Hi all -
I guess I’m just looking for any opinions, advice, & reassurance on the upcoming decision I’m having to face on euthanizing my cat.
Little back story on my boy. I got my cat (Rocky) for Christmas when I was 13 - he will be turning 14 in just a few weeks. He has been by my side through some really hard things - between trying teenage years, to a physically abusive boyfriend at 18-20, and just all of life’s shit. He’s comforted me nearly my whole life, and now I’m trying to do what’s best for him.
When he was 7-8, he was diagnosed with either lymphoma cancer or inflammatory bowel disease / mega colon. Since it’s been maintained for ~8 years, we can pretty much rule out the cancer. He’s had ups and downs but does fairly well overall.
He has other health issues along with IBD / mega colon. He has hyperthyroidism, pancreatitis, a heart murmur and an irregular heart beat.
November 2019 he had what appeared to be a stroke, couldn’t walk, head tucked, really bad shape. I took him to the ER but they said not much could be done so take him home and see in a few days. Well in typical Rocky fashion, the next day he started to bounce back and made a full recovery.
He had been doing fairly well besides a bad UTI and infection in his mouth (both have been treated).. But this past Thursday morning my fiancé noticed rocky hadn’t ate, gotten up or gone to bathroom all night. I thought maybe it was a pancreas flare up because he won’t eat and doesn’t feel good when that happens. I went to work and started to worry more throughout the day so rushed home at 4 to find he actually was unable to walk, toes knuckling and had been soiling his bed. I thought possibly another stroke, so I rushed him to the ER vet and they said it’s obviously something neurological going on, which could be a dozen spinal issues (blood clots, tumors, slipped disc, etc but diagnostic cost $1000s+ and he’s not a good candidate for surgeries) , and to take him home give pain meds and see in a few days how he was and make a decision from there.
When he got home, he tried to walk around some, was hungry and I thought all good signs and maybe he’ll bounce back again.
Friday, I found him dragging himself to his food bowl and having walking issues. So I took him to his regular vet who’s seen him for years and she basically said this may be it for him, his quality of life is really poor / this isn’t fair for him. But as a last ditch effort we will try a steroid shot , which isn’t good for his heart issues, but with what we are facing it outweighs the cons.
Took him home and he seemed a bit better. Saturday, he was walking more frequently. Not graceful, stumbling and falling some but trying. Saturday night, I heard him puking in middle of night, went to clean him up and he was back to not able to walk without falling, had peed and pooped in his bed and just seemed like he hurts.. and as of today, he’s been lethargic, soiling his bedding (which has been pretty constant since Thurs), he has tried to walk a little but it results in him stumbling and falling over. His back legs are really weak.
Sorry for such a long lost - I guess I’m just thinking what if he miraculously bounces back again. Am I making a decision to soon? I don’t think his quality of life is great with what’s going on & he can’t live this way... But my hearts breaking making this decision, and I don’t want to make the wrong one or not give him enough time. . I’m looking at setting up a euthanasia appt tomorrow for Tuesday at home. He absolutely hates the vet so I’d rather do it at home, with our other pets and where he’s comfortable.
If you read this far, thank you. I appreciate any thoughts.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ifh29x/im_facing_the_horrible_decision_of_euthanizing_my/
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