aging cat and hard decisions

We have an aging cat (the Rocket) in our household (13+ years old). He's one of our earlier adoptees who was an outdoor cat. He's generally been in excellent health, solid and muscular, the guardian of the yard.

Over the past couple of years he had been licking one spot on his back completely bald, and had also started losing alot of weight, though he was eating well. We took him to the vet about a year ago, he said his thyroid activity was marginal, and prescribed low-dose Megace to generally just calm him, and that seemed to solve everything; he started putting his weight back on, and the fur grew back. We tested him again in February and his thyroid (and everything else) was normal...

However, about a week ago (a little more, now), he just completely stopped eating and drinking... He disappeared for a couple of days (actually, he may have been under one of our large yard bushes, we have a very feral yard!), not showing up for crunchies in the morning, which he usually would not miss. When he did appear, he was thin, dehydrated, and generally unresponsive, no interest in food or attention.

We took him to the vet a couple of days ago; they ran a full spectrum of tests and xrays, and our doctor says basically there's nothing wrong that isn't the direct result of dehydration. His kidneys are fine, thyroid is fine, he doesn't know what was wrong with him.

For now, he's put him on a drug which stimulates his appetite, and he has us giving fluids by IV under the skin, once a day, to try to stimulate urination. Well, his appetite has picked up quite nicely, but he's essentially not drinking at all; he *is* urinating a little, but I suspect it's mostly the IV liquid that he's getting rid of. Hopefully this will change as a few more days pass. Unfortunately, unlike our first lady (who had gradual kidney failure, but *loved* the IV because she knew she'd get a half-hour-a-day of undivided attention!!), Rocket DESPISES the injection, and hates being held when we won't let go... if we have to keep this up long-term, I think things are going to get ugly. I dearly hope he starts drinking soon.

So what's my point in all this ?!?!

I guess, I think, I just wanted to discuss how to make hard decisions... no, how to know when to make hard decisions, and maybe ask for some insights on how to decide when there's no hope for recovery, or at least not enough hope to give him a good quality of life. We (my wife and I) are too close to be sure that we're making decisions entirely for him and not for ourselves; we love this boy so much, we have five cats now, but Rocket is the earliest that remains; he came to us 13 years ago, shortly after we bought our house here, he's almost an Avatar of the house!!

We're keeping him in the garage right now, to keep the others away from him, he's used to being outside and being left alone; our Siamese (Yoda) in particular would give him no peace if we didn't keep them separated. He's actually tolerating the garage okay right now, only occasionally running to the back door to ask out, but if he gets any healthier, he's going to become very insistent!! However, if we let him out, he'll just vanish for days at a time, especially if he realizes I'm going to be poking him with a needle every day...

I know many of you have dealt with this exact issue, I've read so many other stories here about folks giving fluids by IV... so when is it time to draw the line? Or is it *ever* time? Should I be happy that he's healthy enough to complain about the needle, and being held? How do you judge the quality of his life? and how do I make sure that I'm deciding for him, and not just for us???

I am sorry you are going through this. Is there any way you can get a 2nd opinion from another vet? Last summer I had to put my senior kitty Claude to sleep at the age of 15. Claude was an indoor only kitty and suddenly began losing weight and being lethargic. I took him to a vet and he was diagnosed with early stage CRF. I switched him over to a wet food only diet. He would not eat the perscription CRF foods at all. I took him to the vet a couple of times to get fluids. Later on they checked his numbers and everything was suddenly normal. I really wonder if he ever really had CRF at all. Once his numbers were normal he began eating more and was gaining weight for a while. He stayed thin though for the rest of his life.

Claude was around for about 3 more years after this health scare. Unfortunately he had a stroke last summer and we made the painful decision to put him to sleep. Claude could barely walk, would not eat at all and did not recognize us anymore.

Are there things that your cat is no longer able to do that he always enjoyed. The big one for us with Claude was him not being able to take showers anymore. He had been taking showers since he was a baby. Claude was part of my life since the day he was born. It was a painful and difficult decision but we just knew in our hearts that it was time to say goodbye to our buddy.

I hope things change and you do not need to make this decision yet. You will know in your heart when it is time by watching your cat's behavior.

I hope my experience will provide you with some answers.

Hugs to you and your family during this difficult time.

If you don't already have one, get a cat fountain, it really does pique their interest in drinking.
Also feeding wet even only twice a day, with water added to it, helps a lot!

Hi y'all!
Thanks for the encouraging thoughts and ideas... the fountain idea is great, I may try that this evening when (if) we move Rocket back into the garage. I *have* a fountain in my computer room, that's there for the indoor cats to play with, I never thought of putting it out there for him.

We're giving him the run of the house today, he's looking *much* better, his skin is feeling more normal and he's alert and affectionate. Fortunately, Yoda is leaving him alone (that was my big worry about him roaming the house), so he's been sleeping on milady's bed like he used to.

BTW, we *have* been giving him soft food since we brought him in; our vet had given us a couple of cans of Science Diet AD, he said that's easy for them to take when they don't feel like eating, and indeed he seems to be enjoying it quite well; we're giving him as much as he'll eat.

I think he's going to be okay, though we're going to keep him in for awhile yet.

I'm so glad CatSite is here, we came here first when we were bringing Jasmine into the house, and were so afraid that Yoda (Siamese, and twice her size) would just overwhelm her, but your advice was true then as it is now.

I don't contribute much, because others know so much more than me, but it's reassuring to see so many others that deal with these same issues, that seem insurmountable when one is dealing with them alone.

One thing that amazes me (and frightens me sometimes) is just how fragile cats really are!! Rocket was 9 pounds of solid muscle through most of his life, few (cat *or* human) would challenge him without careful consideration; I once saw him pin a cat twice his size against the back fence, it fled for its life with his claws tearing at it... yet something happened two weeks ago, and in a few days he was struggling for his life!!

My wonderful Brainiac, my beautiful Brainy, came to us blind, about a year of age, 11 pounds of solid muscle, he would track insects by their sound, and once brought a dragonfly into the house and offered it to us as a gift! And then at 11 years of age he just stopped eating one day... I tried giving him soft food in water via a syringe, but he just threw it up. An Xray at the vet showed us a stomach full of tumors, and the next day he was gone... I still miss him years later; that's part of why we panicked when Rocket stopped eating...

//***********************************
We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way.

We cherish memory as the only certain immortality

Irving Townsend

I'm glad it seems like Rocket is heading for a bit of a turn around.

The best advice I can give you is some advice that was given me when my angel kitty was so sick and we were facing what to do and how to know. He had been sick for about a year. A long roller coaster that was terrible on all of us. He would rebound and be fine and then be worse than he was with every relapse.

Finally the day came when I just knew that within the week I would loose him. I think you just know. Even when you don't want to - deep inside you know. Something in their eyes and in your soul tells you that their struggle is over.

So I was speaking with a girl who works at the vet who I had become a friend with we had taken Frisky up there in a mad rush when "the morning" came. She came into the room to say good bye as she'd grown to know and love my Frisky. I asked her "How do I know it's time? How do I know I've given him enough of a chance?"

She told me "You'll just know." She said "you'll look at him and realize that he can't be him anymore. All the things that made him "him" are pretty much gone. There are more bad days than good days. And you'll know that the best thing you can do for him as is mom is to let him go and not suffer."

Over two years later I cry as I remember that day. I collapsed outside the vets office when I left him. But her words to me helped me so much. I know that he had more bad than good. I know that he couldn't be that cat that I knew and loved because he was suffering. I know that I did the kindest thing for him. Allowing him to suffer any longer would have been selfish - and I loved him too much for that.

I don't envy anyone in that position. But we will all be there someday. Give Rocket a hug. Know you love him and do the best for him.

I hope Rocket is still doing better.

I think KittyMom4's post was just great.


Robin