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Slowly watching my cat die

J

JumBie

Golden Member
Vets say he has fluid in his lungs, they arent sure if its cancer, heart disease, inflammation, etc... He wont eat or drink and hasn't done so in 4 days. I am slowly dying here as well, I have never felt pain like this in my life. My best friend, my companion, my pet.... I cant afford the 2.5k-5k vet bills just to diagnose the issue and try to treat it, so I am sitting here crying watching him fade away. I keep praying to some kind of god to keep him with me for a bit longer until I can figure out a plan to get him saved, but I doubt that will ever happen. I can tell you and this may seem weird, but I am crying more now than I ever did during the passing of my father, sad but true. Some may share my feelings, while others may call me crazy but this 7 year old ah heck has been with me during the toughest times of my life and has always managed to put a smile on my face, and now during the toughest moments of his life I cant do a damn thing. I cant help but to blame my broke ass self for this, I don't think I could ever possibly have a pet again.
 
Sorry you have to go through this, but you should have your cat put down instead of having it suffer.
 
you have my sympathies 🙁 i'm so sorry my buddy is 10.5 years old now and i know the day will come i have to let him go so i try to treasure each one. Like you mine has been with me in my darkest days and I want him there when i recover :/
 
Only time I've ever seen my dad cry is when we had to have the family dog put down. He had a compromised immune system due to cancer of the spleen. Ate a dead bird and got sepsis. Had him 9 years. He's been gone for a long time now but we've never replaced him. He was a good dog.
 
If you cannot afford to find out what is wrong and treat your pet, you should surrender it to someone that can or euthanize it.

There sadly isn't another solution if no vet will work with you.
 
Is there still time for treatment? I will pledge $1000 if some others here agree to chip in something too.
 
I would get a second opinion from another vet if you can. My cat was in a similar situation years ago in which he would not eat and was sick for days. The first vet wanted to do expensive exploratory surgery and all this other stuff for thousands. The next get gave him certain medicine and I was on my way for <$100. The cat got well and I still have it.
 
Exophase said:
Is there still time for treatment? I will pledge $1000 if some others here agree to chip in something too.
Click to expand...

Very nice, I was coming back here to mention gofundme.com is very good at times. A good friend of ours found out they needed a $12k hospital bed that insurance will not cover. They rose the full amount by morning and posted like at 8pm EST the night prior.

I am tapped with funding legal actions and trying to find homes/medical treatment for 6 of the cats I have...not to mention the 3 dogs and 5 cats we are keeping.
 
utahraptor said:
I would get a second opinion from another vet if you can. My cat was in a similar situation years ago in which he would not eat and was sick for days. The first vet wanted to do expensive exploratory surgery and all this other stuff for thousands. The next get gave him certain medicine and I was on my way for <$100. The cat got well and I still have it.
Click to expand...

If the vet thinks it's cancer, exploratory surgery is very risky.

Proper treatment should be Xray, ultrasound, cat scan/MRI first. Sometimes this gets cost prohibitive. Blood and other tests could narrow down the issues.

This is where a very experienced vet can be invaluable.

Everyone thinks their vet is great, but the reality is that vet normally is doing things that are mundane and routine. When things go crazy is when experience and knowledge are key.
 
I'm really sorry to hear about your cat, JumBie. Really.

But... "cat scan" *giggle*

Sorry. Gets me every time.

Hopefully this gets resolved with a minimum of suffering for Cat, one way or the other.
 
JumBie said:
Vets say he has fluid in his lungs, they arent sure if its cancer, heart disease, inflammation, etc... He wont eat or drink and hasn't done so in 4 days. I am slowly dying here as well, I have never felt pain like this in my life. My best friend, my companion, my pet.... I cant afford the 2.5k-5k vet bills just to diagnose the issue and try to treat it, so I am sitting here crying watching him fade away. I keep praying to some kind of god to keep him with me for a bit longer until I can figure out a plan to get him saved, but I doubt that will ever happen. I can tell you and this may seem weird, but I am crying more now than I ever did during the passing of my father, sad but true. Some may share my feelings, while others may call me crazy but this 7 year old ah heck has been with me during the toughest times of my life and has always managed to put a smile on my face, and now during the toughest moments of his life I cant do a damn thing. I cant help but to blame my broke ass self for this, I don't think I could ever possibly have a pet again.
Click to expand...


First, sorry to hear about your situation.

Second, it sounds like you have a special relationship with your cat. Some people never experience that... And that is something that you can be proud of...

Third, your options are limited. But your options are always limited. And that is part of what makes your relationship with your cat special.

Four, even if you had the money for exploratory surgery, there is no guarantee that they would find the source of the animal's problem. Even if they found the problem, there is no guarantee that it could be fixed.

Five, recommend that you get with your Vet and discuss end of life options. Also discuss how to keep your cat comfortable. For example, the cat may take fluid from an eye dropper and you may be able to hand feed him...

Six, when you options run out, be sure that you are holding him when he is put down...

In life, your options are always limited. That's part of the Human Condition. Broke my heart when I lost my namesake (Uno Kitty).

In your relationship with your cat, you are the human and he is depending on you making conscious decisions about these matters... He knows that the options are limited. Make the best decisions that you can. Keep him as comfortable as you can...

Just do your best,
Uno
Sentry Dog Handler
US Army 69-71
 
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Jodell88 said:
Sorry you have to go through this, but you should have your cat put down instead of having it suffer.
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It's an exceedingly difficult thing to do but I have to agree. My parents' cat started circling the drain 2-3 years ago, but with an amputation and medication came back for a year but eventually it caught up to him again (a tumor or cancer of some sort I believe). Unfortunately we didn't really have the guts to take it into our own hands and he shortly after died 'naturally' at home, however he was barely able to move/eat and spent his last days basically laying there, weak and probably in pain - I'm not even sure if anyone was home or with him whenever he passed on. I regret it and it was a painful lesson. If I had to do it over again I would absolutely have him put to sleep with all of us there with him.
 
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mmntech said:
Only time I've ever seen my dad cry is when we had to have the family dog put down. He had a compromised immune system due to cancer of the spleen. Ate a dead bird and got sepsis. Had him 9 years. He's been gone for a long time now but we've never replaced him. He was a good dog.
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That's funny. I always thought my father hated my first dog. Never played with him and always screamed at him whenever he was around.

They day he died, my father went to the bathroom and my mom told me he was crying. It actually made me laugh a little bit.

OP, that sucks to see him fading away. :'(
 
unokitty said:
First, sorry to hear about your situation.

Second, it sounds like you have a special relationship with your cat. Some people never experience that... And that is something that you can be proud of...

Third, your options are limited. But your options are always limited. And that is part of what makes your relationship with your cat special.

Four, even if you had the money for exploratory surgery, there is no guarantee that they would find the source of the animal's problem. Even if they found the problem, there is no guarantee that it could be fixed.

Five, recommend that you get with your Vet and discuss end of life options. Also discuss how to keep your cat comfortable. For example, the cat may take fluid from an eye dropper and you may be able to hand feed him...

Six, when you options run out, be sure that you are holding him when he is put down...

In life, your options are always limited. That's part of the Human Condition. Broke my heart when I lost my namesake (Uno Kitty).

In your relationship with your cat, you are the human and he is depending on you making conscious decisions about these matters... He knows that the options are limited. Make the best decisions that you can. Keep him as comfortable as you can...

Just do your best,
Uno
Sentry Dog Handler
US Army 69-71
Click to expand...

Good advice and nicely put.
 
I don't know all of your details, but the sudden refusal to eat or drink is something I dealt with before. Our cat completely stopped eating, and had signs of liver problems (yellow eyes, swollen liver) about a week after he stopped. He lost weight fast, going from the ~13 pound cat he was to under 8 pounds. In the end, the vet diagnosed him with Feline fatty liver syndrome - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_hepatic_lipidosis


They wanted to do a procedure to insert a feeding tube. We asked if there were any other options due to the cost and they said we could try syringe force feeding him but the feeding tube was his best chance. We went with the syringe method and for about 1 month fed him 5 times a day by holding his mouth open and forcing food into him with the syringe. It was terrible and we did not know if it was helping. One day after about a month of this he decided to eat some food, and he is now 6 months later a very healthy 13 pound 10 year old cat.

Just something to check out. The cause for this is unknown, and the survival rate without force feeding is very low.
 
unokitty said:
Six, when you options run out, be sure that you are holding him when he is put down...
Click to expand...

I did when I had to put my cat down. She had mouth cancer. 14 years I had her. It was very difficult.

OP -- I know what you are going through and know we who have been there are with you now.
 
I'm sorry to hear about that. Its pretty shocking how expensive vet bills can be. A good friend had a cat about the same age and it had some sort of digestive issue that required immediate surgery. $2,500! You should ask the vet for his honest assessment of the situation given how ill your cat is. With an animal that young with such a serious problem is may be time to let him go (as painful as that will be). Again, I'm really sorry. When I had to have my cat put down I cried like a baby. Got her when I was 8 years old and was 23 when she had to be euthanized. Its hard to do.
 
My thoughts are with you and your cat OP.

I know it's hard but you should consider ending his suffering. We've had to do the same with a cat and a dog and it was rough on us but ultimately better for the animals.
 
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