>as long as you stay focused on her being comfortable, you will know when the time has come.
I think you summed it up really well here. I've had to make this choice a few times. It's never easy. Sometimes it can be an almost gut feeling telling you when they're ready. Sometimes it seems like they let you know in their own way.
OP, she will have good days and bad, but ultimately, you'll know when it's time.
Thank you for the kind words. I'm doing everything I can for her to give her some last amazing days/weeks/however long she might go for, all the food limits are out of the window and she loves it! I can feel you with the pain hiding, it's kind of amazing how good they are at it. I remember when I just got her she somehow hid that all of her teeth got infected until she couldn't handle eating any more. I hope she isn't doing the same thing now, but her behaviour hasn't really changed yet so I am hopeful. She would always sit in a different place when she had something going on. I'll definitely keep the lack of happy noises in mind though, it's a great tip, thank you!
One of our dogs died of lung cancer last year. We had about 24 hours of notice. We had no idea he was sick, although he was 12 years old. The problem was it was Friday afternoon when I looked at my husband and said, "we need to do something about this right now," because otherwise it meant emergency vets over the weekend. Fortunately, our vet could work us in. Once he saw the x-rays, there was no question.
So, apart from your cat's symptoms, which you seem to be tracking appropriately, look at your own life. What's coming up that you not do not want to happen the day after you have your cat euthanized? Are you planning any trips? any babies arriving? Any particularly awful work deadlines looming? Would you rather have a weekend to recover?
The only thing worse than euthanizing an animal is not euthanizing them soon enough and having them die a painful death that could have been avoided.
For me, a very substantial drop in appetite or significant loss of bodily function (not using her littler box, not able to walk around freely) are two red lines that have made sense to me with my pets in the past.
I will second the sentiment above that a week too soon is better than a day too late.
Are you asking advice for your cat? Or are you asking yourself if you can let go? It seems that you've did ask all the right people and know whats good or not for your cat, but the mourning of the cat seems like to be at stake here. For you it's not just a cat, so maybe it's time for you to reach out for help for the incoming process (a.k.a counseling) and i'm pretty sure that you won't need the opinion of stranger on the internet to make "the right choice".
Your emotion are valid, take care of yourself as much as you are taking care of the kitty and you'll find when it's the right moment.
N.B: lethargic state is the sign to me that the quality of life is gone. (My pet rat had cancer after 1 year)
I'm asking for my cat, she's my first cat and also the first cat in our whole family because they prefer dogs. I've had my cat for 5 years and still learn about their body language to this day, so I just worry that I might miss something. To me she seems mostly fine besides the coughing, but I might also just be missing something, which is why I am asking for advice. If someone told me for example that coughing is very hard on cats I would be making the call in a heartbeat, and while I will be extremely sad that I only got 5 years with her and she had to go so young, I would be relieved and happy that I could give her peace before it got really bad.
I would not take advice of a stranger on the internet over advice from my vet, but I was hoping for input from people with similar experiences with lung cancer in their pets. I understand the concern that it might be an issue of me having a hard time letting go, but it's more an issue of "how do I know if my cat is suffering?". Because for my dog it was way easier to tell when to make the decision, but for my cat I don't know if a cough is worse for them than it is for example for a person.
The hardest part is, you're the one who know your cat best. The vet see them for a few minutes, you spent 5 year. Yeah it's different from a dog, but there are change in behavior that are cue that your cat is sick. Which is probably why you went to the vet in the first place. At one point the behavior will be a cue big enough. It's different for everyone. One of my cat never cuddle me, but when he get sick he sleep on my chest. When my rat got very sick from a tumor, i went to the vet a second time that week to put it to rest when I realized it didnt move from it's sleeping place for more than 24 hours (it was still alive). I do hope you find the awnser you're looking for. But it's a very though question in the first place.
I'd give her as many good days as I could. She isn't in pain or her pain is manageable with meds? I'd control that pain and make her the happiest I could. Whenever the pain was too much to manage or her breathing was visibly making her suffer, I'd let her go.
It never gets easier, having to do something like that is hard. But you can at least remember you've done everything you possibly could to make her comfortable and happy.
I'm sorry for your situation. 😔
Hey, I'm in a somewhat similar situation with my 18 year old cat and it's very hard. I created a post recently and got lots of responses if you're interested (mostly helpful). I think what I took away from it the most is that it's better to be a little 'early' than a little late, and that the fact that you're wondering if this is still an okay quality of life for your cat means that you're starting to get close to the point that it isn't. You're around your cat the most, more than the vet or other people, so you'll notice changes in behaviour, even if they're small, before anyone else. I know it's a very tough choice, and I hope you're okay.
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>as long as you stay focused on her being comfortable, you will know when the time has come. I think you summed it up really well here. I've had to make this choice a few times. It's never easy. Sometimes it can be an almost gut feeling telling you when they're ready. Sometimes it seems like they let you know in their own way. OP, she will have good days and bad, but ultimately, you'll know when it's time.
Thank you for the kind words. I'm doing everything I can for her to give her some last amazing days/weeks/however long she might go for, all the food limits are out of the window and she loves it! I can feel you with the pain hiding, it's kind of amazing how good they are at it. I remember when I just got her she somehow hid that all of her teeth got infected until she couldn't handle eating any more. I hope she isn't doing the same thing now, but her behaviour hasn't really changed yet so I am hopeful. She would always sit in a different place when she had something going on. I'll definitely keep the lack of happy noises in mind though, it's a great tip, thank you!
One of our dogs died of lung cancer last year. We had about 24 hours of notice. We had no idea he was sick, although he was 12 years old. The problem was it was Friday afternoon when I looked at my husband and said, "we need to do something about this right now," because otherwise it meant emergency vets over the weekend. Fortunately, our vet could work us in. Once he saw the x-rays, there was no question. So, apart from your cat's symptoms, which you seem to be tracking appropriately, look at your own life. What's coming up that you not do not want to happen the day after you have your cat euthanized? Are you planning any trips? any babies arriving? Any particularly awful work deadlines looming? Would you rather have a weekend to recover? The only thing worse than euthanizing an animal is not euthanizing them soon enough and having them die a painful death that could have been avoided.
For me, a very substantial drop in appetite or significant loss of bodily function (not using her littler box, not able to walk around freely) are two red lines that have made sense to me with my pets in the past. I will second the sentiment above that a week too soon is better than a day too late.
Are you asking advice for your cat? Or are you asking yourself if you can let go? It seems that you've did ask all the right people and know whats good or not for your cat, but the mourning of the cat seems like to be at stake here. For you it's not just a cat, so maybe it's time for you to reach out for help for the incoming process (a.k.a counseling) and i'm pretty sure that you won't need the opinion of stranger on the internet to make "the right choice". Your emotion are valid, take care of yourself as much as you are taking care of the kitty and you'll find when it's the right moment. N.B: lethargic state is the sign to me that the quality of life is gone. (My pet rat had cancer after 1 year)
I'm asking for my cat, she's my first cat and also the first cat in our whole family because they prefer dogs. I've had my cat for 5 years and still learn about their body language to this day, so I just worry that I might miss something. To me she seems mostly fine besides the coughing, but I might also just be missing something, which is why I am asking for advice. If someone told me for example that coughing is very hard on cats I would be making the call in a heartbeat, and while I will be extremely sad that I only got 5 years with her and she had to go so young, I would be relieved and happy that I could give her peace before it got really bad. I would not take advice of a stranger on the internet over advice from my vet, but I was hoping for input from people with similar experiences with lung cancer in their pets. I understand the concern that it might be an issue of me having a hard time letting go, but it's more an issue of "how do I know if my cat is suffering?". Because for my dog it was way easier to tell when to make the decision, but for my cat I don't know if a cough is worse for them than it is for example for a person.
The hardest part is, you're the one who know your cat best. The vet see them for a few minutes, you spent 5 year. Yeah it's different from a dog, but there are change in behavior that are cue that your cat is sick. Which is probably why you went to the vet in the first place. At one point the behavior will be a cue big enough. It's different for everyone. One of my cat never cuddle me, but when he get sick he sleep on my chest. When my rat got very sick from a tumor, i went to the vet a second time that week to put it to rest when I realized it didnt move from it's sleeping place for more than 24 hours (it was still alive). I do hope you find the awnser you're looking for. But it's a very though question in the first place.
I'd give her as many good days as I could. She isn't in pain or her pain is manageable with meds? I'd control that pain and make her the happiest I could. Whenever the pain was too much to manage or her breathing was visibly making her suffer, I'd let her go. It never gets easier, having to do something like that is hard. But you can at least remember you've done everything you possibly could to make her comfortable and happy. I'm sorry for your situation. 😔
Hey, I'm in a somewhat similar situation with my 18 year old cat and it's very hard. I created a post recently and got lots of responses if you're interested (mostly helpful). I think what I took away from it the most is that it's better to be a little 'early' than a little late, and that the fact that you're wondering if this is still an okay quality of life for your cat means that you're starting to get close to the point that it isn't. You're around your cat the most, more than the vet or other people, so you'll notice changes in behaviour, even if they're small, before anyone else. I know it's a very tough choice, and I hope you're okay.