...with backdrop of dying cat

[flexagon]

It's official -- we're not having a good cat year. We already lost Hobbes; now we've learned that Rafe has lymphoma on or around his stomach, the same thing his brother Frankenstein died from in 2008. Well, we knew something was wrong and now we know what. :-( heisenbug has decided not to go with chemo or surgery this time, but just to treat with Prednisone -- basically palliative care to make Rafe feel better for the couple of months he has left. I tried really hard not to influence that decision, which wasn't mine to make, but I do support it, and I'm proud of the bug for evolving his stance on pet end-of-life.

Work's also been pretty brutal (a story there in itself, if I were allowed to tell it), and I've been physically low-energy thanks to a cold that hit me last Friday. Better now, though.

With so much going on very close to my heart, in my body, in my home, all events further away are blurred; I haven't followed the Snowden thing, and I only know about today's SCOTUS rulings on Prop 8 and DOMA because of LJ alerting me to keep an ear open. I didn't even vote in yesterday's special election even though I had a preference between candidates... apfelsingail was visiting and I had acro to do, and the radius of my attention is small. The world will have to take care of itself for a while.

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

:( :( :( :( :( kitty!

[flexagon]

kitty. :(

Early 2013, three kitties. Middle of 2013, two kitties. Late 2013, one kitty??

Nala is fifteen. I keep telling her "live to be twenty", but who knows with the way this is going. >.

[a-kosmos.livejournal.com]

It's so hard to deal with end of life things with kitties. I'm also sorry that work has been rough lately.

[flexagon]

Thanks, and thanks for reading/listening. You've been posting about the work-crazy a lot in June... so even though I can't share, I can know you understand. :P

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

Oh no. :( I'm sad for you about Rafe. Palliative care is nearly always the way to go, at least you can ease his suffering and keep him comfortable.

[flexagon]

Thanks you, friend. I agree with you on the palliative care... for me, that decision would have been easy. It's just hard to make the mental adjustment to knowing he is slowly leaving us. When this year started I was pretty sure we would lose a cat, but losing two out of three? I don't know what to do after we lose Rafe. Maybe Nala can indeed be an only cat for a while.

Thanks to the medication (they gave him an injection of Prednisone) he was already eating a lot better yesterday and last night. We might look into whether we can get needles to give him injections at home; it can be much easier than giving a cat a pill, which is what we're doing otherwise.

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

End of life decisions with pets are so hard. People keep saying "you will know when it's time" but in my experience that's rarely the case short of a massive traumatic injury, hugely systemic cancer or something similar.

My vet was very helpful in giving us lists of things to look for and what that translates to in quality of life for the dogs. We let Dante go too long and I feel horribly guilty that he suffered. I think with Alastair we knew when enough was enough. Still, no matter how many times you go through it, it's still gut-wrenching and horrible. Beloved pets really should somehow be allowed to live longer. :(

[flexagon]

So interesting.... having a list of things to look for, and how they translate into quality of life, sounds extremely useful. I'd be interested in finding/seeing such a list for cats.

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

After what we went through with Dante it really helped. She told us that dogs are especially tough because they are so innately social so they will fool you into thinking they are better off than they are. She said she's had dogs literally bleeding out in her arms and still wag their tails. Cats might be easier because I can see them being more obvious in their grumpiness.

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

Try the pill pockets. JJ loves them (Preggers won't touch them). They make them for both dogs and cats - the main difference is the size of the pocket, but you can really just tear off what you need to wrap around the pill.

[flexagon]

Thanks babe. We know about the pill pockets... we used them to give methimazole to Nala a couple of summers ago before we got her the radioactive iodine treatment. Rafe unfortunately doesn't like them. Right now he only really seems to like a single flavor of Fancy Feast.

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

:(

[apfelsingail.livejournal.com]

Oh, geez- I'm so sorry the news wasn't better, but really glad you will have a bit more time with him. He's such a sweetie.