Hi Smart Cat People,
I was wondering if you guys could offer me some advice. I have a 13.5 year old sweet black kitty, who has been a puker for his whole life. We've always had to lock him seperate from my other cat, who is basically a goat, so that he could get some food. We've had to feed the black cat in several small meals since he was tiny. I guess I should have pushed harder then to see if something was wrong.
The goat cat has been on wet food for about six months, to try to thin her down, and I thought the black cat wasn't eating as much because he was jealous of her wet food. But then I gave the black cat wet food, and he wouldn't really eat much.
My husband picked up the black cat last week and said he was all skin and bones. I guess I knew this, but had been in denial. So I took the cat to the vet, where they felt a mass in his tummy and did an ultrasound. They aspirated the lump and found it to be carcinoma. All of his other bloodwork and such came back fine. They told me to make an appt. with an oncologist, since all of the testing had been done, and the oncologist could let me know if there are any options. I am waiting for that appt. on Monday before I make any decisions.
Little black cat wasn't eating much at all when he came back from all of those tests, but I've discovered that if I give him little spoonfuls of wet ID every couple of hours, he can eat a lot more and is a lot perkier. He also likes yogurt so much, so I've been giving him a little bit of that too. Occasionally, he is throwing up his food, but if I give him these tiny meals, he seems okay. He is still super skinny, and I hven't seen him go to the litter pan much or drink much water but he's not much of a water drinker.
Question is - we are leaving a week form this Saturday (five days after the oncologist appt.) for two weeks, when we get back, I'm starting a full time job. I won't be able to give him food every hour or two, because no one will be home. I don't think I have a cat sitter I can have come four times a day at least (I've been doing more than that). Also, I think it is hard on little black cat when we travel because goat cat eats all of his food.
So should I think about putting down little black cat before we leave? Would that be jumping the gun and taking away valuable time that would ad to the quality of his life? I'm going to wait to see what the oncologist says, but based on what I've read, surgery would be the only option, and he's not young, so I don't think I would want to put him through that. A couple of my friends have told me that I need to make the best decision for our whole family -- which, it should be noted, also includes my five year old son who is very aware of what is going on.
Little black cat has been sitting in the window a lot, and snuggling with me, and meowing in a good way occasionally. He seems to be sitting a little wierd sometimes, but he has times where he seems like himself, except super skinny.
I don't want to drag things out, giving him a million meds just to get a few more days. He's not in much pain, I don't think. We've had a good run. But I don't want to do it too soon either. But this trip - I can't cancel . . . And I do worry about goat cat when little black cat is gone, will my other cat be upset?
Help!
K
I was wondering if you guys could offer me some advice. I have a 13.5 year old sweet black kitty, who has been a puker for his whole life. We've always had to lock him seperate from my other cat, who is basically a goat, so that he could get some food. We've had to feed the black cat in several small meals since he was tiny. I guess I should have pushed harder then to see if something was wrong.
The goat cat has been on wet food for about six months, to try to thin her down, and I thought the black cat wasn't eating as much because he was jealous of her wet food. But then I gave the black cat wet food, and he wouldn't really eat much.
My husband picked up the black cat last week and said he was all skin and bones. I guess I knew this, but had been in denial. So I took the cat to the vet, where they felt a mass in his tummy and did an ultrasound. They aspirated the lump and found it to be carcinoma. All of his other bloodwork and such came back fine. They told me to make an appt. with an oncologist, since all of the testing had been done, and the oncologist could let me know if there are any options. I am waiting for that appt. on Monday before I make any decisions.
Little black cat wasn't eating much at all when he came back from all of those tests, but I've discovered that if I give him little spoonfuls of wet ID every couple of hours, he can eat a lot more and is a lot perkier. He also likes yogurt so much, so I've been giving him a little bit of that too. Occasionally, he is throwing up his food, but if I give him these tiny meals, he seems okay. He is still super skinny, and I hven't seen him go to the litter pan much or drink much water but he's not much of a water drinker.
Question is - we are leaving a week form this Saturday (five days after the oncologist appt.) for two weeks, when we get back, I'm starting a full time job. I won't be able to give him food every hour or two, because no one will be home. I don't think I have a cat sitter I can have come four times a day at least (I've been doing more than that). Also, I think it is hard on little black cat when we travel because goat cat eats all of his food.
So should I think about putting down little black cat before we leave? Would that be jumping the gun and taking away valuable time that would ad to the quality of his life? I'm going to wait to see what the oncologist says, but based on what I've read, surgery would be the only option, and he's not young, so I don't think I would want to put him through that. A couple of my friends have told me that I need to make the best decision for our whole family -- which, it should be noted, also includes my five year old son who is very aware of what is going on.
Little black cat has been sitting in the window a lot, and snuggling with me, and meowing in a good way occasionally. He seems to be sitting a little wierd sometimes, but he has times where he seems like himself, except super skinny.
I don't want to drag things out, giving him a million meds just to get a few more days. He's not in much pain, I don't think. We've had a good run. But I don't want to do it too soon either. But this trip - I can't cancel . . . And I do worry about goat cat when little black cat is gone, will my other cat be upset?
Help!
K
