This is just a quick update before we take her to the vet for euthanasia. She has taken a turn for the worse. I had booked in a vet’s visit today at midday to put her to sleep because she was demonstrating signs of leaving us yesterday. She was more passive than usual. She spent long hours in a crouched position with head hanging and on one occasion she was breathing heavily and her neck was craned forward. That was the moment when I rang the vet.
She had been quite OK before that in many ways. She started to eat less and then stopped. I think the steroid injection that had perked her up had worn off.
She spent a peaceful night on my partner’s bed. At about 7 am, she jumped off and had a coughing/vomiting fit for a short while and then went under the bed where she lay down and breathed heavily then poorly. We thought that was the end. It was dreadful for her and us.
She got up and is now in a crouched position and passive. We are going to ring the vet as soon as they open at 8:30 am and try and get her in first thing to send her on her way to a better world and over the rainbow bridge.
It has been a restless night for us all. She has touched us and my partner is extremely distraught. And so am I. This is high stress.
I had wanted to go to the vet sooner. Perhaps I waited too long. It is hard to make a good decision.
Earlier posts:
I’m so sorry Michael for your loss and naturally I’m sorry I’ve not commented before now I’ve not looked at my emails until today 🙁
In the end you have done absolutely the right thing for little Cardi. You are right though as devastating as it is death is a part of life and for our beloved companion animals euthanasia is the very last decent thing you can do for them. You know it deep down but it still doesn’t stop it from breaking your heart and it doesn’t matter how many times you have to do it you will always beat yourself up and ask the same questions ‘did I do it too soon?’ ‘should I have waited?’ ‘Should I have done it at all?’ You have these emotions and questions because you care and you feel her illness and passing so deeply.
Your grief saddens us all because we have all experienced your thoughts and feelings at some time or other and know we will no doubt again at some point in the future; we all care you see.
Take care and know Cardi is no longer in discomfort.
Michael,
I feel for you for all you have gone through, but I hope in time you will come to remember only the blessing of having Cardi in your life and how you were able to help her and her caretaker during a difficult time.
It seems that Cardi rallied just before she died. For awhile it seemed she was getting better, but then the end came quickly. I have seen this in humans frequently. Sometime I’ll be working with someone in physical therapy who had been very ill for a long time, but suddenly are getting so much better. They may even be walking again. Everyone is very excited, because it seemed like they were going to die. But then they either slowly begin to decline again or even suddenly get worse and die within a few days. I was very close to one patient and just devastated by her death, losing some professional objectivity, I suppose, but sometimes you feel a connection with someone and you are just really pulling for them to regain their independence and go home. Instead she went home to The Lord.
But looking back I now treasure that time I worked with her. That little bit of time when a person gets better right before they die is a special time of life. It’s like a last chance to really live before death takes it all away. I cherish the times I have shared that time with someone– glad that I made that time a little brighter. Though the physical therapy goals they were working toward all become meaningless, their joy in working toward and meeting some of those goals was not. Spending time talking with them, learning their stories– that was a privilege.
You had that privilege with Cardi. You got to be a part of her last chance to truly live before death took it all away and you made that time the best it could have been. You can do no better thing in life than to ease another’s journey at the end. I see why hospice nurses like working in that field. I couldn’t do it all the time, but I’m glad for the times I’ve made the end of a person’s life better. You did that for Cardi.
Ruth
Thanks a lot Ruth. I actually feel exactly the same about the experience. We made a difference to Cardi’s life at the end. We should be proud of that and pleased that Cardi had as good a time as she could have. She did look better at one time but there were signs like gurgling and sleeping more than usual and crouching with head low and so on. I was worried all the time and realistic. She appeared to me to be suffering during the last two days of her life. It was time. Miss her. She is with the Lord now and in a better place.
Michael:
My deepest condolence to you & your, Cardie was a sweet cat with a very pretty face; her suffering is over & Michael is no longer watching Cardie suffer. She had lots of TLC from those that truly cared about her & for her.
Very difficult to lose a loved one whether human or animal. Michael as mentioned before you have a special BIG heart that loves to care.
Most sincerely,
keenpetite
Southeast Arizona
Sorry I haven’t posted several days, 1/18/13 diagnosed with bronchitis almost pneumonia, long haul but better days ahead.
Poor you keenpetite. I hope you get better soon. Thanks for your support. It was a bruising time emotionally. Her last day was awful and I felt I had been hit over the head at the end of it. She is in a better place. I was worried at the end that she would suffer. It was a relief at the end. The fit/sneezing episode she had was unpleasant.
thanks for all your best wishes for Tiggy my sister had one with overacvive thyroid and lived another 5 years dont think he had the heart trouble though i shall just enjoy her for as long as she’s got. she is a real character always comes to see our visitors lol !!
I really feel for you Michael as I’ve had the experience and now I have a 13 year old with heart cond and overactive thyroid so we’re trying to get the meds right for her so costly but worth it maybe she will have another couple of yearsRIP Cardi
Hopefully she can be around longer than a couple of years. I’ve heard of cats living quite a long time with thyroid conditions – given the right special diet and care. I have often read of cats in this situation out living the estimations by a lot. They have come a long way in creating prescription diets that are very effective in keeping your cat healthy and within more reasonable ph ranges etc. Good luck to you and your 13 year old cat.
I second what Marc says, our cat Ebony had 3 more happy years after the vet told us she was living on borrowed time.
She chose her own time to leave us and died peacefully aged 17.
We just have to treasure every moment with our cats while we can as we are merely their caretakers on this earth.
Thanks Valerie. Best wishes to you and your 13 year old.