A Natural Death

[all4mom2]

I know this site is very pro vet care, so I hesitate to post (and apologize in advance for the length), but...

My nearly 17-year-old cat is, to be frank, dying. He exhibited signs of a nasal/sinus tumor last summer and then developed neurologic symptoms that I'm pretty sure mean it's now impinging on his brain. This wasn't confirmed by CAT scan because I'm not paying $3k and putting my old cat who is terrified of the vet's office through that (it would require general anesthesia; a huge risk at his age and in his condition) for a test that wouldn't change the outcome, as there's a very poor prognosis, especially at his age. I've managed to learn to accommodate his special needs (he requires help now walking, standing, eating, drinking, and is incontinent, so wears a diaper, which he surprisingly doesn't seem to mind; it's better than being wet). He seems to sleep a little more and eat/drink a little less every day. However, I'm not going to be one of those pet parents who rushes an old, dying pet to the vet for hundreds of dollars of tests and thousands of dollars of overnight care (during which I'm sure the poor pet feels abandoned; mine, again, would be terrified) when it's hopeless, only to eventually euthanize the animal. I've euthanized pets in the past but, in those cases, they were obviously suffering (from static seizures, congestive heart failure, respiratory distress, or paralysis); I honestly don't anticipate a painful or frightening death in this case; I fully expect he just won't awaken one day. If he were in distress, I would take him in to end it. I'm keeping him home and comfortable, staying with him, offering him food and water as he'll take it, and we're both okay with this. He's either asleep or purring in my arms. He doesn't appear to be in pain or suffering at all. Yet I have the nagging feeling, probably from reading posts here and elsewhere, that I should get a vet involved even though I know from experience he/she would push tests/treatments that I don't believe would be in the best interest of my pet and I've no interest in pursuing or euthanasia; they'd no doubt deliver the "doing nothing is the only wrong choice" speech. I simply don't agree in this case and others involving what could be a non-urgent natural death. I think euthanasia has become normalized because a) it's more profitable for the vet, and b) we as a society are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with death in general; I think it's often hastened more for the comfort of the humans than of the animals. I'm find I'm just not okay with deciding on THIS day at THIS time I will kill my pet who is snoozing peacefully in his bed, dreaming his cat dreams. So I'm not going to unless I have to.

Opinions?

 

[Ashanti]

I understand we have a cat who's over 20 and is doing okay, but we know any day now could be her last day. She's not suffering horribly at this time, so we've adjusted things to make things easier for her and give her love and make sure she's doing well each day fully prepared to awaken or come home from being out to find that she's passed.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to put your senior cat through tests and stress and risks. As long as he's comfortable, I don't see anything wrong with loving and caring for him and keeping him as happy as possible in his last days and letting a natural death happen. As some vets don't seem to realize that testing and stuff could actually cause suffering. Sometimes it's better for the cat to just leave things as they are and adjust to their needs as their condition progresses. Perhaps look and see if you can find hospice services for your cat. I don't know to much about them, but they seem to be less interested in testing and such and more interested in the comfort of the pets And providing a good quality of life for the time the pet has remaining.

 

[vince]

We had one when I was young that just faded away. She was almost 20 and didn't have anything wrong that we or the vet could easily identify. She just spent more and more time in her little kitty bed in front of the heat register and ate less and less (the vet tried appetite stimulants, but they stopped working). She died quietly in her bed and nobody found out until after she was cold. We thought she was sleeping, as usual.

We didn't want to go through all the rigamarole of testing to find out what her problem was during the later part of her decline. After all, she was 19 years of age. I don't fault people who don't want to put their pet through all that when they're at the end of the line, either.

 

[HAS]

We had an older guy that we waited to pass naturally. He was rapidly declining but didn’t seem to be in pain. One day he woke up in terrible pain and couldn’t get up. He was howling and panting. The poor thing had the suffer like that until we could put him down at the emergency vet…which we couldn’t get an appointment until 6 hours later. It was terrible. Don’t wait to euthanize until you reach the point of it being an emergency. We chose home euthanasia for my other senior cat when we thought it was time, and he went peacefully in the arms of family.

 

[all4mom2]

What did your cat die of? Of course, that varies. Some deaths, from heart failure, pancreatic cancer, etc., are very painful and/or frightening. Again, it depends...
I didn't hesitate to euthanize my HCM cat because I knew the end would be awful.

Also, I can't imagine being told to wait 6 hours for an "emergency vet"! That's kind of a contradiction in terms. Did you take him there or call for an appointment as if it weren't urgent?