Major, many years ago I watched as my beloved soul mate dog wasted away from congestive heart failure. At first he would eat if I boiled and ground chicken for him, but eventually he would not eat at all. One day, he wandered out of the yard and was taken to my vet by strangers. I picked him up and took him home, but the next morning, when he couldn't even raise his head to look at me, I knew it was time.

For months I wondered how I would ever know when the right time comes, but we do, they let us know. And holding him as he drifted off to rest, though painful for me, gave me the knowledge that he was at peace as he said goodbye. There was no place he would rather be than in my arms.

Jake is partly in my pet garden, and partly in the wind above the trails we loved to hike together, maybe nurturing a young seedling. It has been almost five years and I never stop remembering him, but they are happy thoughts.

My heart is with you as you say goodbye to your
Rusty. Our animal friends come into our lives and leave, always too soon, but the joy we share, the love that cannot be denied, makes life so much richer and fuller.

Major wrote:
Tomorrow I take my miniature poodle, Rusty, into the vet's to be put to sleep.

I've never had to euthanize because of dire financial circumstance. On the other hand, and this'll probably get me jumped on for saying it in the middle of this crowd, the cat is a cat, and you shouldn't bankrupt yourself for it. Giving him the best you have to offer is all you can do. And sometimes our best isn't what we want it to be.

Sometimes people take in a stray or adopt and then financial circumstances change. With the large number of foreclosures in LA right now, the shelters are bursting. People can't take their animals with them as they downsize into apartments. The rescue group that took Sam said they have more dogs than usual for this very reason.

Elfie, I like what you said, "sometimes our best isn't what we want it to be." That applies to so many parts of our lives.

Age seems less relevant to me than it may be to other people.

One of our cats died unexpectedly at 7-ish. He had likely been ill for a few days or even weeks, but he hid it from us - when we moved the bed some time later, we discovered he'd been throwing up clear fluid under the bed where no one could see. Poor little guy.

Our other cat was poisoned (improperly medicated) by a vet and as a result developed CRF far too young (age 9-ish). Her symptoms were identical to what you describe, and the prognosis isn't good if untreated. In our case they waived the $1500 bill since it was their fault, and we've managed at home since then.

The outcome for older, ill pets is tragic in shelters; in fact it's horrific. In some areas they're euthanized in a matter of days, in others, they aren't given the dignity of euthanasia, but are pitched into the 'dead and dying' bin. If a shelter is the only other choice I think I'd rather see a cat go to the "rainbow bridge" in the arms of its loving person than endure the nightmare of an animal shelter, even for a few days.

There may be some options with rescue organizations. Maybe the vet can recommend some? Maybe there is a low- or no-cost group who could manage the bloodwork?

Either way, the signs are bad. I know that none of the options are ideal, but I don't fault you for making a choice that works best for you right now.

Major, my thoughts are with you and Rusty. I'm sending my love.

Hi, y'all,
I haven't read anything posted here since yesterday yet, but I wanted to give you good news about my cat!
Today was to be the day of decision of life or death for kitty.

For 4 days she had shown no improvement. Sleeping literally all day, not eating, not moving, when she did walk, listing to one side.

Yesterday, she started eating! (chicken)
She ate 4 times, like she had just remembered how.

It was like she finally came to. She is sleeping now, and every time she goes to sleep I am scared, cuz once she got better, than relapsed, but I do believe she is on the mend. In fact, I'm sure of it. This morning she got up when I did, went in kitchen looking for food, which is her normal behavior [every cat's normal behavior, right? ]

She hadn't done that in 4 days. Every time I came in the house I was afraid I would find her dead, would go see if she was still breathing.

This morning after she ate, she did what she usually does, except it was almost a disaster. After she eats she always goes onto a window sill in the back room to "read the paper" as they say: to check out what is going on outside. This time I followed her as she headed that way, cuz getting to the window sill involves 3 jumps, which are usually not a problem.

But of course she is in a very weakened state. I wasn't fast enough, she threw herself from landing to landing, almost falling, but somehow making it.

I worry about her falling, but seeing her do this, for the first time since this nightmare began, made me happy.

I think what turned the trick-
1-I stopped the antibiotic.

2- yesterday I used a straw to get some water into her. (She doesn't drink water even when well, and without her getting the water that I normally put in her food, I was worried about the consequences.) It was after this that she started eating.

3- I've been giving her thuja + Rescue Remedy+Star of Bethlehem. The latter 2 are Bach remedies, good for human and non-human in cases of trauma. Thuja was recommended to me - it is a homeopathic - when kitty had a similar response to a vaccination. But in that case her almost-comatose state only lasted 2 days.

So the signs are good. She even batted a little bit at a string.
The next hurdle will be getting her from chicken delicacies back to regular food. But that's a good hurdle compared to deciding whether or when to let her go.

ellen

Hi EllenR. I'm so glad to hear Kitty is doing better today!

Once when my Christopher was really sick, I used a syringe (with no needle) to put chicken broth in his mouth. (Ok, every few hours all night...) It helped, though! Small, frequent meals also worked best, once he started eating again.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Major, best wishes to you and your family also.

Hey Gardenz,
I thot about posting my e-mail, cuz I most wanted to 'talk' to you.
But I didn't want to obligate you.
But since you asked
I'll give you my not-too personal e-mail account where you can contact me-
georgekat22@yahoo.com

Look forward to hearing from you. I know what an animal lover you are

Thanks Elizabeth

Major - Well by now perhaps you have made your vets visit.
I know how sad it is even when the time is right, as it clearly is for Rusty. He was lucky to have you and your home for those years.

I agree - I always remember the cat I had for 19 1/2 years. She is buried in a park and I can visit her grave. It's in a special place with a lot of animals around, which she would like. I still miss her 8 years later.

re- being in the vet room when animal is euthanized - I was in the room with my Pata Pata. I meant in my post that to Robin, that she felt bad thinking she had kept her cat too long, and I meant that at least the cat had died with her, as opposed to dying alone.

Jennifer that is how I felt about my Pata Pata - I bonded with her in a different way. I'd always been an animal lover, but this was different. She showed to me that human and non-human could be so close, and share a kind of communication, and that made me look at all non-human animals differently.

"And if you already know that you can't responsibly maintain a pet, please turn any that show up at your door to your local shelter or rescue." I'm reasonably sure that my little cat, even if her life were to end tomorrow, has had a wonderful (spoiled) 7 years which she would not have had, had I turned her into the shelter.

Shelters don't have enough money (no $7 billion bailout for them), so they don't even euthanize humanely. As someone else on here said, they throw them on a pile and let them die.
No... I don't think so.

ellen

Thanks ellen. You've got mail.

Ellen,

I am so happy to hear that you cat seems to be coming around. That is such wonderful news for both you and your cat.

We will take Rusty in later on today. We made the last appointment the vet had for the day so Rusty could have one more day with us. As I said before he will pass in my arms and know that he is loved then come home with us to be with us in our yard forever.

Hey Ellen
So happy that your kitty baby is feeling better.
((Hugs))

Major, we're thinking about you and Rusty,
ya'll are in my prayers.
((Hugs))

Robin

Ellen, I am glad your cat is feeling better. I will keep you and her in my prayers.

Major, I will keep you and Mrs. Major in my prayers too, as you say goodbye to your dear furbaby.

--J--

I'm so glad your cat has "come around". I hope she continues to recover, and give her a brush on the nose (if she'll have it) for me.

So glad she is feeling better, too. Maybe she needs a new brand of food?

Thank you Elfie and Maggie.
She eats better than me!
I give her Natural Balance. It's really healthy and really expensive, and is the best I've been able to find.