable for her? Should I just set the date and stick with it or wait to see what happens?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/blf62j/deciding_on_euthanasia_how_can_i_make_it_the_most/
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