- Joined
- Apr 12, 2017
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My 17 year old elderly cat has a heart arrythmia and high blood pressure. He recently went blind from high blood pressure and I expected to put him down at that point, however he stabilized on the blood pressure medication and his vision has returned (if not normal, he can at least still see).
My question is when to euthanize? He has increased respiratory effort- If you hold him you can see how hard he works to breath and you can feel his heart beating through his chest. Abdominal breathing - but he does have a normal respiratory rate. Possible pleural effusion? Maybe. Despite this he is his usual happy and loving self. He eats normally, uses the litter box, walks around the house, and his favorite activity is snuggling with me while I watch TV. He purrs when petted and seems content/happy with the extra attention I have been heaping on him. He's not in pain, he's not overly uncomfortable. He does complain when picked up- it must be uncomfortable for him. He sleeps a lot. Isn't very active.
Anyhow... I'm really struggling with the when... I don't want him to suffer needlessly. My other cat is going in for euthanasia soon (cancer). Part of me thinks I should take them both and get it over with. Part of me thinks maybe I could give him more time.
They told me a year ago to expect him to deteriorate rapidly and that he may need euthanasia. I made all the arrangements- got a list of after hour clinics and weekend availability and then he never did deteriorate until recently. Just shows the vets don't know everything. They made it sound like he was going to drop dead the very next day... I don't think he was ready to leave- he had two episodes that looked like a heart attack but then immediately recovered (within say 30 seconds). Part of the heart arrythmia I assume? And nothing recent- last episode was months ago.
My question is when to euthanize? He has increased respiratory effort- If you hold him you can see how hard he works to breath and you can feel his heart beating through his chest. Abdominal breathing - but he does have a normal respiratory rate. Possible pleural effusion? Maybe. Despite this he is his usual happy and loving self. He eats normally, uses the litter box, walks around the house, and his favorite activity is snuggling with me while I watch TV. He purrs when petted and seems content/happy with the extra attention I have been heaping on him. He's not in pain, he's not overly uncomfortable. He does complain when picked up- it must be uncomfortable for him. He sleeps a lot. Isn't very active.
Anyhow... I'm really struggling with the when... I don't want him to suffer needlessly. My other cat is going in for euthanasia soon (cancer). Part of me thinks I should take them both and get it over with. Part of me thinks maybe I could give him more time.
They told me a year ago to expect him to deteriorate rapidly and that he may need euthanasia. I made all the arrangements- got a list of after hour clinics and weekend availability and then he never did deteriorate until recently. Just shows the vets don't know everything. They made it sound like he was going to drop dead the very next day... I don't think he was ready to leave- he had two episodes that looked like a heart attack but then immediately recovered (within say 30 seconds). Part of the heart arrythmia I assume? And nothing recent- last episode was months ago.