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This is LONG, so I apologize.
My oldest cat, Blondie has lived with my parents since I moved away and got married. She is a very, very sensitive soul who gets beat up and terrorized by other cats. She also has a very strong bond with my mother. Due to her age and circumstances I felt it was better to leave her in a nice big country home than in a dinky, noisy city apartment.
She is NOW 12.5 years old. She was four-paw declawed when I got her. As I said, she is very sensitive. She has always had an underlying anxiousness that she keeps bottled up. Over the years I have tried to have her live with other cats without success. She would get re-occuring bladder infections. Also, she started having trouble with her anal glands in 1999 (I think). Anway, after three abscess's and one that ruptured very badly (the vets say it is unbelievably painful when that happens), the vet recommended surgery to remove the glands. They did mention risks, but after her surgery they said she was fine, no problems.
Jump ahead from 2002 (year of surgery) to January 2006. Blondie is now 12.5 years old. My mother discovered diarreah under her bed and strange stains she felt were pee. I discounted the pee theory and felt she had gotten sick under the bed (seperate from the diarreah) SOMETIMES Blondie's anal area had a strange green leak or clear leak coming from it but the NEW vet (at a different animal hospital) said "The anal glands are gone so it probably isn't anything serious." (this was mentioned a couple of years ago during an exam).
This year, Blondie had an appointment to have her teeth cleaned. My mother called the latest vet (closer to home) and asked to have a thorough examination of Blondie's anal area. Instead of doing the exam first and contacting my mother, they did the cleaning first and then examined her anal area.
The news is not good. They told my mom that the RIGHT sphincter muscle had been damaged back in 2002 and it was flaccid (paralyzed). They explained that when Blondie has diarreah, she cannot control it. Also the weeping in her rear-end is off and on. That's what the mysterious stains were under my mother's bed.
Here's the dilemma. She is getting old, she has cost my parents and I a small fortune to keep her healthy (My mother was po'd that the vet didn't examine Blondie FIRST, call with the findings and then ASK if my mother wanted to proceed with a $200 dental surgey. She feels vets take advantage of owners and are deceptive. This latest discovery is hard on my mom. She LOVES this cat with all her heart. Blondie is extremely bright and obedient. When she vomits, she will run and get my mom so she can clean it up right away. When the stains were discovered under the bed, she looked so sad, like she knew her secret was discovered. She tries SO hard not to mess in the house. When she does get sick it is NEVER on our good oriental rugs, always on the floor or on our family room carpeting which is trashed from the other owners anyway.
My mother fears that this leaking is actually causing pain in Blondie's behind and she worries about eventual damage to her carpeting (although it takes a back seat to her concern over Blondie). She worries now that Blondie isn't going to be able to take the stress of yearly teeth cleanings, and lastly she is concerned about the thousands of dollars going out now for Blondie's upkeep. She has been crying for days now because she is contemplating putting Blondie down, but she (like all of us) is so attached because of Blondie's stellar disposition and behavior (she never, ever, ever, has bitten a human being even when terrified or in lots of pain).
My mom feels Blondie's quality of life is only going to deteriorate even further, with the end result being euthansia in a year or two anyway. She wants Blondie to go in peace and dignity.
The last wrinkle in this is that Blondie eats well, plays like a kitten, snuggles with my mother, and she is meticulous about her bathroom habits. She doesn't urinate or deficate anywhere but her box. The leaky rear hasn't been a huge issue over the past four years since her surgery (one gland is fine so maybe that holds the poo in under normal circumstances?)
Would you, or should we have her put down??? Would I be a horrible human being if I gave my mother the o.k to have her PTS?? This is tearing us up like nothing we have experienced before.
My oldest cat, Blondie has lived with my parents since I moved away and got married. She is a very, very sensitive soul who gets beat up and terrorized by other cats. She also has a very strong bond with my mother. Due to her age and circumstances I felt it was better to leave her in a nice big country home than in a dinky, noisy city apartment.
She is NOW 12.5 years old. She was four-paw declawed when I got her. As I said, she is very sensitive. She has always had an underlying anxiousness that she keeps bottled up. Over the years I have tried to have her live with other cats without success. She would get re-occuring bladder infections. Also, she started having trouble with her anal glands in 1999 (I think). Anway, after three abscess's and one that ruptured very badly (the vets say it is unbelievably painful when that happens), the vet recommended surgery to remove the glands. They did mention risks, but after her surgery they said she was fine, no problems.
Jump ahead from 2002 (year of surgery) to January 2006. Blondie is now 12.5 years old. My mother discovered diarreah under her bed and strange stains she felt were pee. I discounted the pee theory and felt she had gotten sick under the bed (seperate from the diarreah) SOMETIMES Blondie's anal area had a strange green leak or clear leak coming from it but the NEW vet (at a different animal hospital) said "The anal glands are gone so it probably isn't anything serious." (this was mentioned a couple of years ago during an exam).
This year, Blondie had an appointment to have her teeth cleaned. My mother called the latest vet (closer to home) and asked to have a thorough examination of Blondie's anal area. Instead of doing the exam first and contacting my mother, they did the cleaning first and then examined her anal area.
The news is not good. They told my mom that the RIGHT sphincter muscle had been damaged back in 2002 and it was flaccid (paralyzed). They explained that when Blondie has diarreah, she cannot control it. Also the weeping in her rear-end is off and on. That's what the mysterious stains were under my mother's bed.
Here's the dilemma. She is getting old, she has cost my parents and I a small fortune to keep her healthy (My mother was po'd that the vet didn't examine Blondie FIRST, call with the findings and then ASK if my mother wanted to proceed with a $200 dental surgey. She feels vets take advantage of owners and are deceptive. This latest discovery is hard on my mom. She LOVES this cat with all her heart. Blondie is extremely bright and obedient. When she vomits, she will run and get my mom so she can clean it up right away. When the stains were discovered under the bed, she looked so sad, like she knew her secret was discovered. She tries SO hard not to mess in the house. When she does get sick it is NEVER on our good oriental rugs, always on the floor or on our family room carpeting which is trashed from the other owners anyway.
My mother fears that this leaking is actually causing pain in Blondie's behind and she worries about eventual damage to her carpeting (although it takes a back seat to her concern over Blondie). She worries now that Blondie isn't going to be able to take the stress of yearly teeth cleanings, and lastly she is concerned about the thousands of dollars going out now for Blondie's upkeep. She has been crying for days now because she is contemplating putting Blondie down, but she (like all of us) is so attached because of Blondie's stellar disposition and behavior (she never, ever, ever, has bitten a human being even when terrified or in lots of pain).
My mom feels Blondie's quality of life is only going to deteriorate even further, with the end result being euthansia in a year or two anyway. She wants Blondie to go in peace and dignity.
The last wrinkle in this is that Blondie eats well, plays like a kitten, snuggles with my mother, and she is meticulous about her bathroom habits. She doesn't urinate or deficate anywhere but her box. The leaky rear hasn't been a huge issue over the past four years since her surgery (one gland is fine so maybe that holds the poo in under normal circumstances?)
Would you, or should we have her put down??? Would I be a horrible human being if I gave my mother the o.k to have her PTS?? This is tearing us up like nothing we have experienced before.
