wwyd?

[windorabug]

One of my kitties is very sick - pancreatitis and severe anemia maybe caused by cancer - vet could not find a tumor through xray but that was her guess. He has not eaten anything substantial in many days, he has been drinking water but will only lick at his food. He is 16 +/- years old. The vet has told me that it would be in his best interest if continues to not eat to put him to sleep. I am heart broken. He was fine 2 weeks ago & now dying. I know in my heart that I can not let him starve to death but I am having a really hard time knowing when I should quit hoping that he will get better. The vet has given him a steroid shot to help with the symptoms of the pancreatitis & I am giving him an additional steroid tablet once daily but with no improvement.
He has been happy & purring & cuddling & spending his days sleeping in the sun. But he has also been a little tipsy & having diareha for a few days.
I am just sick about this & don't know what is the right thing to do

[gumby74]

About 5 months ago, my 15 year old cat became really ill and the vet had a hard time determining what was wrong. She guessed it was because of a tumor, but it was truly a guess. We made the appointment for her to be put down and at the last minute I called a friend who suggested it might be pancreatitis. So, at 5:30 on a Monday night and the day before she was to be put down, I rushed my cat to the vet where she was given a steroid shot, some pain meds and fluids to rehydrate. By the next day we saw improvement and she started eating on her own. Within a couple of days of having more fluids and pain meds, she was back to normal. The reason I mention my story is for a couple of reasons. The first is that I learned that it is just as important with a pet to get a second opinion. The second is that I learned that unless the cat's pain is controlled, they won't eat. Pancreatitis is extremely painful. Do you think he may need additional pain meds? The third thing is that if in the end, you don't feel like his pain is being controlled, then the best gift you can give him is to free him from pain. My guess is that if you are hearing him purr, he must be feeling well enough to do that. Maybe others have opinions on purring, but I knew my Lady was not feeling well when she stopped purring and vice versa...that was one of the first indicators I had that she was feeling better again. It's such a hard position to be in. Part of what convinced to call my friend was that in my gut I didn't feel like it was time to say goodbye. I just didn't get the "sign" I wanted to believe she would give me. Mind you, that was even after we had been force feeding her for a week. I'm so happy my cat was given a second chance and I hope that your cat turns around as well. Take care!

[Sailor]

This is difficult, as every case is so individual.

We would put our pets to sleep when it was clear that the animal no longer had, what we called, "quality of life." When it was clear that the pet's quality of life had diminished to a low level, we put to sleep. We always had a vet come to our house to do this, so that our dogs (we never had cats) would just gently fall asleep in their own beds, surrounded by us.

[windorabug]

Thank you, I have put in a call to the vets about pain medication (I called her at home on the weekend so we shall see!) he is still up and about & I have yet to see the "sign" that I should move forward. I don;t know what else to do but wait & but I hate to think that he is in pain while I wait.