A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2004 So sad right now... cat problem

I'm thinking it may be time to have my favorite cat put to sleep. He's 13 years old and diabetic. He's been peeing and pooping on the floor because he can't find the litter box, because he has cataracts from the diabetes. He can't see and he can't smell anything. Now in just the last 3 or 4 days, he's started walking wrong. It's like he can't quite lift his back legs up. This is also from the diabetes- it can cause nerve damage to the extremities if the blood sugar isn't regulated. We realized his blood sugar was out of whack 6 weeks ago, and haven't been able to get it regulated since, despite repeated trips to the vet. He's also had a bacterial infection for at least 6 weeks. He's finishing up his 3rd different antibiotic for that now, and going back to vet tomorrow to see if we've got it. He's lost about 2 pounds over the last 6 weeks, and he walks around and around in circles and howls for no reason that we can figure out. And now he's fighting with the other cats, which he never does. I think it's either because he can't figure out who they are, or they keep surprising him cause he can't see or smell them. And he throws himself in the path of his humans, which is hard enough for my husband and me to avoid stepping on him, but he does it with my 13-month old son too, and my son thinks he's playing and tries to pin him to the floor and "love" him. The last time he was at the vet, the vet said he might be senile. So I'm gonna go research senility in cats, and tomorrow ask the vet about his quality of life. At this point, I think it's pretty sucky.
I know he's just a cat, but he's been our friend and faithful companion for 13 years. Sometimes I hate being an adult.
Thanks for letting me vent. Sorry to be a downer.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. Please let us know what the vet says as soon as you can. You are not "a downer"; you are sharing a huge part of your life with us which just happens to be painful at the moment. Talk to us all you want; you are never alone.

All prayers,
Merme

Never be sorry for caring so much about a family member. Yes, the family member is a bit more hairy than the some of the rest of you.. but that's ok. Loss, or fear of loss, is expected after such a long time. We had a poodle that was the best dog ever. Loyal, friendly, & loving, not yippy at all. He got to be about 16 years old, and suddenly he was no longer able to walk, just dragging his back legs. Arthritis had crippled him. He was blind, & nearly toothless. Fleas started to attack him badly, his immune system was gone. He was a white dog, that the fleas created a big black area on his back/rear.. of fleas & dried blood. It was awful. No amount of washing, flea dips & collars would rid them from him. I was probably 14 at the time, and I knew he had to have his rest. It was the hardest thing to come to terms with, he'd been my companion for about 7 years. I told my mom, I know you have to do it, please, do it while I'm in school.. I don't want to be here when you take him there. So, that was that.. he was gone. It was hard, but it was for his best.

I know, it's never easy, no matter what kind of furry friend it is. They give us thier love, unconditionally, and we would never want to hurt them.

Meg

I am so sorry to hear about your kitty. I feel so bad for them when they are ill or injured. I love animals and have had quite a variety over the years.

Please let us know what the Vet says.


G-Mom

we understand here's praying it goes easily for you.

I can understand your feelings and fear of losing one of your best friends.....

We had a mini german shepard mix for 11 or 12 years.....One day he couldn't walk right and mom took him to the vets and he had cysts that needed removed with surgery....he had them removed and they came back and he was even worse. I came home from school one day and mom had taken him to have him put to sleep.....she said she cried her eyes out in the vets office and that all the other pet owners consoled her. She didn't tell me because she thought it would be worse for me to try to tell him goodbye.....I still to this day think of that dog and miss his little face--he was one of my best friends....I cried to him, and loved him, and even bought him christmas presents.

Putting a pet to sleep is never easy, they provide us with so much unconditional love. With our dog I had to remind myself that it was really for the best.....he was miserable towards the end of his life--and mom taking him to put to sleep freed him of that. Losing my dog years ago is one of the main reasons I don't have a dog now. I honestly don't know if I can go through the loss of another pet. It's so terribly hard. I hope we see our pets in heaven one day.

Now yall got me Boo Hoo-ing at work and everyone is looking at me all crazy like. and

G-daughter

Thanks everyone, for caring. I've had to have pets put down before, and it's always so hard. But this guy is super-special. For years, he guarded us when we slept. He took a post on the window ledge next to our bed, and literally walked guard duty all night, until he got too old to jump up there. When a pipe burst in our kitchen in the middle of the night, he stood on my chest and head-butted me and meowed until I woke up, then LED us into the kitchen. Every time we got a new kitten, HE was the one who cleaned them and mothered them and taught them to hunt.

The vet doesn't think his quality of life is too bad. Jim (my cat) had this nerve damage in his feet once before when his sugar got out of whack, and once we got the sugar regulated, it reversed itself. That may happen again. But apparently it's very hard to regulate their blood sugar while they have an infection. So we get the tests back tomorrow to see if the infection is gone, and if so, hopefully we can get his sugars regulated again. He hasn't lost any more weight since his last visit, thank God, so I think that's a good sign. And the vet said there's a drug that can be given to senile cats. I think it's an anxiety med. The main thing, the vet said, is if he isn't in pain, is he still HAPPY? And that's the question. So we're going to watch him, and we've got another appointment in 2 weeks, and we'll see from there.

thanks for the update, keep us posted, we care!

Oh Geegeeburr i hope it is that easy!!

I wonder if they make a medicen for senile parrots?

GG,

I'm sure that whatever decisions you make will be the right ones for your cat because you are coming from a place of love. It's never easy to face the loss of a loved one - know that you are not alone.

GG,

Would it help to ask Jim if he's happy? You might receive an answer!

lts only a cat.
GG All animals are a gift.
They are so loving and affectionate, they teach us so much about loving and loyalty.
l have recently lost my cat and still feel bereft.
There comes a time when we must think of them and try to consider what is the best thing to do for their welfare. We have to put our feelings aside

Doreen

Hey guys! I posted a big response here a couple of days ago, but I was having problems with the site all day, and it didn't go through.

Jim's results came back, and his infection is finally gone, and his sugar is already getting a little better.

We've also made a couple of changes, when we figured out that his issue with his feet was affecting his balance. He doesn't do so well when he has to bend over to get his food, so I built him a food bowl holder out of 2X6 and PVC pipe parts that holds his food up right to his face height, and he's already eating much better. And we've taken out our box spring and bed frame, so our mattress is just directly on the floor, so he can climb up on our bed without a problem. And we're gonna try to find a litter box with much lower sides. And we've started leaving the lights on all night in the room with the litter box, which is where we found him sleeping this morning, and guess what? For the first night in a long time- no poop or pee on the floor!!!
So we're still watching him carefully, but we're much more optomistic.

Jogger- I don't think he's "just a cat"-- it's just that that's often the attitude of "non-animal" people.

That is soooooooooooooooooooooooo sweet!!
And it's touching to hear you do those things for a kitty cat, wished everyone had a 1/10th of that compassion....

We had a Doberman like that, he would go to the top of the stairs when everyone was ready for bed,
OR SUPPOSED TO BE :rolleyes: , and he'd wait for us to get up there, and roll his eyes and sigh when we weren't there on time..

Well, he had a form of that hip~displacia and couldnt' get up the stairs towards the end....
My dad would walk him around the back of the house which had sliding glass doors to a porch at ground level and they'd let him in the door up there, so he could be with the family, true to the heart all the way to the end...

Weezie

gg, a cardboard drink flat (the kind that holds cases of soda or beer) works great for a low sided litter box. if you put one of those cat box liners in/around it, viola! one low sided cat box!!

GG- I am so glad to hear he is doing better. And I am glad that it was an "easy fix." I wish all problems were the easy.

GG. brilliant news l know you didn't mean the words as they sound, Quote "lts just a cat" lts just that we animal lover's always feel that some people will see us as somehow being a bit silly to dote on animals. l have said exactly the same phrase, and alway's felt guilty for lt.
So to justify our love of animal's to those people, we somehow try to pretend they are not as important as we think they are.
l have had many experiences of people saying to me, "why are you upset? lt's only a cat or dog bird or whatever" usually the next sentence is "think about all the poor children, and what happen's to them". Well l alway's say "l do care for the children as well, but that does not stop me from caring for animals as well".

Anyway just to let you know l knew where you was coming from, and l didn't mean lt as a insult to you, how could l when you had been saying about your love for your cat's

Must say, when people say "l hate animals", they are no friend of mine, they do not know what they are missing. They are very sad people.

Doreen.

You know, I have to agree, for the most part. I have never understood people who don't like animals. I tend to assume that they're somehow missing something inside. But I do have one friend who's a really super person, who just doesn't like animals at all, and my own Grandmother didn't like animals, and she was a great lady. I guess it's unfortunate to say, but I think it's easier to dislike PEOPLE than it is to not like animals. I mean, what other species in the animal kingdom besides US hurts other creatures for fun? (That's not a slam on all hunters, BTW. I got no beef with people who actually EAT what they kill.)

I have to say that I'm not crazy about dogs. Although I do love the two I have, but they are very small. I like other dogs too, but I guess I just have to really get to know them before I trust them. But most of the time I just don't like dogs.

When I was very little,about 4 or 5, I was walking up to a neighbors house,I think my mom was knocking on their screen door and the neighbor called out "It's open!" and I was nose to nose with this cocker spaniel through the screen and I remember thinking , "oooooo, this doggie is cute, I like this lil doggie, we don't have one of these, maybe I can pet it?" so somebody opens the door and the doggie jumps up and mauls my face ! It was just superficial scrapes from his claws and one bite mark that didn't break the skin, but I was so little and just didn't understand why the doggie would do something like that to me, after that I didn't really trust dogs too much, was bit probably a dozen times so far and every dog owner's last words before I get bit is "Don't worry , he doesn't bite!"

I don't like cats that much either, but I adore kittens! I have met some really cool cats, so I guess I like some cats, but don't want one,can't afford it and don't like the mess. Every cat my mother has ever had eventually ends up in old age peeing and pooping in the house! :p :p

When Kareena was 3yo,some people came over to visit my grandmother(she lived with us). They brought their "Cocker Spaniel" with them,who they said was gentle. When Kareena went down on her knees(nose to nose level)to pet it,it bit her in the face. Fortunately as she has grown the small scars have gone into the natural folds of her skin. The worst part of it is,they wouldn't take responsibility. When the authorities went to their house(dog bites here are a police matter)they said they didn't own a dog. It took a week of interviews and investigation before it was discovered they were hiding the dog...they still refused to co-operate. It wasn't till the day that Kareena had an appointment with the Health Department to begin her rabies series,that they finally found where the dog was. Kareena did not have to take the rabies shots(THANK GOD) and the people were fined $2500.00 and they had to pay all of the hospital bills(including a plastic surgeon and dermatologist).

I have also been attacked by a pack of 6 dogs...but thats a different story.

I am scared to death of any and all dogs I do not know

Cocker spaniel... hrumph!!!!! :p :p :p

Well, those are understandable dislikes! If you got attacked by a dog, it's only natural that you might have some fear of them. And I think it's understandable to say, "I don't want a cat or dog, because I don't want to deal with the mess, or smell, or whatever." But to just flat-out not like animals at all, I think, is just strange.
But then, it takes all kinds, right?

a number of years ago, a man i worked for said firmly, "no more pets for us" and i thought, how can you resolve to not have pets, having had them, knowing what they add to your life?
then as the years went on and my best buddy dog, sadie, got to be 17, i almost couldn't be consoled when she died, and then this year i had to have my 19 year old cat companion put to sleep, and i thought, now i see that man's resolve to not choose to have anymore pets. I still however have two wonderful little dogs, and i can't imagine life around here without them. the key for us is that as one animal passes, we acquire another for the lonely one left behind.
i am pretty sure that "spot" was "the last cat"
as he was the only cat for the last 9 years and as long as he had the dogs, he was not lonely. i miss him terribly, which in retrospect is humorous in that he was never my favorite cat until he was the only one.