Hi all,
Thanks so much to everyone who has shown such kindness and caring over these past 6 months. It's been a long and sometimes difficult journey. Jasmine has had vet visits every week now for the past 5 months, weekly sub-Q fluids, numerous daily meds, even a bit of chinese herbal concoctions, and every attempt to keep her going - including a regular daily regimen of 7 compounded, liquid medicines given in syringes. It has all been a labor of love in every sense. If I knew she had more time I'd continue it all in a heartbeat.
She amazingly bounced back from what looked to be the end about a month ago, having almost miraculously beaten a URI, but now I think she is showing me every sign that she is ready to let go. Her weight is dropping rapidly, she is not eating much anymore, and she just seems so tired and worn out.
I made a promise to her, and myself, many months ago, that I'll do the right thing for her when it's time.......as hard as that realization is...I know in my heart that we are at the time. Now, it's my turn to be as strong for her as I know she has tried to be for me - especially so since cats hide their illnesses so well.
Jasmine is 15 and I've had her for 12 of those years. I've never had a 'geriatric' cat before that lived this long, and so I have developed a newfound appreciation for the term 'lifelong commitment' with regards to having a pet. We got off to a rocky start when she came home, but her and I became close in a special way - even though she was never a 'hold me' type of lap cat. That has never been her way and so I have still been honoring that knowing that it would not be her choice if she were better and stronger. For her to wake up and find me cuddling her on the sofa would not, over the years, have been to her liking in any way!
But...that being said...she has always LOVED to be brushed and so I have decided that the very last thing she will ever feel before she passes is the brush going across her now very bony frame. Jasmine, in her better days, would actually grab the brush while I was holding it and simply brush herself by moving her head back and forth! So, if you didn't do it, she'd take care of business! It is a pleasant and humorous memory I will treasure always, along with many others.
My appointment is Monday evening. It's hard to think that she will leave home and not come back - being that we've decided on cremation. I have never been down this road (cremation) with an animal and so welcome any thoughts from others' experiences.
Unless there is some positive change, I am certain it will be the last visit for her. No more needles or syringes, fluids or blood tests! I know that a younger, more alert Jasmine would have been swatting and hissing at me to no end if I'd have attempted to come at her with anything other than a brush!
Thanks again everyone. I'll check in again later, but I know that after this is done I'll need some time and peace from all that has transpired over the past emotional half-year. I do not plan on writing right away following the appointment - I just feel that whatever thoughts and feelings surface I will need to dwell on privately, and so I am sharing everything now, while Jasmine is still with me.
You are all so good and so caring. I have no doubt that by the summer I'll be back here to hopefully report news of a new feline addition to the family! Jasmine is special, though, and will always be close to my heart.
Kindest regards,
Keith
Thanks so much to everyone who has shown such kindness and caring over these past 6 months. It's been a long and sometimes difficult journey. Jasmine has had vet visits every week now for the past 5 months, weekly sub-Q fluids, numerous daily meds, even a bit of chinese herbal concoctions, and every attempt to keep her going - including a regular daily regimen of 7 compounded, liquid medicines given in syringes. It has all been a labor of love in every sense. If I knew she had more time I'd continue it all in a heartbeat.
She amazingly bounced back from what looked to be the end about a month ago, having almost miraculously beaten a URI, but now I think she is showing me every sign that she is ready to let go. Her weight is dropping rapidly, she is not eating much anymore, and she just seems so tired and worn out.
I made a promise to her, and myself, many months ago, that I'll do the right thing for her when it's time.......as hard as that realization is...I know in my heart that we are at the time. Now, it's my turn to be as strong for her as I know she has tried to be for me - especially so since cats hide their illnesses so well.
Jasmine is 15 and I've had her for 12 of those years. I've never had a 'geriatric' cat before that lived this long, and so I have developed a newfound appreciation for the term 'lifelong commitment' with regards to having a pet. We got off to a rocky start when she came home, but her and I became close in a special way - even though she was never a 'hold me' type of lap cat. That has never been her way and so I have still been honoring that knowing that it would not be her choice if she were better and stronger. For her to wake up and find me cuddling her on the sofa would not, over the years, have been to her liking in any way!
But...that being said...she has always LOVED to be brushed and so I have decided that the very last thing she will ever feel before she passes is the brush going across her now very bony frame. Jasmine, in her better days, would actually grab the brush while I was holding it and simply brush herself by moving her head back and forth! So, if you didn't do it, she'd take care of business! It is a pleasant and humorous memory I will treasure always, along with many others.
My appointment is Monday evening. It's hard to think that she will leave home and not come back - being that we've decided on cremation. I have never been down this road (cremation) with an animal and so welcome any thoughts from others' experiences.
Unless there is some positive change, I am certain it will be the last visit for her. No more needles or syringes, fluids or blood tests! I know that a younger, more alert Jasmine would have been swatting and hissing at me to no end if I'd have attempted to come at her with anything other than a brush!
Thanks again everyone. I'll check in again later, but I know that after this is done I'll need some time and peace from all that has transpired over the past emotional half-year. I do not plan on writing right away following the appointment - I just feel that whatever thoughts and feelings surface I will need to dwell on privately, and so I am sharing everything now, while Jasmine is still with me.
You are all so good and so caring. I have no doubt that by the summer I'll be back here to hopefully report news of a new feline addition to the family! Jasmine is special, though, and will always be close to my heart.
Kindest regards,
Keith