We have to say goodbye to our old kitty today
@shaggin (72242)
United States
October 26, 2018 8:05am CST
A few months ago my cat was vomiting and I was worried she was going to die if she couldn’t keep anything down. She also had scabby stuff under her chin.
I took her to the vet who said for her age (16) her teeth were in good shape. He couldn’t believe she was so old. He gave her a shot to clear up her chin (which didn’t help).
He said at her age a lot of times the vomiting is cancer but he sent us home with a probiotic to see if that would help. If didn’t really seem to but the past three weeks she was doing good and loving her new wet cat food.
About a week ago she stopped eating. I thought she would pass on her own but she hasn’t.
Yesterday her ankles were weak and she swayed a little and sniffed her food and walked away. My son put her bowl of food on her chair and she still wouldn’t touch it.
This morning she has something around her nose maybe blood. She got down off the dining room chair to go use the litter box and got a drink (which was when I took the photo you see here) then went back to her chair and had a hard time climbing back up.
I called the vet at 7am to see if she can be brought in to be euthanized. I feel horrible but I worry she will get up in the night and collapse and the dog will bother her as she’s dying alone while we sleep.
I’m waiting to hear back from the vet to see what time she can squeeze us in then since my van needs new brakes my dad will be driving us.
22 people like this
25 responses
@dgobucks226 (35737)
•
2 Nov 18
Sorry to hear Shaggin 
I had to put my cat to sleep a few years ago due to cancer. Usually when they do not want to eat that is a sign of trouble. At least she will now be out of suffering. Your cat looks so nice in the photo and at 16 yrs old you were so fortunate to have her company for quite a long time. 
I had to put my cat to sleep a few years ago due to cancer. Usually when they do not want to eat that is a sign of trouble. At least she will now be out of suffering. Your cat looks so nice in the photo and at 16 yrs old you were so fortunate to have her company for quite a long time. 1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
3 Nov 18
@dgobucks226 aww I am so sorry to hear about your cat having to be put to sleep due to cancer. How old was it? I really am fortunate to have had the pleasure of being this sweet cats mama for so long! She lived a nice long life.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
4 Nov 18
@dgobucks226 oh so she was an old kitty then too. By the end of a long life cats always seem to have cancer. Same with people it seems if they live long enough they usually wind up with cancer or Alzheimer's etc. My grandmother had to wonderful Himalayan cats named Smokey and Spooky.
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (35737)
•
4 Nov 18
@shaggin I found Spooky as a stray and took her in. Not sure of the age at the time maybe a year. I had Spooky for 13 years and was very upset when the vet said it would be best to put her to sleep 
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
27 Oct 18
is she your avatar here? i am sorry for your loss.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@ridingbet yes my avatar is a photo of her. She looked grumpy but it was just the flash made her close her big beautiful eyes. I've been a member here 11 years except when they quit paying. I deleted almost all my posts and when they started paying again I had a fresh slate and changed my profile picture to a photo of my cat Frodo.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
1 Nov 18
@ridingbet Sounds like your dog got parvo too. Sometimes they do live but most cases I've heard of they die.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
3 Nov 18
@shaggin he had parvo but he was treated. he lived after the LBM and vomiting incidents. he grew up to be a fine good looking dog.
he had tumor. i felt it when i did a digital rectal examination on him since he was straining to poop. i felt the mass inside.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (182197)
• United States
26 Oct 18
very sorry, he looks like my Milo.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@snowy22315 I recall someone else having a kitty that looked a lot like mine but not sure who it was. It could have been you. Have a photo handy you could show me?
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@snowy22315 yes you are right I just took a look and they do look a lot alike. You haven't written there since May. It's been about 3 years since I wrote on my blog. I got to busy to keep up with it after my son started doing cyber school.
@snowy22315 (182197)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@shaggin There are pics of him on my blog..
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (104150)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
28 Oct 18
You have my deepest sorrows that your cat is going home to his or her Maker. There is an old saying from the kate John Facenda who was nicknamed The Voice Of God when he worked as a narrator for National Football League Films. The saying is "Sobering truth and eternal hope."
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
30 Oct 18
@Deepizzaguy thank you very much for your kind words.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (104150)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
1 Nov 18
@shaggin My pleasure since I have been there and done that. Losing a cat and a loved one is very painful. Give yourself time to mourn the passing of your cat. Just do not let the sorrow of the loss of you cat consume you at all.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
8 Nov 18
@FayeHazel I bottle fed her when she was born so she was like my very first baby. My husband and I absolutely adored her.
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Nov 18
@shaggin I'm so sorry. You did give her a nice life though. It nearly killed me when I lost my Josie. I had her 13 years from kitten on.
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
7 Nov 18
@shaggin It is hard when you form a bond with an animal friend for that long. You gave her a nice home though
1 person likes this
@Letranknight2015 (52079)
• Philippines
27 Oct 18
You're Cat was old and it would be senseless to keep the animal living like that.
Hard to believed that she reached that long.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@Letranknight2015 I feel like I wouldn't put my kids to sleep if they stopped eating and got to weak to walk. So it made me feel sad to do that to my cat but I didn't want her collapsing and my dog bothering her.
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
29 May 19
@LeaPea2417 thank you very much! I am so sorry my response is so delayed. I did not see this comment until now.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
30 Oct 18
@shaggin I did mention it, and am so sorry for her, you, and the family. This hasn't been a good year for our little fur balls. My brother's dog had to be put down yesterday. I've been on the phone and texting for the last two days. MyLot helps a bit. Hugs to you.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
30 Oct 18
@Courtlynn thank you. I am sad and miss her but being that she lived such a long life I am not nearly as sad as I was when I was a kid and our dogs got hit by cars. The unexpected things like that hurt so much more.
1 person likes this
@Courtlynn (67080)
• United States
5 Nov 18
@shaggin oh of course. wouldn't expect you to not be.
that is definitely true. I learned that with the deaths of my loved ones.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (117146)
• Anniston, Alabama
27 Oct 18
I am so sorry, you did the right thing by not allowing her to suffer.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@andriaperry Thank you. I wasn't sure really. My son asked why I had to kill her which made me feel even worse. He wasn't being mean that's just how he talks is very literal.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@andriaperry yes it's so much harder because they can't tell us what they want or how they feel and I think about how confusing things must be for them too being taken to the vet wondering what's going on.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (117146)
• Anniston, Alabama
27 Oct 18
@shaggin It kills me to watch them suffer
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99380)
• Canada
27 Oct 18
I am so sorry. It is always so difficult to lose a for baby. 
1 person likes this
@BearArtistLady (6036)
• United States
27 Oct 18
I saw your discussion last night when I crawled in bed, but my Kindle wouldn't let me sign in so I had to wait until this morning to reply. It made for a sad night because I felt your pain ten times over. You need to keep something in mind, if you look into your kitty's eyes in the picture you can see she is in horrible pain and wanting you do to something about it. Unfortunately with cancer there isn't too much we can do because in a smaller critter like a cat it spreads very very rapidly. The pain that cancer causes is terrible and it reaches the point that the cat (or dog) can't even stand for their human to touch them even though they know that their human means the best and that they love them.
I have had cats for 50+ years and when they reach the point that they won't eat it is time to relieve their pain. Usually it means that there is only hours left in their life and it is the kindest thing that their human can do. It is the hardest thing that their human can do ...I know full well because I have had to do it several times and cried through the whole process. But the two biggest things to remember is that it is relieving the pain they are feeling from their illness and age, and that it isn't hurting them. They simply are going to sleep and slowly everything will shut down and then your kitty will be with God.
My heart goes out to you and the pain you are feeling. I'm still feeling the pain from my loss of the cats I had. I've come close to driving myself nuts with guilt because I wasn't here to rescue my cats from the fire...and then to find their bodies really sent me close to the edge. Bill's daughter had to lead me away from the remains of my home in hysterics....I so sympathize with you about your loss...I wish I could be there to cry with you!
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
30 Oct 18
@BearArtistLady up until the morning I took this photo her eyes still looks big a beautiful as always. But it was the stuff around her nose and the change in her eyes that told me it was time to call the vet. I so wish she would have just passed on her own but she just kept hanging on. She went a week without eating and was just bones. She kept drinking water but wouldn't touch food.
My late husband and I adore this cat. I hope they are together in heaven. My heart hurts and I miss her but knowing she had a long life makes me feel better. When our dogs growing up were killed in the road by cars I took it much harder. They were young and it was unexpected.
I can't even begin to imagine how horrible it would have been for you to find your poor cats bodies in the fire Did you take their bones and bury them the ground after? My father buried my cat for me. I want to put a big rock over it and paint her name on it in the summer time.
Did you take their bones and bury them the ground after? My father buried my cat for me. I want to put a big rock over it and paint her name on it in the summer time.@shaggin (72242)
• United States
30 Oct 18
@BearArtistLady I love your nice long comments. It shows you really love interaction which is why I am here as well!
I have to laugh at the name for your cat Dingleberry! Even at 18 he could have lived a longer life it it hadn't been for the fire. That had to hurt knowing how many years you had him and for him to die in that way instead of being from old age.
I'd love a big maincoon cat or a siamese! I'd love a dachaund as well. So you aren't willing to settle if they can't find you those breeds you want?
I would worry though which making the bears about your cats being on the fabric in case they wind up in the hands of someone with a severe allergy. My niece is so allergic to dogs that if she hugs someone whose dog touched their clothes her face will swell.
My cats would always get up on the table and get any food if I turned my back for a minute.
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
26 Oct 18
I am so sorry, that is a hard choice, but you are trying to be as kind as possible.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@GardenGerty after a week of not eating I couldn't believe she was still alive this morning. I looked under the table and she poked her head out and made her special noise she always does. She was a very affectionate cat!
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@BarBaraPrz she was such a sweet cat everyone loved her that met her even people who never liked cats.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (20041)
• United States
26 Oct 18
that's so sad. at least she won't be in pain anymore. Sorry for your loss.1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
30 Oct 18
@JESSY3236 thank you! I wish I could turn back the years and spend some extra time with her. She got lots of pets and love her last few days.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72242)
• United States
27 Oct 18
@Ronrybs The vet assured me I was making the right decision that it was her time but it really was so hard to give in and take her. I just wanted her to pass peacefully on her own in her sleep but it didn't work out that way. I am so sorry you went through that with your cats
1 person likes this
