When to euthanize senior cat?

[mrsgreenjeens]

Ok, just so I understand, the Gabapentin is in powder form?  I'm guessing you are opening up the capsule to try to hide the powder in something?  If that is correct, how big is the capsule?  We have another thread on giving pills, which has all kinds of suggestions (but it seems you have tried most of them

) http://www.thecatsite.com/t/237863/ideas-for-hiding-pills, BUT the Greenies Pill Pockets are soft, not hard like regular Greenies.  Unfortunately, the "pocket" is not very big, that's why I asked how big the capsule is.  What I do, though,is just squeeze one flat, then wrap it around whatever I'm trying to hide.  (much easier to do than using a soft Whiska Lickin's)  Too bad the cat who  needs to take pills doesn't like them

, but at least the others do, so when they have to take meds, I'm set!

On, and as to the soft Whiska Lickin's....I learned that my boy will NOT take his pills in anything but the chicken leg treats!  Go figure.   And the trick is to get the medicine inside without any scent of it on the outside.  Very tricky.  It took several tries before I mastered it.  I take 2 treats and have them already squished down flat, then put the pill on top of one and very carefully lay the 2nd treat on top, then crimp the edges together tightly.  Once that's done, I have to reshape it to make it seem like the other treats.  Oh, the things we do for our cat

.  But they're worth it!!!!

The compounding pharmacy idea is probably your best bet.  Your Vet may not be able to do it, but they should be able to write the prescription for it.  If you can't find a local pharmacy who can do it, there are internet pharmacies that will.  If you could get this is a transdermal gel, that might be your best bet, but not all prescriptions can be done that way, and, unfortunately, not all bitter tasting drugs can be compounded to be completely bitter free.  (that's why I'm still hiding Sven's pills, rather than using the compounding pharmacy myself...they told me they could not get rid of all the bitterness in his medication.  (at least they were honest with me)

Worse case scenario, have you tried just pilling him?  If his medication is in strictly powder form, you can buy empty capsules to put it in (or hide it in to use the pill hiding tricks from above)

Keep us posted as to how things are coming along. 

 

[xthoroughbred]

Sorry I haven't been here for awhile!

I just asked my vet about compounding the Gabapentin, so hopefully that is an option. I haven't heard back yet.

The Gabapentin is a capsule, so it can be taken as a pill or the powder. I think it's pretty big...about the size of one of those turkey leg Whisker Lickin' treats--maybe longer. It has A LOT of powder though. It took about 20 Whisker Lickin' treats to get one pill's contents down him. And he simply won't swallow the pill no matter what. I got a piller from my vet last night and he won't open his mouth an inch to even get the piller in there, and he spits it right out if it's hidden in any food. He can also taste the powder in the middle of the treats that we hide it in. He'll literally be mid-chew and just let it all fall out of his mouth as soon as he gets to the powder in the middle. He went nuts over the Whisker Lickins' the first night we tried them, and now he won't even touch them WITHOUT the powder because of the times we tried using it WITH the powder. He thinks they'll always have medicine on the inside even though we alternated the medicine ones with regular ones when we gave them to him so that he wouldn't catch on.

So now we're kind of back at square one. He hasn't had the medicine in days... =/

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, I know the feeling about pilling them and having them know when there's a pill in their treats

.  My Sven is wise to me too!  Compounding is a great idea.  I'm in the midst of getting Sven's meds compounded also. Just waiting for the call to tell me they are ready to pick up.  Hopefully Gabapentin can be compounded.  Don't know why not...seems like almost anything can be, and into pretty much any form. 

Keep us posted! 

 

[ambermay]

May I express perhaps a bit unusual opinion?

Your kitty is 17 - it is wonderfully advanced age and I'm happy to hear that some of others live longer still.

It is commonly accepted being kind that we decide to put an animal person down if they are suffering.

But what level of suffering are we talking about?

I read all of this thread and truly feel your pain.

But if it was me - I'd not consider an option of putting my cat down.

I've been 'there' just recently when my vets in a very gentle way were subtly suggesting the possibility of putting my injured cat (young one - 3 years old) down because there is not much they could do anymore.

Well, I told them that she is not suffering that bad and I will never ever put her down, and if she dies - she dies with me.  This of course didn't happen.  She is on a way to her recovery so I believe and hope.

But the thing is:  I'm thinking on terms of humans.  We have bad days and good days.  We suffer from different illnesses at times, especially when we are old.

Like my mom (80 years old) - she  suffers a lot from many health issues and she made us promise that if anything bad to happen - we will not let her be a veg on life support machines.

I myself suffer a lot from osteoporosis and at times can't walk straight.  But some people suffer even more than me.

I think the same for my cats.  If they are still mobile somewhat and not on life support - they would not want to be put down.

I can see how much you love your kitty and I only hope that time will NOT come when you will have to make such a decision.

I hope that your kitty feels better with all the loving care you give and that he lives many more years not so suffering, but when time comes - he will make a peaceful transition having lived such a wonderful life, but not before that.

I'm sending my best healing thoughts and vibes and prayers to you and your precious baby.

 

[xthoroughbred]

Ugh. So I've had quite the trouble with the compounded Gabapentin. The first night we got it, he took it after a bit of a fight and went outside to cool down since he was growling and very unhappy. He stayed on the porch, so I assume he didn't get into anything. When he came in, he was acting very, very weird. His pupils were dilated (which is normal for him when he's on the Gabapentin), but he was walking very slowly. He came in our kitchen and laid down right in the middle of it, which he never does since he tries to steer clear of the traffic. Then he stood up after a while and, while walking VERY slowly, began wobbling back and forth as if he were drunk and dizzy. This went on for a good hour or two before I picked him up on our couch and got him to go to sleep. His breathing was very slow and I was seriously concerned. I checked the dosage about six times to make sure I didn't overdo it. After hours and hours of sleep, he woke up the next morning seemingly okay.

He then got a few days off the medicine since I was out of town and my family finds it very difficult to get medicine in him. I decided to give him only half the dose this morning and after a big fight, I got it in his mouth. He acted like he had peanut butter in there and then he began slobbering like a St. Bernard with strings of saliva hanging down to the floor. He was refusing any treats I tried to give him to get the taste out of his mouth, but eventually settled down to sleep (the medicine makes him SO drowsy). He's at home (not unattended) right now, so I won't know how he's handling the medicine until I get home from work. I'm thinking I'm just going to have to go back to the pill since the compounded liquid is clearly very strong and very disgusting to taste. And I'm honestly not sure any pain medicine is worth the fight if he's just going to fall asleep for hours and hours when he does that for most of the day anyway.

Ambermay, thanks for your post. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and am hoping I will only have to deal with the euthanasia if his hips give out on him and he can't walk anymore. That would be devastating for him since he loves going outside.

 

[sugarcatmom]

He acted like he had peanut butter in there and then he began slobbering like a St. Bernard with strings of saliva hanging down to the floor.

Oh no!! That doesn't sound very tasty at all! Either the Gabapentin just tastes so horrible that nothing can hide it, or whatever flavour they compounded it into doesn't agree with your boy. I agree, no pain med is worth administering if it doesn't actually improve his quality of life. Is acupuncture an option where you live?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, it doesn't sound like they really compounded this medicine if he is reacting that way after taking it, with the slobbering and whatnot...did they tell you anything about it not being something they could easily compound?  I got Sven's Pepcid in a liquid form, and I mix it into some smelly wet food, and he licks it up.  Is that an option so you don't have to fight to get it in him? What about something where you rub it on his pads or ears (transdermal I think it's called).

I think that after he takes it for a little while, he will get used to it, and won't sleep all the time, but could be mistaken.  It's the same with humans.  The first time I took it, I felt like I was drunk, but it didn't take me long to get used to it at all.

I agree with Sugarcatmom, too, that accupuncture might be an option.  Or even a heated bed would help, in all probability.

 

[xthoroughbred]

He does have a heated pad to sleep on, but he slept on it for one night and hasn't been on it since. He prefers things like old boxes and tissue paper to anything purposefully comfortable.

I don't know how easy it was to compound, but I know that they did it without too much fuss. My vet sent the prescription in and asked what flavor we wanted (fish) and we got it within a few days.

I just got off the phone with my vet who checked about a transdermal version. They can do this, but it's not as effective. It's also $28 a day. My vet knows this is outrageous, so we're going to keep trying other options throughout the week. I've attempted everything my vet could think of except for mixing the medicine with beef bouillon. Are there any other suggestions out there? I have a capsule (which can be broken open) and liquid to try. I'm desperate for something!

If we have no solution by the end of the week, I'll have to check into acupuncture. I'm just slightly nervous about that because the vet is pretty stressful.

 

[orientalslave]

Looking after a terminally ill cat is very stressful.  Very.  And if the cat has a long slow decline it's very hard to see when 'the time' has come.  That's partly why unless the cat finds it very stressful fairly regular vet visits are a good idea - it's far easier for someone who only sees the cat occasionally to see how he or she is doing than for those of us that are seeing them every day.  Thankfully my old cat suddenly went downhill over a couple of days and it was obvious, and thankfully the vet agreed.  He had suddenly lost weight, was more dehydrated than normal (he was on steroids which apparently have that effect) and along with the other things I had spotted and his general condition the vet very gently sent him on his way.

Personally I stopped worrying about feeding him what would be 'best' in medical terms and fed him what he would eat - quite a bit of that came from my plate!  I felt it more important he ate than he ate the 'right thing'.  I would do the same again in a similar situation without hesitation unless it was clearly making the cat's condition worse in some way.

To me one of the big, big problems with judging when the right time is is that cats are usually very stoic, and hide signs of pain and so on as much as they possibly can.  I always worried that my cat was actually in pain and was simply hiding it very well.  However no-one who saw him ever suggested that was an issue.

My own view is that it's about quality of life, not quantity.  Quantity is for me, quality is for him.