Comments on: How to Know When It’s Time

By: Candice

Candice — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:18:27 +0000

Hi,
Tomorrow I am about to make the sadest decision of my life. To put my 19 year old cat to sleep. She has nose cancer that has got slowly worse for the past 4 years. Her nose is completely gone and so is her upper lip. However, she eats, drinks, cuddles and acts FINE. Why can’t she just go in her sleep? I can only see the nose cancer getting worse and worse. Please help me get through this sadness

By: Mvalentine59

Mvalentine59 — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:00:23 +0000

Thanks so much for posting this story. My cat Sweetie is 13 and her health is failing. I am taking her to the Vet for possibly her last visit. I wish she could live forever, but I don’t want her to suffer. Thank you for your words of inspiration.

By: Michaela turnbull

Michaela turnbull — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:12:56 +0000

Ive just stumbled on this site and I’ve read for a few. Hours pin and of in between crying on Monday coming I am making a heartbreaking decision to let my companion of over 16 years go to sleep for ever he would of been nineteen in may coming and it’s been one. Of thee most heartbreaking. Decisions I’ve. Ever had to make Casper has been through so. Much with me and it’s rippin g my heart in two about Monday coming up but I know. I am doing the right thing I just wanted some advice over how Tito handle things with. My daughter who is 11 Casper had loads of infected teeth out a few years ago and the last two years he’s been ok but the last two months.He’s been going down. Hill he struggles to get down from anything he’s sleeping so much I can tell he’s in pain on his back legs Cus he’s so sensitive around that. Area he’s just eating small amounts and I know the kindist and final thing I can do first him is let. Him go thanks xx

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:56:06 +0000

Glad I found this blog. I found out today that my cat has a mass on her heart. I am struggling to let her go. She could die tonight or in a month. She is only 10 years old. 11 years ago my last cat died of cancer as well. I was not able to let her go so I do not want this cat to die hooked up to machines trying to get every last day out of her life.

I know what I need to do I just need to find the strength to do it.

Thanks for your blog.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:26:37 +0000

He is signaling for help with his litter box behavior. So if his distress cannot be alleviated, and it sounds like you and the doctor have tried, then he is in pain. He’s not doing it to be a pain, of course.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:46:08 +0000

We have a 15 year old diabetic cat, Tigger. I think we are trying to decide if it is time. He has been in and out of the vets office for about 2 years with the diabetes. He’s lost weight but not tons. Our biggest problem is that not only is he peeing outside of the litter box (everywhere) he is pooping too. Ewww. I don’t think I can handle this anymore with my very active 3 year old daughter. What if I miss a pee or poop spot and she stumbles into it? I feel like, do we want to put him down because he is old and sick or do we want to put him down because he is really becoming a pain. Such a hard decision. What should we do??

By: Linda

Linda — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:10:05 +0000

I am thankful for this blog, although I am still distraught over the decision to put my kitty to sleep. Everything I read about cats and kidney disease are about cats that are older. The problem is my kitty is only five years old. My kitty is not doing well at all. I have taken her to the vet several times and they told me she may have had kidney disease since she was a kitten, because she has always consumed a lot of water on a daily basis. My kitty still purring and meows at me when I come near her. However, she is peeing every where other than her litter box, she is not eating, she dropped from 14 pounds to 8 lb, she is excessively drinking, she can only drink her food (which I blend to a puree), and she is laying in one spot in my husbands home office for most of the day. I keep thinking there is something I can do to make her better. I also keep thinking there is something that I could have done better to make her not sick now. Also, it pains me to think of putting her to sleep because she is so young, and she purrs so much. I feel like I am not doing everything possible to help her but I don’t know what else I can do. I feel bad that she is so miserable but feel even worse to put her to sleep before her time. I am distraught about this decision. Everything I read is about older cats and I think it would be just a little easier for me if she had had a full life but she is only five. It seems there are only, stays in a vet hospital, IV’s and syringe feeding for my kitty’s future. I don’t think it is fair to have her live like that and only get a bit of improvement in her quality of life, and not receive a good prognosis for a longer life. My mind keeps swiching from “put her to sleep, it’s better for her” and “don’t put her to sleep because she might get better and if you put her to sleep you will be taking her life too soon.” So confused!

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:34:45 +0000

Princess Snowshoe of Canon Spring – my cat of 18 years will be going to the Vet for the very last time today. She’s no longer able to care for herself due to advanced renal failure. For the last month, she’s surviving on subcutaneous fluids and Vitamin injections, and the best care we could give her. But she’s not getting better… and wouldn’t…couldn’t. With heavy heart and kind thoughts, we’ve made the necessary decision. We thank her for giving us a lifetime of happiness; her companionship when we’re lonely, her playfulness when we’re bored, her warmth and comfort when we’re unwell – resting her furry paws next to our skin and calming us with her thunderous purr… Snowshoe will forever live in our memory.

thanks to all for sharing.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:10:47 +0000

I am a Brit who has been living abroad and came back from Vancouver, Canada yesterday after 11 months away from the family home. When I left I feared that would be the last time I saw my then 16 year old cat who has suffered diabetes, scratched eyes and diseased gums over the years but has always pulled through successfully with no need for continuous medication on the bank of unwavering financial support and more love than most cats will ever see in their lifetimes.

However, my mother warned me he was eating less, that he was cleaning himself less and unable to go to the toilet in his litter tray all the time. He couldn’t climb the window sill he loved; he could barely scramble onto the sofa any more.

I got back to the family home today at noon to find a far thinner, far more ragged looking but ultimately happy cat purring and lying in the garden.

7 hours later, I woke him at the top of the stairs. He meowed at me three times and purred. He had an almighty roar when I left; now it was weak and lifeless. I followed him down the stairs. He paused and he had a seizure.

We knew we had to take him to the vet, but this time it was different. Every other decision to pay a visit to the vet filled me with concern for my Cat and, admittedly selfishly, my bank balance. This time was very different. There was no concern for myself, there was only utter devastation. I knew it was time.

He seemed to perk up later, but we knew that when the vet offered us the inevitable slew of medications to prolong his life at his impending appointment that he was at the point where it wouldn’t help him anymore. We were also terrified of him dying in the night in pain with noone awake to comfort him.

The vet listened and offered tests but told us that only we would know when the inevitable had to happen. I asked for her professional opinion and she only said “I think it’s time”.

Today was the first time I saw Harvey in 11 months. It was also my last. He died tonight in the treatment room at the age of 17. I cannot believe it. I am ultimately happy with the decision knowing he had owners who loved him as much as we do any relative, but I keep getting sporadic bouts of tears knowing the friend I had since I was 7 is gone. I am simulatenously devastated and happy. But when I feel sad I remind myself that he didn’t suffer pain, he simply enjoyed a sleep in the presence of his family.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 08:34:30 +0000

My Jerry is about 16 years old and I keep going back and forth on whether it is time to have him put down. Up until about 1 year ago he was fairly active and ate regularly. 6 months ago he stopped eating and drinking water for almost a week. He was already skinny at that point, but lost another 5 pounds bringing him down to 4 or 5 pounds. A very traumatic (for him) trip to the vet showed that he had a very severe case of constipation. The vet gave him fluids and ‘cleaned’ him out. He has never gained any of the lost weight back. Now he will only eat a very specific canned food, and only if it is watered down. He is always hungry and is fed at least 5 times a day, but once in a while quits eating for days at a time. He seems to be using the litter box much more frequently and in the last few weeks has gone from drinking very little to drinking large amounts of water at a time. He still wants to be held and cuddled, but spends most of his time either sleeping or laying in odd positions just staring at the ground. He also seems to have lost his meow. He used to have an incredibly loud yowl, which he used to wake me up in the mornings. Now he just sort of croaks, or opens his mouth to meow, and nothing comes out. It is just so hard. I feel as if my kitty is sad and unhappy unless I am holding him, but I don’t know if that is just me not adjusting well to my baby boy aging or if he really is ready to go. I can’t afford to take him to the vet and have tons of tests run on him to find out if he has some kind of illness. Add to that the fact that if he has a treatable or manageable illness, he hates medications. I have spent weeks agonizing over this decision. One day I’ll decide its time, the next he will jump into my lap and I convince myself I am over reacting. I keep hoping that if he is ready to go, it will happen in his sleep at home. The car and the vet’s office has always been a source of terror for him, and the idea of putting him through that panic and terror just before he dies is almost harder to handle than actually losing him.