The Vets and Inevitable

[Paul.M]

We all love our pets regardless if we are dog lovers, cat lovers, bird lovers etc etc etc. The time has come to make a decision on this one.....

Our lovely cat Jade went to the Vets yesterday and has been diagnosed with a Tumor in her mouth! She is 16 1/2 years old and still acts like a teenager lol (daft as a brush and looks like one).

Options= "A very abrasive operation" to remove half of her jaw to remove the Tumor/s.

Leave her be whilst on pain killers every day and let it take it's course.


We would never allow that amount of pain and suffering upon any animal, so it wont happen on our own cat.

Timescale, we have no idea. Could be a month or a year but in the mean time she will be treated to fish from the chippy (of cuts like always), Tuna from a tin every week, fresh salmon when customers pay up on time.


We have all been through this type of thing I'm sure. What are you memories? Hope after the hard times the good memories came flooding in.

Good bless Jade.

 

[mayfair]

Terrible m8 but your doing her proud but if she starts to suffer you got to make one last trip for everyone's sake ...All the best

 

[Harni]

Im going through something similar at the moment. We have a 8 year old chocolate lab. He suffers from Elbow Displacia (like most labs) but about 18 months ago had a severe infection due to it which almost ended it for him. Thankfully the vets were superb. He was in for 3 days and £3500 later he was getting over it. He now keeps on getting small attacks of it which we can manage with strong pain killers and antibiotics but its really not fair on him. It puts him in so much pain and the drugs dont do him any good at all.

I think all you can do is make sure they are not in pain, not depressed and monitor their quality of life. A lot of people will say they will let you know when its time and i believe this is true. Just need to make sure that you dont keep them alive through unnecessary pain for your own benefit.

 

[telectrix]

feel for you paul. always a hard decision to make. if she is not in pain and has a decent quality of life, enjoy her for as long as she's OK. looks like she's going to be pampered for the rest of her days.

 

[ruston]

I have to say the same,it is so hard,as long as she is pain free and happy,just pamper her.
l think you know how most feel on here.

 

[Andy78]

Not nice at all for you Paul
We lost our cat pretty much the same way. She grew a lump under her belly that clearly was not right, but due to her age the vet advised against a biopsy or removal operation as her chances were not good of coming out of anaesthetic.
We had her for a few more months and enjoyed her company and she enjoyed all the pampering and lap time that our family could give her. She really was a peaceful and contented animal.
She let us know when it was time for her to go, and we made sure she didn't suffer through her last days.

 

[telectrix]

Misia (the little chihuahua in my avatar) spent most of her first 4 months in and out of the vet's. She still hads trouble with one of her back legs some of the time (brain signals not getting there all the time) but she's pain free and now 4 years old. only seen the vet in last 3 years to have her claws clipped.

 

[GMES]

Paul sorry to hear that matey, keep doing what your doing and spoil her rotten.

My Boy Jack as tested me and julie a few times, we rescued him at 3 weeks old because his mum rejected him and the other pups so it fell to julie to bottle feed him through the night it was exactly the same as having a new born baby and was a long couple of months, then we move on a year and he got it by a transit van breaking his front leg and costing 5k with aftercare. But touch wood he is 6 next month and going strong. And even if I say so myself he turned out pretty good for a pup that nearly didn't make it past 3 weeks old. Yes I am a proud Dad.

 

[Midwest]

We had a moggy that grew up with the kids, to a ripe old age of 14. She got a tumour, and the vet gave us the same options, but she went down hill quite rapidly. In the end we felt we were trying to hold onto the past, and it wasn't in the best interests of our pet. We decided to let her go. Time calls for us all, at least with animals they don't have to suffer.

 

[Harni]

Misia (the little chihuahua in my avatar) spent most of her first 4 months in and out of the vet's. She still hads trouble with one of her back legs some of the time (brain signals not getting there all the time) but she's pain free and now 4 years old. only seen the vet in last 3 years to have her claws clipped.

Is she on any long term drugs by any chance? Sounds like the exact symptoms my boy suffers from with his drugs. Its Ataxia and can be caused by certain drugs in some people and animals.

GMES, he's a fantastic looking dog!

 

[R G]

So sorry Paul , its one of the hardest things to face , give the poor sweetheart the best that you can give just like a child , and the best medical treatment to keep her going , and enjoy the remaining time with her , loosing a pet always leaves a mark on you and you will remember them , We have lost a few of ours , but there always here with us in our memories ,take care .....

 

[Pete999]

We all love our pets regardless if we are dog lovers, cat lovers, bird lovers etc etc etc. The time has come to make a decision on this one.....

Our lovely cat Jade went to the Vets yesterday and has been diagnosed with a Tumor in her mouth! She is 16 1/2 years old and still acts like a teenager lol (daft as a brush and looks like one).

Options= "A very abrasive operation" to remove half of her jaw to remove the Tumor/s.

Leave her be whilst on pain killers every day and let it take it's course.


We would never allow that amount of pain and suffering upon any animal, so it wont happen on our own cat.

Timescale, we have no idea. Could be a month or a year but in the mean time she will be treated to fish from the chippy (of cuts like always), Tuna from a tin every week, fresh salmon when customers pay up on time.


We have all been through this type of thing I'm sure. What are you memories? Hope after the hard times the good memories came flooding in.

Good bless Jade.

We had a stupid Male cat "Rambo" was it's name he was a bit of a nutter mind you, had him from a kitten up until he got bitten by something which turned into Cancer, at least that was the Vets opinion, suggestions from the Vet Pain Killers, Op tp remove his tail and part of his behind (that was where he was bitten) or put him to sleep, no brainer really to see a cat suffering, no chance, took the last option it was a wrench, Rambo is no more, probable causing mayhem in cat nirvana

 

[R G]

A mate of mine had 2 cats , names were Ronnie and Reggie , and they were both very cunning and crafty too ..

 

[Spoon]

I have always been a cat person myself. Been brought up with cats and I have seen many (4 or 5) cats go to the vets and not come back. I don't believe in forking out loads of money to fix an animals leg or something, again I think it's down to the way we had cats. Love them but they are pets and if anything happened (within reason) then they got put down rather than attempted fixing.
This sounds like I'm an animal hater, but I'm not. I never like to see animals hurt. Paul, as long as your cat is not in pain then just enjoy the time you have left with her.

 

[Besoeker]

Sad, sad thread. Something many of us have had to deal with - we owners have a much greater lifespan than (most) of our pets.
We know that going in but that doesn't make it any easier when the time comes. I'm with many here - don't unfairly prolong suffering.

 

[telectrix]

Is she on any long term drugs by any chance? Sounds like the exact symptoms my boy suffers from with his drugs. Its Ataxia and can be caused by certain drugs in some people and animals.

GMES, he's a fantastic looking dog!

misia'a not on any drugs. she was as a pup, mostly essential vitamins etc. the vet reckons that the problem with her leg is an intermittent conflict in her lower spinal cord.the problem has improved a lot over the yeasr and she doesn't seem to be in pain on the few occasions wher eshe now walks on 3 legs. sorry for the delay in replying, been working away 3 days.

 

[Paul.M]

By the looks of this thread, we are all animal lovers. Shame that our pets have to go through this and also the owners.

As for Jade, she is fine at the moment. The tumor in her mouth has increased in size and feeding is a bit more troublesome for her. We have to mush up her food to a pulp...... or feed her tuna (which is costing a fortune lol).

She is still loving life like always. I'm sure that she knows that something is wrong? She is acting a little bit out of caricature kind of thing??? Amazing how we can talk to animals without words. Only animal lovers know what I mean.

 

[northstar]

Feel for you Paul M and Mrs M must be a difficult choice to make. What do the vets recommend ?

 

[Paul.M]

Feel for you Paul M and Mrs M must be a difficult choice to make. What do the vets recommend ?

Thanks NorthStar. Easy choice to make to be quite honest. We will not put a 16 1/2 year old cat (although very fit and active) through that type of operation at that age. Having half of her jaw removed!!!!! No, just no.


It's Friday so treated her to a full tin of John West tuna. Tomorrow she will be having a small fish from the Chippy! Her favorite.

btw... think she likes the pain killers lol. We give it to her in the morning and about 20-30 mins later she is a bit spaced out :rofl:

 

[gnuuser]

i feel for you
the decision to say goodbye is very hard but the vet is the ultimate authority in many cases such as this.
having a good quality of life is a blessing to many animals and a great gift from the people who love them.
if your vet recommends putting them down to save them pain then its the best thing for the pet.

the sad thing is the pet doesn't understand what is happening to them only that it hurts and scares them.
its our burden to deal with the painful memories!
but we are not alone as we have others who can help us through it.

 

[Nolnoc]

I know this is an old thread but just thought I'd share. Last night I had to make the decision to put my golden retriever to sleep. I kind of inherited her after my mum passed away last year. She was my mums loyal companion for 10 years and mine for 1. I'm devastated to be honest and it seems worse than losing my mother. Obviously it's not but I suppose it's another link between me and her gone. I've to tell my daughter when she comes home from school and I'm dreading it. That's life I suppose. As you get older you lose things important to you.

 

[Leesparkykent]

I know this is an old thread but just thought I'd share. Last night I had to make the decision to put my golden retriever to sleep. I kind of inherited her after my mum passed away last year. She was my mums loyal companion for 10 years and mine for 1. I'm devastated to be honest and it seems worse than losing my mother. Obviously it's not but I suppose it's another link between me and her gone. I've to tell my daughter when she comes home from school and I'm dreading it. That's life I suppose. As you get older you lose things important to you.

Sorry to hear that Nolnoc.

 

[Pete999]

We all love our pets regardless if we are dog lovers, cat lovers, bird lovers etc etc etc. The time has come to make a decision on this one.....

Our lovely cat Jade went to the Vets yesterday and has been diagnosed with a Tumor in her mouth! She is 16 1/2 years old and still acts like a teenager lol (daft as a brush and looks like one).

Options= "A very abrasive operation" to remove half of her jaw to remove the Tumor/s.

Leave her be whilst on pain killers every day and let it take it's course.


We would never allow that amount of pain and suffering upon any animal, so it wont happen on our own cat.

Timescale, we have no idea. Could be a month or a year but in the mean time she will be treated to fish from the chippy (of cuts like always), Tuna from a tin every week, fresh salmon when customers pay up on time.


We have all been through this type of thing I'm sure. What are you memories? Hope after the hard times the good memories came flooding in.

Good bless Jade.

Our Moggy RAMBO got sick, he was bitten by something and it turned life threatening, no cure, nadda, two options prolong some sort of life with medication, or euthanasia, not a pleasant thing to contemplate, but in the long run, it was best for RAMBO so we chose the latter couldn't bear to see him suffer, not sure if this post is of any help, but I and Mrs Pete999 feel it was the right thing, RIP RAMBO

 

[Richard Burns]

The decision is always hard and you will always remember making it.
However it is generally for the best and while life deals from the bottom of the deck we have to ensure we can continue as best we can.

 

[Lou]

Aw we all love our pets so much. They become a huge part of the family and it is always sad whe we have to say goodbye and they go over the Rainbow Bridge.

 

[Paul.M]

@Nolnoc @Pete999 sorry to heard about your loss.

Jade had to be put down, she was starting to feel the pain regardless of the pain killers, not fair to her to continue.

Sunny Saturday morning & a "trip to the vets". Awful, emotional and soul destroying. Although the vets advised not to be in the room at the time, Mrs M and myself stayed for the full duration. I would not wish this on my worst enemy, heart wrenching sequence of different events watching a loving pet pass away. It was almost as harsh as signing a "Do not recover" contract with the hospital for my Dad that had Cancer (for the 2nd time... 10 days later died peacefully in his sleep).

Making hard decisions for the wright reasons is very difficult. I feel for the people that have to go through the same.

 

[ruston]

I liked that to let you know I am thinking of you .
That is the hardest thing a person has to do.
Four years ago I had to do the same thing , it still gets to me now . I will never forget it .
I have to be honest and say that I could not go through that again.
It takes trust to the ultimate.

 

[Richard Burns]

Sorry to hear that Paul, well done on making a decision that hurts you so much but stops someone else hurting.
Best wishes.