How far will you go to extend an elderly pet's life?

[Flaxbee]

The kitty boy love of my life is at least 14 (came to my husband's house as a stray in 1993/4) and is, I fear, exhibiting some of the signs of renal distress -- lots of water drinking, lots of peeing. I have to travel abroad in the next few weeks, and then am taking him in for bloodwork.

He's perky, spry, etc. right now and I really cannot stress how much I ***LOVE*** this cat. I would do anything to keep him around as long as he is comfortable (forever would be best) but I do not want him to be in any distress in any way; I want him to have the best quality of life possible.

So I know that subcutaneous fluids can be part of treatment for a cat in renal failure. My husband is a big fan of letting nature take its course, and for the most part I agree, but if Tommycat can be his perky, happy self with subcutaneous fluids for a while I'll consider it. But for how long? How comfortable will he be?

So - how far would you go in treatment for an elderly/older cat? When do you let go? How do you feel about life-extending treatments, in so far as they don't cause (much) distress?

Anyway - just realizing I'm going to have to make some decisions soon, and wondering what others think/do. I know some will do anything, some will suggest just letting him live as long as he can naturally. What do you think, and why?

[Crazy Dave]

1. We would go through, spend and do anything for our pets

But if and when we're only prolonging their pain and suffering then unfortunately we have them put down.

Good luck with your little baby boy :hug:

[soleft]

2. I have a good friend who had a beloved cat on IV

The cat lived comfortably for several years.

She just spent 10K on another cat who was having urinary track problems.

Me? I had a 14 year old cat who I sent to live out her days on my boss's farm because she had stopped using the litter box. His wife took her to the vet, got her treated for a urinary tract infection and now she's having the time of her life.

I guess start with your vet and see what he/she recommends.

[madinmaryland]

3. With the two cats we had before Sonia, that passed away.

Truffle was 15 and had renal failure after losing half his body weight. He was in obvious discomfort and there was really nothing we could do, as he was losing control of bodily function, could not eat, and was having motor control problems.

The other cat, Prairie Dog, has serious respiratory problems, and the vet felt that given her size (6 lbs) she felt the treatments would probably just do what the disease would do eventually.

A third that Sonia go to know had FIP, which Sonia was exposed to, but has not shown any symptoms of that. We did have her vacinated for that, but that may not be foolproof.

:hi:

[Adsos Letter]

4. I empathize with you...

This one is 18+...and there will be major tears shed when she goes...




I agree with Dave...if it gets to the point where she just hurts too much...well, I would want someone to do the same for me; a gentle slide into eternal sleep.


Best wishes for your cat...they can show amazing resiliency. :)

[Muttocracy]

5. no easy answer, but here's a book that may help

Disclosure - I'm a friend of the vet who wrote this book - but it's on the topic you describe. Rather than giving the answers, it's sort of a list of questions to ask yourself. People have different attitudes and personal constraints (jobs, human family members, finances), and the animals are individuals too, so there's no right answer.

My older dog is mostly as active as ever but is showing a few signs of aging and it breaks my heart. I'm glad I'll have her book to re-read as things get more difficult. Fortunately my younger dog keeps him active and silly.

I think it's a personal decision, but that also you have to listen to your little friend.

:hug:

Kindred Spirit, Kindred Care: Making Health Decisions on Behalf of Our Animal Companions
http://kindredspiritkindredcare.com/book.html
The link to Amazon has a few pages.

[SacredCow]

6. I just don't see spending thousands on a pet....

but I might feel differently if I were a multi-millionaire. It's really just a question of what you're comfortable spending coupled with the quality of life that the pet gets out of such treatments. Of course, there's no one size fits all answer to that. It has to be taken on a case-by-case basis and a day-by-day basis.

Generally, if you're extending the life beyond what the animal's normal life span would be, you're probably not going to be adding quality time. I know if someone was extending MY life so I would have to be blind, deaf, incontinent, etc. for longer than necessary, I'd come back to haunt them fiercely!

Best of luck to you with the decision- I know it's not easy!

[Orsino]

7. When a specialist gives heroic measures a good chance of extending quality of life, I'll do it.

A fifteen-year old cat we had was apparently in perfect health, but an x-ray showed that she had had a blockage which killed one of her kidneys. It was only going to rot inside her, and the specialist said that some cats can live on one kidney. As she slowed down, then, we had the kidneyectomy done, and it perked her up for about three months. She had loads of energy again, but one kidney just wasn't enough, and she quickly went downhill again. :-(

Spending a couple of thousand and putting her through the ordeal of the surgery bought her a few more months of apparently happy living. It was a gamble of sorts, and might have paid off bigger than it did.

[SacredCow]

13. Sure- you made a decision based on the advice of a specialist...

Pity it didn't last for longer but- you knew the odds going in, so....

The only surgery I ponied up for was to remove a bowel obstruction from a fairly young Lab that decided to eat my doormat. Death was a guarantee without the surgery, and it was relatively certain that she'd recover. It hurt financially, but I got another several years with her.

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. It is possible

for animals to live fairly normal lives with renal disease for an extended period of time.

I have a renal dog that was in kidney failure (secondary to another condition) at five months of age. One vet recommended he be euthanized. The best prognosis he got was "wait and see." He is now approaching 6 years of age. He takes no medication - but his diet is restricted. In most respects he lives a pretty normal doggie life. It did take some time for his condition to stabilize and his vet did try several diets before settling on one which seemed to be the most effective for him. Still he is not cured and I know the disease is progressive. I dread the day that I will face the decision you are now contemplating.

Work with your vet. But realize that you know your furbaby better than anyone else. I'm sure he has his own little ways of telling you when he is happy and feels good - and when he doesn't feel quite so good or is in pain. Honestly, I don't think there is a hard and fast rule. I think you have to consider the totality of the circumstances.

Best to you and your boy.

[ceile]

9. Are you sure it's renal failure?

Could be diabetes.

[Flaxbee]

14. pretty sure -- last trip the the vet in Nov. the vet said

it seemed as if one kidney was a bit bigger; suggested bringing Tommycat back in sometime around March for testing, etc.

[ceile]

25. Oh, goodness.

Well, wishing you and Tommycat all the best!

[mitchum]

10. We could not find the courage to end our last beloved dog's life...

when we should have.
We had 14 wonderful years with him, but his last year was spent in senility, blindness, and chronic pain. We spent a great deal of money extending that year, and that was not an issue, but during that time, his quality of life was not good.
Accepting that it was time for him to go was the most difficult and wrenching decision that I have ever had to make. However, he was a brave boy, and I had to muster equal bravery.

peace,
mitchum

[Flaxbee]

happened to me, too, when I was in high school - my mom and

I couldn't bear to put Pippin down (a big ole lovable Shepherd/Husky mix) and she was so uncomfortable. One day we went to give her her meds, and she just looked at us - there was a mix of Pippin and wild animal in pain in her eyes, and we knew we had to be brave and help her out of her misery. Shit it is SO HARD. And I haven't had to face that decision in about 20 years -- but it approaches; one of our cats is 11+ (also a stray of indeterminate age) and Tommycat is 14+. :cry:

[davsand]

11. I honestly don't know.

I'm kind of facing it too. I was on here a week or so ago with a question about my kitty. He's six and was vomiting intermittently. After a short time I got him in to see a vet and they found billirubin in his urine. That can indicate liver problems or else a large loss of red blood cells. It can also indicate that the cat has been burning body fat after some sort of issue with food. Xrays showed no masses or growths and no evident abnormalities in his system. Blood work was kind of off--but not terrible yet. Cat was maybe starting to jaundice.

The vet changed his food and sent him home with some antibiotics and meds to control vomiting. Now we get to wait and see. If this doesn't turn things around we may not be able to help him much. I've been pretty messed up about it since we got the news. I lost a cat to kidney failure a few years ago and it was awful. I feel horrible guilt that I maybe let that cat go on too long in misery because I was selfish and did not want to let her go. I refuse to ever do that to an animal again. She lived with me for 17 years and I still wonder if I let her down by keeping her alive past the point where she had a good quality of life.

Cat, on the other hand, is eating like a pig and fighting like hell when we try to medicate him. HE seems to be doing fine, and that is all that matters...

I'm sorry you are facing this. Really I am.



Laura

[Flaxbee]

17. thanks - I do remember seeing your thread, I think, and

wasn't brave enough to post because I knew I was going to have to start thinking about it myself.

Good luck with your kitty; I hope he lives a long and happy life. As for the one you kept for a while beyond what might have been comfortable - I honestly think they do understand how hard the decision is. Really, I do. Don't think you let her down.

thanks again, Laura.

[MonkeyFunk]

12. I had a diabetic cat

Who lived an extra year of quality life with daily insulin shots and periodic IV fluids.

She only had one bad day - and that was the day I had her put to sleep.

[mainegreen]

15. Not much.

All my spare money goes to my rugrat's educational fund.

I just cant place kitty higher that my son.

If I didn't have my son, though, I would certainly be willing to spend more on kitty though...

[ChickMagic]

16. Our Axie is 19

and he is the baby I never had but we're going to have to consider that
before too long. For one thing, cats adapt to pain differently than humans.
It's kind of a tightrope act because they can adapt to pain more easily,
pain medication can help more, etc.

Our little Bonnie passed away this last year. It was soooo hard. She
began to get lame in her back leg, lost a lot of muscle mass. She was
clearly uncomfortable, but uncomplaining. I got some pain medication
from the vet and it turned out that it made her throw up. She almost
never threw up and when she did, she screamed.

She started getting lame in her front leg as well, so it was traveling
up her spinal cord to her brain. We also learned that she had lymphoma.
So, even though she was comfortable, she couldn't take care of herself
(litterbox) but she was still eating and grooming normally. She was
alert, but we had to have her put down.

I suppose we could have spent our meager savings to keep her a little
while longer, but the type of tumor she had in her thoracic region would
grow back. I don't think it would have been fair to put her through
that only to get sick a short time later.

I think, the more you can learn about an illness you can better judge.
Whatever you do, it's never, never even a little bit easy. :cry:
Sorry for the rambling post.

[stuntcat]

18. My Tonka will be 14 in June

Tonka seems fit and happy and I know if nothing too bad goes wrong he could make it to 17 or 18, we've had two cats live to that age before. It would be a big decision but hundreds of dollars for a couple of years with Tonka is worth it for me. It's hard to say it that way but that's it I guess.
I've had to teach my husband this stuff, all he ever had was a dog when he was little that his parents took care of.

It sounds like this is the kind of things that's treatable. Jake, our last cat who died at 18, had to be given fluids every day for years.

[Redstone]

19. Until the point at which the animal isn't enjoying life anymore. Anything past that is cruel.

Redstone

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. it woudl depend on how much i had.

[hamsterjill]

21. Pets are as Individual as People

First of all - I'm sorry that you are having to face this difficult time. I have cats and they are like my children. My thinking is as follows:

If a pet has spent 14-plus years with you, you obviously know the boy better than anyone. As long as his quality of life is good, and you are comfortable with paying for and/or administering any treatments that he needs to maintain a good quality of life - then you are wise to enjoy the remaining time with him.

When he becomes so ill that his quality of life is not good (and I think you would know when that time arrived), then you should allow him to have peace in a dignified way.

Once you know what is specifically wrong with him, you might try to find a cat specialist or veterinary school and see if they have any new treatments available that some general veterinarians may not be aware of. My daughter has a 13-year old cat. She was diagnosed with renal issues about two years ago, but because we caught it early and have had her on a good program of diet and drugs, she is doing remarkably well. Obviously all cases are individual, but at the time she was diagnosed, we thought we would be losing her immediately. So we've been very thankful to have had the two years - and we are anticipating having her even longer.

Whatever your decision as to how to proceed, it always warms my heart to know that a pet has been in a loving home for so many years. Thank you for loving him!

[Hobarticus]

22. I think our pets let us know when their time has come...

...and if he's still spunky, maybe let him go as long as he can.

But you have to ask yourself: will the treatment itself affect his quality of life?

[Flaxbee]

27. that's where I am - will the treatment affect his quality of life

we're going to the vet on Monday afternoon and I hope to know much more then. :cry:
We adopted three kittens about 3 years ago -- and their mommacat, who brought them to us. Honestly, I think the girl kitties have kept him active and alert longer than he would have been otherwise!

[Hobarticus]

28. I think you will make a wise, loving decision...

...and I think your kitty boy is one lucky creature to be loved so.

Peace.

[Arugula Latte]

23. My mother kept her elderly renal-failure cat alive for two years.

Really, I think it was a little too long. He was skin and bones by the end. I'm a big proponent of quality of life over quantity ... But you will probably know when it is time to say goodbye. Good luck with your decision. I know it's soooo hard. One of my kitties is 15. I absolutely worship that girl ... So far she looks great, but I'm getting fearful as she gets older ... I wish we could keep them with us forever. :(

[Faygo Kid]

24. I spent $8,000 on Portia

Cancer. It extended her life, but wasn't worth it, I'm sure. But the diagnosis was sudden, and I was not prepared to give up. Plus, she was just 10.

What really helped was when they put her on steroids. Gave her two high quality extra months of life. When I had her put to sleep, I knew I had done all I could, anyway.

Best dog ever.

[applegrove]

26. The only cat I was ever involed in putting down was Gerry. He lost

control of everything and we knew it was time to let him go. I don't think of that day with my current "litter" of cats.