Curious
01-22-2006, 08:46 PM
Dd is 4-1/2. If Dd has to witness death, I would like her to see the dying loved one treated with love and dignity, and die peacefully. Our cat does not appear to require euthanasia and I'd like her to die, nurtured in the comfort of our home. Please tell me what you have learned from your experiences. What do do??? What to say????
If you want more detail about us, here it is ---
We've talked about death. The discussion started in response to looking at pictures and answering questions about where is that Grandpa?
We are Waldorf homeschooling, and my mentor said, tell her he died. Waldorf believes in reincarnation (consistent with my beliefs) and my mentor said that Dd, having just been born recently, was close to that realm and would be able to process that statement to some age-appropriate level. It worked well, and more discussion followed when Dd heard a radio announcer talk about playing a particular song on the anniversary of the singer's death. Dd led me into an extensive conversation and she figured out that 83 year old Grandma was worth being concerned about.
Now our 14 year old cat is fading fast. The cat's story is that she was an indoor/outdoor cat before we moved to our current house. Our house now is too close to the road and has many egress points in the basement. So the cat went to live with my mother, but got neurotic from being indoors.
In the meantime, we purchased a rental property. We took the cat to live at the rental property, which has a lovely yard and access to the basement where we set up a little cat-lair by the furnace. My neurotic old lady cat turned into an ebullient kitten. Just this summer she was leaping great bounds across the yard, chasing butterfles, and pleasing our renter by keeping the home free of mice. Sometimes we see the cat daily and other times a few weeks go by, and our renter feeds her and sees the food being eaten.
The cat had a sudden decline over the past two weeks. She is not eating much and I tempted her finally with some special treats, but she vomited most everything. I can't be sure if she is drinking from her water bowl but she would not let me feed her water from a bulb syringe (I had another cat who did this for several weeks and stayed around for awhile with progressive renal failure). She is not able to walk well - first I thought it was a recurrence of arthritis in her hips that was diagnosed 10 years ago (she got it young), but then I started thinking it was from dehydration (happens to renal failure cats) and that was when I tried offering the water by syringe.
She is gaunt, not grooming, very scruffy looking - you get the idea. Though she appears comfortable, is happy to see me, and enjoys attention from me and Dd.
I do not want to force feed her if she is going to vomit, or even tempt her with treats when it will just make her miserable.
The other cat died very peacefully of renal failure/old age. I did not feed her once she turned away from food, and I stopped syringing the water when she vomited afterward. She spent a lot of time communing with me, and a day or two later she feebly crept onto her favorite pillow and fell asleep...and that was it.
I would like this other cat to meet a similar end. Before anyone suggests euthanaisa, let me say that as long as she is comfortable, I know this cat well enough to know that I do not want to make her last moments on earth ones of being captured, taken for a car ride, and be handled by a strange human.
What I would rather do is take her back to our house, make her a nest in a large box (since she can't get around well), and care for her until she dies. I have to talk to Dh about the logistics of this, but I prefer it to leaving her at the other house when she no longer gets much out of the great outdoors. She hobbled out to the garden a few days ago but now I think she is to weak. The one thing she really seems to want now is the company of her loving people.
If you want more detail about us, here it is ---
We've talked about death. The discussion started in response to looking at pictures and answering questions about where is that Grandpa?
We are Waldorf homeschooling, and my mentor said, tell her he died. Waldorf believes in reincarnation (consistent with my beliefs) and my mentor said that Dd, having just been born recently, was close to that realm and would be able to process that statement to some age-appropriate level. It worked well, and more discussion followed when Dd heard a radio announcer talk about playing a particular song on the anniversary of the singer's death. Dd led me into an extensive conversation and she figured out that 83 year old Grandma was worth being concerned about.
Now our 14 year old cat is fading fast. The cat's story is that she was an indoor/outdoor cat before we moved to our current house. Our house now is too close to the road and has many egress points in the basement. So the cat went to live with my mother, but got neurotic from being indoors.
In the meantime, we purchased a rental property. We took the cat to live at the rental property, which has a lovely yard and access to the basement where we set up a little cat-lair by the furnace. My neurotic old lady cat turned into an ebullient kitten. Just this summer she was leaping great bounds across the yard, chasing butterfles, and pleasing our renter by keeping the home free of mice. Sometimes we see the cat daily and other times a few weeks go by, and our renter feeds her and sees the food being eaten.
The cat had a sudden decline over the past two weeks. She is not eating much and I tempted her finally with some special treats, but she vomited most everything. I can't be sure if she is drinking from her water bowl but she would not let me feed her water from a bulb syringe (I had another cat who did this for several weeks and stayed around for awhile with progressive renal failure). She is not able to walk well - first I thought it was a recurrence of arthritis in her hips that was diagnosed 10 years ago (she got it young), but then I started thinking it was from dehydration (happens to renal failure cats) and that was when I tried offering the water by syringe.
She is gaunt, not grooming, very scruffy looking - you get the idea. Though she appears comfortable, is happy to see me, and enjoys attention from me and Dd.
I do not want to force feed her if she is going to vomit, or even tempt her with treats when it will just make her miserable.
The other cat died very peacefully of renal failure/old age. I did not feed her once she turned away from food, and I stopped syringing the water when she vomited afterward. She spent a lot of time communing with me, and a day or two later she feebly crept onto her favorite pillow and fell asleep...and that was it.
I would like this other cat to meet a similar end. Before anyone suggests euthanaisa, let me say that as long as she is comfortable, I know this cat well enough to know that I do not want to make her last moments on earth ones of being captured, taken for a car ride, and be handled by a strange human.
What I would rather do is take her back to our house, make her a nest in a large box (since she can't get around well), and care for her until she dies. I have to talk to Dh about the logistics of this, but I prefer it to leaving her at the other house when she no longer gets much out of the great outdoors. She hobbled out to the garden a few days ago but now I think she is to weak. The one thing she really seems to want now is the company of her loving people.