How do you deal with letting your aged Pet go?

juliew19673 · Sep 17, 2008

I love my cat Tbone that I've hadsince she was just 5 weeks old and she is now, 19 and a half.. She has what I think is "dementia" as she loses herself in a short hallway but continues to eat, poo and pee. She definetly has some form of Hip-dysplatia (can"t jump as good as she used to - and in her "hay-day" she was GOOD could jump the heighth of a good5 ft).

She is SO old and its gettting to "That Point" of, taking her in for the vet visit that is only going to tell me "She IS Old" and they will do their blood work and prescribe medicine to prolong her life (I'm only against the trip as it stresses her out SO much); but she will be put through the "extreme" stress of going to Vet and get sick from as the last trip2 years ago for the "routine" blood work she "caught" a cold as the Vet explained to me and she almost died. She needs to see a Vet so that I can know where her health is but in the same breadth I"m afraid it just may kill her going to the Vet.. Hate this quandry. If you know this particular"HELL"tell me what you did or would do..

Bassetluv · Sep 17, 2008

I'm sorry I only have a minute to post, but wanted to ask, do you have any vets in the area that do house calls? It's quite common in a lot of places to have one or two clinics where a vet will go to the client's house to do check-ups, take blood, etc.

My two are now 14 and 16, and the 16-yr-old is pretty 'wonky' (very thin, getting a bit frail, has IBS, etc.). It does get hard when they start reaching the point of 'when do we let them go'...

Will post later if I get a chance....:hug:

kirst3buns · Sep 17, 2008

You may want to check with your regular vet even about house calls. Our vet does NOT advertise that he does housecalls in any way but I found out that he does do them for existing patients when necessary.

myheart · Sep 18, 2008

I wouldn't put her through a vet visit unless it was an emergency. At some point it might be best to say, "Let her live the rest of her life in peace." I have an old grandma cat (no idea of age because she was found as a stray and spent along time at the shelter because no one wanted a cat with one ear missing from frostbite, but me

). Gertie was diagnosed with a very enlarged heart a few years back. I had to really bother the vet to find out if it was really necessary for her to continue her shots because the vet visit is stressful, she is old, and after so many years of shots animals have to build up immunity. I have not have a titer test done on her, partly because I truly did not expect to have her this long after her diagnosis, and because of the actual stress of going to the vet.

Sorry for the long story... I say that you should watch her. I usually watch for changes in personality and eyes. She will let you know when it is time for her to go. Trust me, if you pay attention, she will tell you she is tired.

myheart

seniorcats · Sep 18, 2008

kirst3buns wrote:

You may want to check with your regular vet even about house calls. Our vet does NOT advertise that he does housecalls in any way but I found out that he does do them for existing patients when necessary.

I agre with this idea. My vet has offeredt o make house calls on some of my ferals. Also, his partner has a seperate business that only does house calls. I've had house calls when 5-6 cats needed to be seen at a time or when dealing with an ailing or aggressive cat. Doc charges something like a $15 trip fee on top of services so it's reasonable. He also has everything in his van including a mobile surgery.

dquesnel · Sep 18, 2008

Hi Julie, I can't offer much in advice except that anything she goes through is probably much, much harder on you than it is on her. I know I can personally take the pain but to see them hurting is hard, so it is comforting to know that it probably is much worse for us, lol.

I echo what others say- I don't think I would bring her in unless it was some acute problem and even then a housecall would be better.

I think for our pets, it is all about 'quality, not quantity'. Although, 19 years is a mighty long time! Excellent really.