Ill Cat, what to do
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You lot generally give good advice so try this one, I have to say I'm really at a loss as to what to do for the best.

Some of you will have met my cat Sooty, he was a stray that decided to live with me about 6 years ago, he is no show winning pedigree but he is a friendly little chap, best guess about 12 to 14 years old.

The last couple of weeks he has not been too well, to put it bluntly straining and unable to sh1t, with only some liquid brown stuff coming out. A week since I took him to the vet, he had some jabs and was not allowed food for 24hrs, then after that he was allowed some special food from the vet. On this he really seemed to pick up, back to his usual self, eating well, sh1tting well too.
Over last weekend he wasn't so good again, on Sunday I decided that I would take him back to the vet on Tuesday when they re-opened, however on Monday he really wasn't well, and had somehow pushed part of his guts out of his rear end. Obviously not good at all, so I phoned up the vetinary hospital and managed to get him in there straight away.
Took him in and the vet managed to get the lump back inside him, and he seemed much happier for that having been done, they then kept him in overnight to have the proper top vet look at him today. They rang me up earlier to say that they had examined him again and the only real option was investigative surgery, basically cut him open and see what they find. They don't know if it is cancerous or just something swollen. Before that they recommended he had blood tests to check for kidney and liver function to make sure they were operating properly before deciding whether to undertake surgery.

Basically I just don't know what to do, money is not so much of an issue, I can cover it one way or another and I have pet insurance that would hopefully reimburse some of the cost. But do I go ahead with it to try and make him better or do I let him go peacefully without subjecting him to the trauma of major surgery?
Might sound daft to post this but I'm really at a loss, I'm tempted to say sod the cost and do what you can, but then I think I'm being selfish by subjecting him to that, really because I'm saying it for my own reasons of wanting him to come back home again and be well?

Any advice appreciated.

It's a tough call Tom.

We have 5 cats, the youngest is nearly 10 and one of the oldest ones is getting very unstable. We do not believe in spending thousands to prolong their lives. We make sure that they are well looked after and have a good life, but when it's time to go, that's it.

I think that once they get to this sort of age, then I think that it is best to let them go peacefully.

Edited by Paul S on 6th May, 2008.

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Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

i would let him go peacefully tom
he has suffer enough

my old cat riddely was 12 i think when he died and we kept paying for vet bills and stuff to keep the little guy going but he didnt last much longer after that (died under a car trying to keep warm as he didnt have the strenght to get back to the house). yes it was nice to have him last the extra month or so but was it worth putting him through all of that, i now think no but it is so tough on somthing like this because they become kinda like family.

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Agree with the above. It can be hard, but when it is time, it is time...

Tough call, you don't know how the surgery might go, or how it will affect him. If he's not too old maybe it won't knock him for six, and maybe it could be a success and find something and happily ever after. But they might not find anything, or he might take a while to recover. I guess voice your concerns with your vet and see what they think of the surgery. I think if they weren't confident in finding something, I'd let nature take its course.

Not nice, but I'm sure you've made him a very happy cat :)

sounds like you have given him a good life tom, i personally would rather see an animal what ever it is go out peacefully, keeping him going may not be the right decision for sooty

My cat was run over about 8 years ago, she was in quite a mess and the vet wanted to put her down. I wouldnt do it and she made a full recovery and is still with me now in perfect health. Its a tough call but if she was the same age as yours then I would probably have let the vet put her to sleep.

Paul

I seriously doubt it!

We've always had cats, up to three at a time but currently only one. the oldest passed away at 19 years from kidney failure, the youngest we lost was only 6 years old (also died from kidney failure).
Our current one is a rescue home cat, nearly 12 years old and very healthy (touch wood) but, if she got badly ill, I would get her the final injection rather than let her suffer.

The strange thing is that, for pets/animals, euthanasia is quite acceptable and accepted as good in the right circumstances, but for humans it's taboo...

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Tough call buddy, the little mites do become incredibly intwined in our lives which makes the decision very difficult indeed.

I don't think I could make the decision without trying the surgery option first, he might have an extra 3-4 years yet. But like a few others say above it is might just be his time....

Do what feels right Tom, he has stuck with all this time, so i am sure he would respect your judgement.

dan & lindsay (nearly blubbing...)

personally id let sooty go now, its hard but seems pointless to put the poor thing thro all that.

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12 isn't overly old for a cat, but you don't want the poor thing suffering.
Have another chat with the vet or perhaps another verdict. Tough call.
You've given sooty a good life what ever you decide chap.

Well just to throw another spanner in the works....
This afternoon as a first step he had a blood test to check that his kidneys, liver etc function, basically to see if he was otherwise healthy and therefore potentially worth putting through the surgery or not.

Results have come back to say that he is basically in good health apart from this "lump". Doesn't make things any easier unfortunately.

If it was my cat...I would go for the operation option. Its easy to say what to do for other peoples animals. But we are suckers when it comes to our own pets. :)

A friend of mine had a dog with the same symtoms. When the vet operated they found that he had eaten a lump of rubber which was causing a blockage.

You are coverd, so I would say that it's worth a go. If you don't then you will be haunted by 'what if' type thoughts for months.

I agree that when animals are on their last legs, they should be left to pass away peacefully. But your cat was in a good state of health previous to this isolated problem. So he would have a good chance of making a full recovery.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

My cat had a cancerous growth on her neck and went through phases of eating and sleeping through pain. So we said our goodbyes and put her to sleep.

It was hard when i was young, and it doesnt get any easier.


Fortunatly we knew what the lump was unlike in your circumstances. So id look into it first before taking any actions.

Edited by Jordan on 6th May, 2008.

Back once again like a renegade master

i think thats a marvelous load of advice here tom , all i could add is , with all those symtoms ,there must be some idea of whats wrong , there seems to be a fashion these days of drs and vets not saying what they think in case you sue them ! you could say to the vet ,look im not holding you to this ,but if it was your cat what do you think is wrong ,might be worth a try .
my cat died at 17 years old ,similar probs straining and bad breath ,was in that case caused by kidney failiure .

whatever you do it can be hard to be sure youv done the right thing sometimes , but i feel that if your acting out of 'whats best for the cat' as you obviously are , then there is no more you can do ,and hes a lucky cat to be so cared for .
regards robert .

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I just had my 16-year old car put down. Shitty thing to do, but the only solution unfortunately.

Absolutely Robert, and I really appreciate all the advice and different angles. I have had the "if it were your cat" conversation with the vet and she really didn't say either way. Although I am very attached if she had said "its not fair on the cat, too much trauma" then I would have followed the advice given by the experts and had him put down.

However as of this morning I've decided to ask the vets go ahead with the surgery. I don't think I could ever forgive myself for giving up on the little chap without trying everything I could to help him, so fingers crossed for Sooty.

Here he is only a couple of months ago, having jumped on my desk to see what I was up to.

Edited by Tom Fenton on 7th May, 2008.

I just had my 16-year old car put down. Shitty thing to do, but the only solution unfortunately.

Good luck sooty. :)

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Give the surgery ago and see what the results come out as, if it is cancer though, then a serious decision needs to be made. Good luck though

Sad news, just had the phone call from the vets, when they operated they found widespread cancer inside him, obviously the inevitable had to happen. I'm sad that he won't be coming home, but I'm happy to know that I did everything I could for him.

Sorry to hear that mate, unfortunatley when it time to go its time to go. You did the right thing.

Mike :)

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