Is it time to say goodbye?

captain cirk

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Hi. I'm new here and am seeking support and advice for an elderly cat. My cat, Daisy, is a spayed 15 year old female cat who has been obese most of her life. A few years ago I managed her feeding and she came down to normal weight, but she still loves her food...until recently. Back in May/June of this year I noticed she had her left third eye lid protruding with left eye squinting, clear weeping of the left eye, sneezing, excessive drool (on the left side), bad balance, and an abnormal gait. She had been pawing at her left face for some time and managed to pull off some left whiskers. Not sure what was going on I took her to the vet. The vet examined her and found no trauma to her left eye and noticed she was in need of dental work thinking that she may have abscesses teeth causing pressure on her eye. Knowing that the dental work was going to cost $1,600 (and not having the money) I opted to have lab work and medications instead. Lab work was found to be normal and she was prescribed oral and eye drop antibiotics along with oral pain meds. Her gait returned to normal, and she seemed more comfortable eating, however, she wasn't able to eat well with food falling out of her mouth. Since August I noticed her eating habits worsening and it seems as though her left face has atrophied and seems paralyzed. I wonder if this isn't a dental issue, but more cardiovascular as in she may have had a stroke and her left face is paralyzed. Daisy has trouble eating food (I always give her wet food) and can't navigate her mouth around the bowl so I've been spoon feeding her for the past few weeks and she keeps dropping food out of her mouth. She now sneezes blood, her left eye is shut and looks sunken in, and her left face appears asymmetrically smaller than her right side. For the past few days she has only been able to eat less than 50% of her normal intake despite my efforts of spoon feeding her. She also seems to have loss of senses on the left side of her face as she startles herself when her left face bumps into the spoon with food on it. Now she just sits in front of her bowl while I try to spoon feed her and she might take a couple bites and a few licks, but appears to have no interest in eating. I'm not sure what is going on anymore. Is she at the end? Is it that 15 years has caught up to her or am I a horrible pet owner? I'm thinking she has had a stroke and can no longer go on as she has deficits that are preventing her to eat... Or is it really dental related? I tell myself she's had 15 good years and I can't afford $1,600 on a dental procedure for her to live maybe another 1 or two years at best. I'm broken up about this as she was my first cat I've had as an adult. I've read about animals ceasing to eat when the end is near. I don't want her to begin suffering. Please tell me your thoughts. Thank you.
 

red top rescue

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I can't diagnose Daisy's condition, but it is obviously interfering with her quality of life. She sounds a lot like my friend's cat, who was also 15, when he got an oral tumor which was barely noticeable at first when the vet did do his dentistry (because he was drooling a little and they thought it might be tooth issues) but there was a tiny little lump under his tongue that the vet thought was a cyst but he biopsied it just in case, and it turned out to be oral squamous cell carcinoma.  My friend went to a specialist and they tried chemotherapy but it didn't work, or maybe it slowed it down, we don't know for sure, and surgery was really out of the question because it would have caused too much suffering just trying to recover.  She kept feeding him and basically doing hospice care, and he lasted three months, but eventually he totally stopped eating even when she spoon fed him and was obviously getting worse, she knew it was time to put him to sleep gently and not let him suffer.  It broke her heart but it was definitely time, and the kindest thing to do.  It does sound like you may be at that point also.  It is the last loving thing we can do for them when their health fails.  I'm sorry you are going through this and wish you strength, courage, and love.
 
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