Hi everyone. Long-time lurker and first-time poster looking for any insight (and to be honest, support).
I have a 16 year old calico cat. She's been my little buddy forever - a huge part of my life, and I'm sure everyone here can relate.
This summer, I noticed her losing weight- going from 10/11 pounds to 8. A few weeks ago, we brought her to the vet who checked her blood, gave her a full exam, and had no answers. A week ago, my cat could barely breathe. We brought her back and she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and given three different meds to take three times a day. Within two days though (of aggressively getting pills into her), she could breathe again. She was jumping into my bed purring, she was playing with her tail, hanging out around the house again - prior to, she was acting weird, very lethargic, and didn't leave the stairs.
Now however, she won't eat. It's become impossible to get pills into her, so I switched one pill into injection form, which is a breeze. The other two may be able to be used as a cream, but I am waiting for confirmation. In the meantime, I can't stop thinking that she is on her way out, and it's consuming me. At work, school, home.
How do you deal with knowing your pet is dying? How do you cope? How do you prepare? How can you know if she's comfortable? I can't imagine my home without my cat, can't imagine sleeping without her in my bed, can't imagine coming home without in the window, or running down the stairs to greet me, can't imagine saying one final goodbye.
Does anyone have words of comfort, or advice? I just can't fathom ever getting over this.
I have a 16 year old calico cat. She's been my little buddy forever - a huge part of my life, and I'm sure everyone here can relate.
This summer, I noticed her losing weight- going from 10/11 pounds to 8. A few weeks ago, we brought her to the vet who checked her blood, gave her a full exam, and had no answers. A week ago, my cat could barely breathe. We brought her back and she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and given three different meds to take three times a day. Within two days though (of aggressively getting pills into her), she could breathe again. She was jumping into my bed purring, she was playing with her tail, hanging out around the house again - prior to, she was acting weird, very lethargic, and didn't leave the stairs.
Now however, she won't eat. It's become impossible to get pills into her, so I switched one pill into injection form, which is a breeze. The other two may be able to be used as a cream, but I am waiting for confirmation. In the meantime, I can't stop thinking that she is on her way out, and it's consuming me. At work, school, home.
How do you deal with knowing your pet is dying? How do you cope? How do you prepare? How can you know if she's comfortable? I can't imagine my home without my cat, can't imagine sleeping without her in my bed, can't imagine coming home without in the window, or running down the stairs to greet me, can't imagine saying one final goodbye.
Does anyone have words of comfort, or advice? I just can't fathom ever getting over this.