Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi, i am just wondering if anyone can help me because i am going out of mind with regret/guilt about letting our elderly cat have dental surgery.
He was a stray we took in last year and the vet guessed he was around 12 but we have since found out he was 17.
Anyway to explain; about a month ago he was barely eating anything at all and food kept falling out of his mouth when he did try to and he had no energy at all. So we took him to the vet and he said he needed a few extractions and a scale and polish. So we had this done and after being really groggy for a day or 2 after he did come round and seemed fine a week after and back to normal but 3 weeks on he was back to not eating again and wouldn't even come in to the house and would hide under cars and in places that he never used to go. This past Tuesday afternoon we came home to find him laid at the bottom of our drive and when we went up to him he meowed twice (he never meowed at all) and was breathing really heavily so i took him straight to the vet and he said he was really suffering and had lost a lot of weight and the kindest thing to do would be to put him to sleep. It was absolutely heart breaking but we couldn't bare the thought of him suffering so we stood and held him as the vet did what he had to and put him at peace.
Now i can't help but think we should never have had the dental surgery done and he was probably too old for anasthesia and that is what killed him? I had no idea at the time that there was even a risk of anything like that (wish I had seen this thread sooner!)
The vet did all the blood tests etc first before putting him under and said if there were any complications then he wouldn't do it but he said the bloods showed the kidneys etc were all fine but for him to then rapidly decline like he did just 3 weeks after surgery as got me thinking that he should never have gone under.
Am i being paranoid or do you think that it was the anasthesia that caused him to go like this all of a sudden? As he seemed in fine health before this apart from the issues with his teeth?
I feel so guilty for putting him through that and feel like he would still be here now if i hadn't?
You did nothing wrong. He was already declining before the dental work. You did the best you could. Putting a friend to sleep is hard. I have done it twice.
Thank you for the reply Zitsky.
I just feel that putting him under the anesthetic was too much for him at his age and maybe there was another way we could have tried to solve his dental issue? None of the complications were explained to us though we miss him so much
Thank you for the reply Zitsky.
I just feel that putting him under the anesthetic was too much for him at his age and maybe there was another way we could have tried to solve his dental issue? None of the complications were explained to us though we miss him so much
You will always miss him. Don't be so hard on yourself.
I'm adopting a 14 year old cat tomorrow from our local shelter. He is in good health and had one owner who took good care of him until the owner died. He is declawed in front :-(
Since I lost my precious Chihuahua two weeks ago today and the other one in May I am a little leery about adopting a 14 year old cat. I have had cats that lived to be 17 but I don't want to set myself up for more grief in the near future. Is 14 too old? Am I setting myself up for more sadness? Not many people will adopt an animal so old and I wanted to get the least adoptable cat. The owner's relatives brought it to the shelter to be euthanized but when the shelter workers saw how sweet and healthy he was that they asked if they could try and find him a home. He's only been there about a week.
Since you guys have cats and I haven't had one in 6 years do you have any advice? I bought him a large, tall litter box since he is about 15 pounds, good quality dry & canned food and a few toys but he seems pretty mellow. Do you think I should buy one of those cat trees they climb on or would an older cat be content on the back of the couch? I have no other animals so he would have the run of the house and screened in lanai. He will be strictly an inside cat.
Anything suggestions to make him feel at home? I will let him explore and not force him into anything.
I'm adopting a 14 year old cat tomorrow from our local shelter. He is in good health and had one owner who took good care of him until the owner died. He is declawed in front :-(
Since I lost my precious Chihuahua two weeks ago today and the other one in May I am a little leery about adopting a 14 year old cat. I have had cats that lived to be 17 but I don't want to set myself up for more grief in the near future. Is 14 too old? Am I setting myself up for more sadness? Not many people will adopt an animal so old and I wanted to get the least adoptable cat. The owner's relatives brought it to the shelter to be euthanized but when the shelter workers saw how sweet and healthy he was that they asked if they could try and find him a home. He's only been there about a week.
Since you guys have cats and I haven't had one in 6 years do you have any advice? I bought him a large, tall litter box since he is about 15 pounds, good quality dry & canned food and a few toys but he seems pretty mellow. Do you think I should buy one of those cat trees they climb on or would an older cat be content on the back of the couch? I have no other animals so he would have the run of the house and screened in lanai. He will be strictly an inside cat.
Anything suggestions to make him feel at home? I will let him explore and not force him into anything.
I had a cat live to be 21. Another just 10. So you never know. I think you are doing the right things. Just relax and enjoy.
Aww, I am so sorry about your cat. I doubt it was the anesthesia, especially since he recovered well afterwards. A 3-week gap between the surgery and his falling ill again makes me think something else was going on. Thank you for caring for this adult stray while you could. You did the right thing by ending his suffering.
I'm adopting a 14 year old cat tomorrow from our local shelter. He is in good health and had one owner who took good care of him until the owner died. He is declawed in front :-(
Since I lost my precious Chihuahua two weeks ago today and the other one in May I am a little leery about adopting a 14 year old cat. I have had cats that lived to be 17 but I don't want to set myself up for more grief in the near future. Is 14 too old? Am I setting myself up for more sadness? Not many people will adopt an animal so old and I wanted to get the least adoptable cat. The owner's relatives brought it to the shelter to be euthanized but when the shelter workers saw how sweet and healthy he was that they asked if they could try and find him a home. He's only been there about a week.
Since you guys have cats and I haven't had one in 6 years do you have any advice? I bought him a large, tall litter box since he is about 15 pounds, good quality dry & canned food and a few toys but he seems pretty mellow. Do you think I should buy one of those cat trees they climb on or would an older cat be content on the back of the couch? I have no other animals so he would have the run of the house and screened in lanai. He will be strictly an inside cat.
Anything suggestions to make him feel at home? I will let him explore and not force him into anything.
Thank you for adopting an older cat! 14 is not too old for my gang. While I have had cats die earlier than that (most from cancer), I have had many cats live to 17, 18 and 19 years old. As long as the kitty is in good health now, he can still get a lot of enjoyment out of life, and bring you some joy, too! My only suggestion would be to feed canned food only. (I won't rehash the dry versus wet cat food debate here. You can read more on Dr. Pierson's website, catinfo.org. But older cats especially just swallow the dry food whole and it doesn't give them enough moisture.)
I think he will be happy on the back of the couch. LOL I have a 13-year-old couch potato right next to me, at this moment. Good luck with him!
I'm adopting a 14 year old cat tomorrow from our local shelter. He is in good health and had one owner who took good care of him until the owner died. He is declawed in front :-(
Since I lost my precious Chihuahua two weeks ago today and the other one in May I am a little leery about adopting a 14 year old cat. I have had cats that lived to be 17 but I don't want to set myself up for more grief in the near future. Is 14 too old? Am I setting myself up for more sadness? Not many people will adopt an animal so old and I wanted to get the least adoptable cat. The owner's relatives brought it to the shelter to be euthanized but when the shelter workers saw how sweet and healthy he was that they asked if they could try and find him a home. He's only been there about a week.
Since you guys have cats and I haven't had one in 6 years do you have any advice? I bought him a large, tall litter box since he is about 15 pounds, good quality dry & canned food and a few toys but he seems pretty mellow. Do you think I should buy one of those cat trees they climb on or would an older cat be content on the back of the couch? I have no other animals so he would have the run of the house and screened in lanai. He will be strictly an inside cat.
Anything suggestions to make him feel at home? I will let him explore and not force him into anything.
We have a 16 year old who is going strong! I had a childhood cat live to 19.
Has he had any blood work recently? I would get a senior panel done if he hasn't had one.
As for the cat tree, he may or may not be interested in one. I'd let him settle in and see if he's seeking out higher places to perch. Give him a viewing place in the lanai (like a chair) so he can watch the "cat tv."
He may indeed want to play--our 16 year old loves to play. Do you have Da Bird or another wand toy to interact with him?
A big KUDOS to you! I hope to see photos of this guy.
To Sheamus29: We can all think of 10,000 things to feel guilty about. You did what you thought was right -- and I think it was right, too. If he couldn't even hold food in his mouth he was in pain; and maybe since you now know he was 17 there may have been other things going on that the vet wasn't necessarily looking for. I am so, so very sorry for your loss. I've been there so many times.
We did have our 16 1/2 year old cat, Oliver, go in for oral surgery and he came through it fine. Thank you all for the advice and comments. It has been 2 1/2 weeks and he is slowly eating more. He was on Buprinex for a week (a pain med that is dropped onto the gum -- that was easy (not); but I took him off it after 4 days because he was staggering and too out of it to eat much and got constipated.
He had been sneezing heavily before -- that's how we discovered the bad teeth. The vet thought there might be a respiratory problem due to the infected teeth. I am attempting to give him Tobramycin drops in his left nostril and left eye -- again, for such a small cat, he can fight it, so it's hit and miss.
He still sniffles but is not sneezing a lot. Before, when he sneezed like 20 times in a row there was blood, but the vet thinks that was a small blood vessel bursting just inside the nostril from the sneezing. Of course I googled it and found out that severe sneezing and blood on only one side of the nose could be a brain tumor. We can make ourselves crazy!
I am very glad I had the surgery done because he, too, had to be in a lot of pain for a long time. I decided that even if we lost him on the table it was the humane thing to do. Thank you for all of your suggestions of what to ask the vet, etc. I will update in a week. Best to you all and your fur babies! Gamehen
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Good luck with him!
