How do you know when to give up - on a sick kitty

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MileHighDart

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So our kitty, "Jeffrey" has had stage 3 kidney disease for a while now. We have to give him saline infusions daily to keep him hydrated. Two and a half years ago the vet said he had a year to live. So for over two years now the wife has gone on family vacations and i've stayed home to give Jeffrey his saline. For a short while we had a neighbor who had dealt with similar situation and she would come over and do his shot if we were out of town. Then she started wanting $20 a pop to do it, and then she moved away anyhow.
Now he's got high blood pressure also. So we have to do his shot, and then cram a pill down his throat. Seems that all he does is hide from us now cause he thinks we're trying to grab him for his shot.
Love this little guy, but when do you call it quits? Cost is starting to become a factor too, $45 a month for saline, regular blood tests, and now a Rx for blood pressure as well. My wife would probably kill me if I suggested that its time to put him down, and I get it, he seems happy and active as long as we're doing the saline. Just becoming a lot to deal with every day along with everything else life throws at you.
Sorry just venting a bit
 
when the return on investment (for lack of a better term) is no longer there
it is one thing to medicate an animal daily so it can have a good life, but when it experiences medication as terrorizing, well thats quite another
 
For me its when the animals quality of life is bad. I waited to long once on a dog and regret it bugs me I was selfish.
 
Such a hard hard hard decision to make. We had a dog, Harley, that required insulin shots twice a day. I did those for him. Also required special diet food from the vet. Money was about $60 for the insulin... $20 for the needles... and the food was $90 a bag. Just about the same amount of time with him after the vet said if he got sick one more time he wouldn't pull through. This year his kidneys started to fail. He also had cataracts. It became a decision on letting him go to sleep before he was miserable and in pain all the time. I still cry over it, but he would have suffered so much more if we hadn't let him go to sleep. And no, I didn't go in with him... couldn't do that. But my niece did and he loved her also.
 
MileHighDart said:
So our kitty, "Jeffrey" has had stage 3 kidney disease for a while now. We have to give him saline infusions daily to keep him hydrated. Two and a half years ago the vet said he had a year to live. So for over two years now the wife has gone on family vacations and i've stayed home to give Jeffrey his saline. For a short while we had a neighbor who had dealt with similar situation and she would come over and do his shot if we were out of town. Then she started wanting $20 a pop to do it, and then she moved away anyhow.
Now he's got high blood pressure also. So we have to do his shot, and then cram a pill down his throat. Seems that all he does is hide from us now cause he thinks we're trying to grab him for his shot.
Love this little guy, but when do you call it quits? Cost is starting to become a factor too, $45 a month for saline, regular blood tests, and now a Rx for blood pressure as well. My wife would probably kill me if I suggested that its time to put him down, and I get it, he seems happy and active as long as we're doing the saline. Just becoming a lot to deal with every day along with everything else life throws at you.
Sorry just venting a bit
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As long as the cat is not in pain and has quality of life and you are willing to keep up your efforts. I applaud your efforts-not many people willing to go to that effort with a cat when there are so many people that despise them. We have a diabetic cat we have to give insulin shots to twice daily and a dog with Cushing's disease. Both doing very well but it does take effort and money. Worth it to me because they have a good life and they make me happy. But if they start to suffer and no way to fix it we will have them put down. Just a thought about the pill, can you get that in liquid or compound it yourself into a liquid? In my experience cats seem to do much better with the liquid in an eyedropper to the corner of their mouth than a pill forced down them. Might be a little less traumatic for him.
 
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Animals come in and out of our lives starting as kids. It never gets easy. I agree with Halifax on quality of life is an issue, but unfortunately sometimes the financial side is an issue that cant be ignored. Only you can make this decision. We had to give our cat KC the insulin shots. We did it while he was eating or right afterwards. Didn't seem to bother him too much at that time. Finally his time came and he died in our arms at the vets, before she could administer the kill shot. I'm a grown man and I sobbed like a baby. Pets, damm them, Lol
 
340doc said:
Animals come in and out of our lives starting as kids. It never gets easy. I agree with Halifax on quality of life is an issue, but unfortunately sometimes the financial side is an issue that cant be ignored. Only you can make this decision. We had to give our cat KC the insulin shots. We did it while he was eating or right afterwards. Didn't seem to bother him too much at that time. Finally his time came and he died in our arms at the vets, before she could administer the kill shot. I'm a grown man and I sobbed like a baby. Pets, damm them, Lol
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Our diabetic cat gets his shots while he eats, too. Loves his food so much he doesn't mind. I've cried over almost every pet we put down, whether cat or dog. I just love them too much I guess. Hard to lose that unconditional love pets give us.
 
I always go by if they are eating and drinking good, I let them keep on keepin on. That's why I made the decision to put Stubby down in May 2015. He was 16. That's pretty old for a cat. He just stopped eating and drinking. Nothing we could do. Hardest thing I've ever done holding him while he slipped away. Even harder than removing the oxygen mask off mama's face after she died from cancer. I don't envy your decision. But, I say as long as he's eatin and drinkin good, let him live.
 
We’ll he is eating, but not drinking enough, that’s why we have to do the saline.
As far as his quality of life. It’s hard to say. The vet says cats are good at hiding pain, so it’s hard to tell.
I’m sure if we stopped the saline, he would get dehydrated and probably stop eating and would probably pass on his own. But doing that would be just as hard to watch as putting him down. Guess there’s just no easy answer unless he starts showing signs that he’s in obvious pain.
 
There's a vet in the Denver area named Dr. Jeff I believe. He's got a TV show. He shows a lot of compassion for the animals. Maybe he could help you come to an answer. My thoughts are with you and your family.
 
mopardug said:
There's a vet in the Denver area named Dr. Jeff I believe. He's got a TV show. He shows a lot of compassion for the animals. Maybe he could help you come to an answer. My thoughts are with you and your family.
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I’ve heard of that guy, and even seen his tv show a few times. Not sure he could do anything that our current vet couldn’t do. Our vet does a good job and is very thorough. But what really got me to thinking about this is during our last visit she went on and on about the effort we were making to keep our little buddy going. Just made me wonder if most folks would have bailed out by this point. But I didn’t want to ask the vet that with my wife there.
 
I'd agree that depending on Jeffreys quality of life, and your financial capabilities keep him happy and comfortable. We've had to say goodbye to a couple of our cats over the last few years, its tough. We've got a 13yo golden retriever too. He's on meds for seizures, thyroid and arthritis. About $200 a month. He's a VERY happy dog though and as long as he's comfortable and not suffering, we do whatever we can to keep him that way. We aren't well off by any means, and there's always too much month at the end of the money, but he's our boy and we love him. Glad to hear you've all put in so much effort to care for your fur babies and don't give up when they really need you!!!
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I have Mrs Kitty since 2001. My wife passed away 2015 and it’s time soon to make that decision. It’s hard to think about putting her down because she is like a connection to my wife.
 
It is TOUGH. I've lost three, all very sweet in their own ways.
 
It is not an easy decision to make. I have done it and i cry every time. It is a shame we can't be as good as our pets think we are.
 
All life comes to an end. The best we can do is try to make th best decision we can to make the eventual passing humane and as comfortable as possible.


Listen to your heart and judge the appropriate timing with your most dispassionate intellect to reach the best conclusion you can as to when it is time.

You will never be sure, and always look back and wonder if it was right.

But you can only make the decision the way I described...and live with knowing it was the best you could do.
 
I'm willing to bet the high blood pressure comes from the saline. Too much salt does that to humans to.
Can't you hydrate the food a bit with some water so you can cut down on the saline?
 
When we asked our vet the question of how do you know when, she told us that the time will come that you realize you’re doing it more for you than you are them. I thought that was a strange answer until I came to that realization with our dog Rags. I have a dog now that’s 14, but still wide open other than being deaf. I know her time may come in the next few years, and it will kill me to have to make that decision again. Best of luck to you, it’s tough!!
 
BigBlockMopar said:
I'm willing to bet the high blood pressure comes from the saline. Too much salt does that to humans to.
Can't you hydrate the food a bit with some water so you can cut down on the saline?
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Hadn't considered the saline causing the high blood pressure. Wonder if the vet can give us just sterilized water instead of saline?
We do add water to his wet food, make it kinda soupy just to get a little more water into him.
 
I took Ms Kitty to the vet and had her put down. I hate myself for doing this. 17yrs and now she’s gone.
 
FISHYPETE said:
I took Ms Kitty to the vet and had her put down. I hate myself for doing this. 17yrs and now she’s gone.
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You made the best decision you could and did it with both mind and heart. As much as it hurts, it’s the best you could have done. Don’t beat yourself up over the decision.

The pain isn’t from choosing to end it, it’s from the absence of her in your life now.

Remember her in love and don’t let the rest cause undue pain...the end is always hard.
 
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