My kitty is very, very ill...

[Caligastia]

Good luck with your kitty, I hope she gets well soon.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
That's the difficult thing about having a pet: they can't just tell you what's wrong or where they hurt. We didn't really notice any changes other than her increased thirst. Just in the past few days has she shown something was really wrong. This caught us completely by suprise. She's always been a very active cat doing cat things in their cat ways. This just happened so suddenly and went under our radar prior.

It's by instinct - it's not that they can't tell you, it's just that it's hardwired for animals in the middle of the food chain to conceal any weakness as long as they can, lest some unwelcome interloper further up the food chain get a hint as to what to have for dinner.

She'll be staying and the hospital through today and over-night for observation, though she may have to be transfered to another hospital since the vet is the only doctor at his practice (sending her somewhere where medics are present 24/7). We left after the vet put the second IV in and put her blood into a centrifuge.

There's a possibility she may need a blood transfusion from another cat - one thing with cats when they get seriously sick is that they have limited marrow and a fragile system for replenishing red blood cells, so severe anemia is often a secondary complication of many acute feline illnesses and trauma.

If it is diabetes, I'd sooner have her euthanised than put her through the continuing trama of twice-daily insulin shots and the constant worry of something else going wrong. If it's less severe, then it may just be a matter of a diet change and giving her edible pills. If it's worse, euthanasia to end the needless suffering. I love her too much to extend her life in a vain attempt to keep her with me.

The shots aren't that big of a deal - down here in Mexico, most veterinary medicine administration is by injection, and we don't have the drug war fanaticism about syringes. The needle for IM insulin injections is finer than the standard needles I've used for sticking my cats (including many rescued strays that have been passed on for adoption) over the last few years. Humans do insulin injection all the time (several of my aunts and uncles have been insulin dependent diabetics and have done shots regularly), and cats have much tougher and less sensitive skin - by design, they go through brush, get clawed and chomped at, etc.

Once you learn to give the kitty injections, it's not that big a deal for either of you - and I've known a couple of people with diabetic cats that have had years of extended life with lots of love and good quality of life due to insulin injections. In many cases, you can also reduce or eliminate the insulin dependency and need for injections as you get the cat's weight back up and control the diet. It shouldn't be an automatic write-off, but really depends on each animal's circumstances. Unless something worse is wrong, I would at least consider attempting to restore her weight and manage her diabetes for a while, to see if/how she responds and improves, then decide.

Samantha came to us in February 1992, and the vet then thought she was a year old, so she's aproximately 11-12 years old.

My oldest current one is 13 and healthy. I've met many cats who were 15-17 and in good health, and some diabetic cats who just kind of mellowly hung out and enjoyed life.

[SlowwHand]

Life span on cats is 25 years.

http://www.sonic.net/~petdoc/lifespan.htm

[Jaguar]

Cats are so cool.

[Alexander's Horse]

Put her down - one less cat in the world - that's got to be a good thing.

[Dis]

even I am not that insensitive.

I don't like cats, but I don't wish for them dead (usually).

It hurts to lose a loved pet.

Not that I would know, I haven't actually lost one- yet.

[Alexander's Horse]

If the pet is really sick the best thing to do is put it down and end its suffering.

[rah]

God, I hate agreeing with AH. You must consider their quality of life. Once past a point, putting them down is best. It's a hard decision, that I've made a few times before, the last time when my 20 year old cat was losing it. She had been close to blind for a year, but seemed happy. Finally she had trouble moving around and would sit and cry until someone would carry her to her litter. After a point, I couldn't watch her suffer and had her put down. I felt bad, but it was for the best.

[Dis]

It's far too soon to determine that.

You have to wait for the results to come back.

[Imran Siddiqui]

True... but if she's really in pain, you have to think about it. Living in constant pain is no way to live.

[Alexander's Horse]

One thing I know about kittens is some of them are born sickly and there isn't really much you can do to help. It's just one of those things.

[DRoseDARs]

My beloved Pritty-Kitty is with God now...

Samantha "The Bearded Lady" Rose

1991(?)-November 19, 2003 12:30pm

R.I.P.



The vets and nurses did all the could for her in her last three hours of life, but it was in heroic vain. Her glucose levels were "ironically normal" quoth the vet. It seems her kidneys are what had failed. Her potassium, Blood Urine Nitrogen, and two other chemicals I forget were extremely high or off the chart. Although her kidneys had apparently been struggling to keep up for some time now, this "crash and burn" was indeed sudden, caused by something just recently. Infected wound, antifreeze, toxins released by bacteria...there's just no way to know for certain.

There simply wasn't anything the vet could do for her. Even if we'd brought her in Sunday (or rather Monday since many places are simply closed; only one local vet is open from 6pm-8am overnight) there really wasn't much hope of doing anything for her. While they could have fixed the abnormal chemical readings, they couldn't do anything about her kidneys at this point. She went peacefully (they gave her valium).

Right now my mom is fetching my stepdad so he can say goodbye. We're looking at the funeral options given to us by the vet: private cremation, mass cremation (4 or 5 animals in a group), mass decomposition (chemical cremation), burial at home, or burial in the Pet Cemetary down in Carson City. I like that option best; keeping remains nearby just creeps me out.

I think this is the only picture we have of her (and one of the very few of me). We just aren't much of a picture-taking family.

[Dis]

Did you get to be with her in the end?

I just don't want my dog to die alone. That's the only thing that concerns me about my dog eventually dying.

very sad .

R.I.P.

[MichaeltheGreat]

RIP, pretty kitty.

[Datajack Franit]

oooh