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- Nov 30, 2017
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My girl Gracie is 18 and in the upper (just under stage 3) renal failure treated with diet and medication. She is also diabetic and treated with insulin and has arthritis.
About 6 months ago we paid several thousands to get her teeth cleaned under anesthesia and she recovered fairly well from that procedure despite the risks of possibly not making it through. The vet at the time recommended we euthanise her because of the risk of surgery, her conditions, and her age but i just didn't feel it was the right time because she was still happy, cognizant, active and wanting to do stuff, and had full control over her bowels . She was doing much better for several months after this.
At this point over the past 6 weeks or so she's having frequent urinary tract infections and overly diluted urine (i'm having to replace the entire litter box every 4 days because she's urinating so much). She's been on and off medications, probiotics, etc.
She's often yowling when urinating. Just this morning she peed on the floor outside her litter box for the second time and may have permanently damaged our wood floor (which my husband is incredibly angry at me for and this has been causing us a tremendous amount of marital stress).
It just feels like she's been dealing with either constipation or loose stools which require i either bathe her back end entirely or wipe her down several times a day - or - she's peeing painfully and reluctant to use her box -or- she's crying when drinking water/eating because of the nausea -or- i'm having to groom her excessively. She has a hard time grooming herself and her ears are constantly getting nasty and clogged up and itchy. No mites, she just produces a bunch of wax (which i clean every 2-3 days) which means she's in constant twitchy ear mode.
If she's not doing any of these things she's pretty much just relaxing and laying down or peering out the windows. She doesn't do much else.
At this point it's my understanding that quality of life for her will continue to decline and that even if we continue to treat her that she still will have these underlying issues (nausea, urine concentration problems, constipation, itchy ears, need for insulin 2x a day, and lethargy). She's already been in renal failure for over 2.5 years and her numbers keep getting worse every 3 months check up.
Can some people offer me some feedback on this situation? I am starting to reach the stage where i am questioning whether i might be prolonging her life selfishly. My husband believes that we should have euthanized her when her teeth needed cleaning and is constantly guilt tripping me about her damaging our brand new home. It's hard for me to look at the situation objectively because there's times she's laying down that she just seems to peaceful and i don't want to feel like i made the decision because of pressure from him and my vet but i also don't want to kill her unnecessarily early.
Can someone offer me advice? I am not looking for people to make the decision for me, but i just seriously cannot decide on my own without feeling excessive guilt and a sense of duty to take care of and love her.
About 6 months ago we paid several thousands to get her teeth cleaned under anesthesia and she recovered fairly well from that procedure despite the risks of possibly not making it through. The vet at the time recommended we euthanise her because of the risk of surgery, her conditions, and her age but i just didn't feel it was the right time because she was still happy, cognizant, active and wanting to do stuff, and had full control over her bowels . She was doing much better for several months after this.
At this point over the past 6 weeks or so she's having frequent urinary tract infections and overly diluted urine (i'm having to replace the entire litter box every 4 days because she's urinating so much). She's been on and off medications, probiotics, etc.
She's often yowling when urinating. Just this morning she peed on the floor outside her litter box for the second time and may have permanently damaged our wood floor (which my husband is incredibly angry at me for and this has been causing us a tremendous amount of marital stress).
It just feels like she's been dealing with either constipation or loose stools which require i either bathe her back end entirely or wipe her down several times a day - or - she's peeing painfully and reluctant to use her box -or- she's crying when drinking water/eating because of the nausea -or- i'm having to groom her excessively. She has a hard time grooming herself and her ears are constantly getting nasty and clogged up and itchy. No mites, she just produces a bunch of wax (which i clean every 2-3 days) which means she's in constant twitchy ear mode.
If she's not doing any of these things she's pretty much just relaxing and laying down or peering out the windows. She doesn't do much else.
At this point it's my understanding that quality of life for her will continue to decline and that even if we continue to treat her that she still will have these underlying issues (nausea, urine concentration problems, constipation, itchy ears, need for insulin 2x a day, and lethargy). She's already been in renal failure for over 2.5 years and her numbers keep getting worse every 3 months check up.
Can some people offer me some feedback on this situation? I am starting to reach the stage where i am questioning whether i might be prolonging her life selfishly. My husband believes that we should have euthanized her when her teeth needed cleaning and is constantly guilt tripping me about her damaging our brand new home. It's hard for me to look at the situation objectively because there's times she's laying down that she just seems to peaceful and i don't want to feel like i made the decision because of pressure from him and my vet but i also don't want to kill her unnecessarily early.
Can someone offer me advice? I am not looking for people to make the decision for me, but i just seriously cannot decide on my own without feeling excessive guilt and a sense of duty to take care of and love her.
its hard on us and them. If it was my choice is give her the honor of letting go. Shes probably in a lot of discomfort now. Especially if ahes going out of the box. Cats have a very very high tolerance for pain so if she's yowling it's certainly painful. That means bad associations with the box and more accidents to come. I'd say give her the best last day ever all the snacks and loving in the whole whole world. 
