Netpackrat wrote:Get her to the vet. Our cat was losing a lot of weight, and the vet diagnosed her as hyperthyroid... We have to give her medicine twice a day, but the weight loss stopped abruptly and she is doing pretty good these days for a 20 year old cat.
Guys, we had to put her down. We took her to the vet and she had pre-existing condition of thickening of her heart walls, which leads to a form of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), 'cause her heart can no longer function properly (and her heart has to work WAYYYY too hard), so she KNEW she was VERY sick, she stopped eating (unless we encouraged her by offering a variety of items just to get her to eat), but that wasn't enough. She lost over 30% of her body weight after she stopped eating, and her body was consuming her muscle tissue just to keep her alive.
Our poor baby was doing whatever she could to stay alive 'cause she KNEW we were worried about her and were trying to do whatever she could to stay alive and maintain her loving connection to me - 'cause she KNEW I was worried about her and she rarely left my side and was usually within arms reach of me until the end.
Not only was she suffering from her heart troubles, but she was also suffering from SEVERE KIDNEY FAILURE. Treating one condition only made the other condition worse. We were in a classic medical Catch-22.
With our baby having lost 30% of her body weight and not eating, suffering from severe kidney failure, along with heart failure (she'd also stopped grooming herself which frequently can be a sign that she no longer cares to be part of this world), we made the heart-breaking decision to not make her suffer any more, and I held her in my arms (with a folded towel under her to make it nice and soft/warm for her), while they administered the life-ending drugs (over-doses of pain-killers and other drugs similar to what they give death-row inmates to kill them).
Our baby (Sierra - our cat which I rescued from between two block walls when she was only a few weeks old) died in my arms, with both of us petting her and giving her loving as she passed, her pink tongue sticking out when she became unconscious, knowing her brain was still working and able to process what she was seeing and hearing until all her brain function ceased. She KNEW we loved her and just wanted to end her suffering. She was my shadow whenever I was outside, I protected & rescued her whenever she got herself into trouble. She slept between our heads on our bed and stayed next to me whenever I stayed in bed just so I could be near her while watching TV in our bedroom. Towards the end, she rarely left my side, and came whenever I called her.
She was much more like a dog than a cat at the end. She was staying alive to please me, and I was feeling guilty because I was extending her suffering just so she could stay alive for my benefit (even though she was suffering greatly - but we didn't know until almost the very end). But I didn't know it at the time. She was a devoted pet/family member (we treat our pets as family members since we have no children of our own - and they reciprocate by loving us in the same manner - our cats follow us around like puppies, NOT like kittens).
The loss of our cat, which we'd raised from a 2-week-old kitten, and bonded with, and protected, is a VERY painful loss to BOTH of us, and we apologize for not being able to make it to Rumpshot's. We just weren't in the mood to go traveling at the time, and both us were quite distraught at the loss of our "daughter" - who died in our (my arms physically) arms, and we decided we weren't in the mood to leave home 'cause we wanted to (and would still love to) take her with us in the RV to attend Rumpshot's. It would have been her first road trip. We'd already cleaned a space in the RV and set-up the litter-box in the bottom of the shower for travel (even if it would have been 3 cats and ONE litter box, we would have just cleaned it MUCH more often).
But now we're down to two cats, one is a lizard-hunter, the other hangs out inside the house even though the back door is wide-open. But we still mourn our "Pink-Nose Kitty", and needing to put her down-mostly due to genetic reasons. We'd BET that she lived MUCH longer than her feral siblings, and was certainly MUCH HAPPIER (and healthier) than her siblings!!!
If you've ever bonded with an animal (PET), then lost that animal (PET), you'll understand how we feel - it's like losing a family member, and for those who've bonded, you have lost a family member.
As much as we'd loved to have been at Rumpshot's, we had different priorities, and if we could have saved our loved one, we would have done so or found a way to minimize her discomfort/agony. When you realize your pet was hanging on to keep you company, because of their love for you, and then you have to make the decision to end their suffering, it's VERY painful - even though you know you're releasing them from their pain & suffering.
Sorry guys, in this instance, the timing sucked! We would have loved to have been there, but our suffering baby was more important.
We REALLY HOPE none of you have to go through the same thing (and your pets die in their sleep). It's a heart-breaker!!
SEMPER FI!