My cat is dying and won't eat. Help, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. (animal, floor)
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Interesting how the people agree when it's time it's time and euthanasia is the answer. I just watched a man at work starve to death on "comfort care" for nearly two months. It was painful to watch and I kept thinking if only we could offer a more humane way to end his suffering. It was horrifying to watch. I agree, do what's best for your cat. Maybe someday we can do the same for suffering people as well.
It is a very difficult decision but it's the humane decision. Make the decision that is best for your cat. It is the final act of love you can show. I have put animals down and I have 15-yr old dog that is not doing well so we are preparing to make that decision-- it doesnt get easier. However, it is a far better alternative than watching your pet suffer.
Anyone who has made the loving, albeit hard decision, to euthanize their pet will tell you that it is peaceful. You don't have to remain in the room. Some vets will come to your home. Don't feel as if you're abandoning your pet.
Agree with the others 1000%. You owe it to your cat to stop the suffering. It's really hard, I've done it twice, once for a beloved cat and once for the best dog ever. The vet I go to is very sensitive. I stayed in the room both times and petted them while the needle went in. Once it was done, the vet said to stay as long as I needed to. If can you, get somebody to drive you. Looking back, you will be happy you didn't make him continue to suffer.
OP, you asked: How can I watch someone stick a needle in him and he go limp? Is this about you ... or the cat?
I ask you: how can you watch him crying in pain, starving but unable to eat?
It isn't about you at this time. Your pet is suffering. You are in pain for your loss of his company and companionship - grief. Would you rather say you stopped his suffering or that you made him suffer so you didn't have to grieve? That's the choice you have. I know it isn't easy, but you have to put your pet's needs first.
Having ended the suffering of more than a few very loved pets, it was difficult. But it was the only choice to make given the painful life they were enduring and were going to continue to endure. Your vet has refused you to return because s/he knows you are not putting your cat's needs first and has told you the humane thing to do.
We'll be here to console you afterwards, but you really do not have a loving choice to make; anything else is selfish.
So my oldest cat is dying and is in rough shape ATM. He doesn't/can't clean himself anymore and he has one bad eye and is struggling to eat, for some reason.
Anyway, we can not bring him to the vet anymore as they said last time we were there and got meds we are "buying time" at this point and it's so incredibly expensive, but It's upsetting to see him not eat and be so terribly frail, but clearly wants to eat and is hungry.
Here's the deal. I felt around his throat and there seems to be a large mass, or several lumps, that hinder him from eating, and whenever I go into his eating area (kitchen) he screams and begs me to feed him, but now when I open a fresh can, all he does is come right back to me, meowing and asking for food, it sure seems, even though there is a fresh can in front of him.
Then if I hang a piece of ham in his face he paws at it (sharp claws!) but he won't even eat it if it falls to the floor. I don't understand. I just don't want him to suffer.
Any suggestions? I believe they said he may be a bit senile and stuff, so maybe that's part of it. Pooring some cream in a little bowl, he seems to be licking up and it's clear that he is hungry (he's SO frail now and bony, it's disturbing), so I am beside myself at this time.
Mo is 16-17 y/o stray we took in off the streets here in St. Paul and probably the most loving cat we've ever had, so I am trying to pay him back in these last days.
???
I know this is an extremely difficult decision to make, but you need to put the cat to sleep. See if the vet can make a trip to house and do it there. Then the cat doesn't have to be taken to the vet.
So we're supposed to put him down, is that what you're saying? How am I asupposed to watch someone stick a needle in him and watch him go lifeless? This doesn't seem like a decision I can make.
I'm not on a farm and don't even think I could put a bullet in him if that were an option but I am struggling with all of this together.
I don't blame you. I don't think that shooting is an appropriate way of killing any animal
It sounds to me like your cat is in its last few weeks of life. When I was a kid we had several cats die that way. It's a natural way for them to die. I remember one cat was in probably the exact same condition as your cat for several weeks. My mother was trying to nurse it back to health. Then one day I remember my mother was really happy. She told me that she was able to get the cat all cleaned up, and it was back on its feet and eating again. But as I recall the cat only lasted a few more days, and then died suddenly.
We also had a dog that was euthanized after it was hit by a car. We may have had other cats that were also euthanized when I was younger. I remember my parents telling me at least one of our cats might have to be put down. I don't think that actually happened. But I don't remember what happened to the cat. Maybe it was euthanized, and I wasn't told about it.
I think generally my parents tried to keep our pets alive as long as possible. Then let them die naturally.
Your note has got to be the most frustrating and infuriating one that I have read in a very long time. As someone who is so attached to this wonderful cat, how do you even have the face to come here and expect sympathies for your selfishness? Have you no heart or compassion? Clinging to the misery of a dying animal so as to hide your own inability to do the right thing is not a demonstration of love. In fact, it is an insidious, barely disguised manifestation of the worse kind of cruelty. This is an epic fail on your part, and you know it. How would you like to be starved to death by your best friend? This is just so moronic!
Now go to the vet, and make sure you hold the cat as it is being put down. You are responsible for the animal's last wish and rite, and you are obligated as its friend to BE THERE as it draws its last breath. There is no excuse, and I don't accept any whining about "I can't be there" BS...you will hold your cat and you will give it soothing comfort in its last moments. This is your obligation to this animal and you are morally bound by all that is good and right to complete this task. Now grow a backbone and do the right thing!
So we're supposed to put him down, is that what you're saying? How am I asupposed to watch someone stick a needle in him and watch him go lifeless? This doesn't seem like a decision I can make.
I'm not on a farm and don't even think I could put a bullet in him if that were an option but I am struggling with all of this together.
You don't have to watch if you don't want. The first dog I had on my own as an adult I had for thirteen years. When she was young and I thought about her getting old, I didn't think I'd be able to do it, to actually have her put to sleep. But you reach a point where you know it has to be done.
A friend of mine who had to have her dog put to sleep unexpectedly had it done without her in the room, but a grief counselor the vet had went in with the dog instead.
So my oldest cat is dying and is in rough shape ATM. He doesn't/can't clean himself anymore and he has one bad eye and is struggling to eat, for some reason.
Anyway, we can not bring him to the vet anymore as they said last time we were there and got meds we are "buying time" at this point and it's so incredibly expensive, but It's upsetting to see him not eat and be so terribly frail, but clearly wants to eat and is hungry.
Here's the deal. I felt around his throat and there seems to be a large mass, or several lumps, that hinder him from eating, and whenever I go into his eating area (kitchen) he screams and begs me to feed him, but now when I open a fresh can, all he does is come right back to me, meowing and asking for food, it sure seems, even though there is a fresh can in front of him.
Then if I hang a piece of ham in his face he paws at it (sharp claws!) but he won't even eat it if it falls to the floor. I don't understand. I just don't want him to suffer.
Any suggestions? I believe they said he may be a bit senile and stuff, so maybe that's part of it. Pooring some cream in a little bowl, he seems to be licking up and it's clear that he is hungry (he's SO frail now and bony, it's disturbing), so I am beside myself at this time.
Mo is 16-17 y/o stray we took in off the streets here in St. Paul and probably the most loving cat we've ever had, so I am trying to pay him back in these last days.
???
So please don't let him suffer and let him go peacefully. We were in the same dilemma with our cat. He quit eating and baby food only went so far. We also gave him cream. But he was starving all the time. He was rapidly losing weight. It broke my heart to see him like that. He was stumbling around because he was so weak. You have to help him and keeping him alive is not helping him. We took our cat to the vet and he was put down peacefully. My family cried like babies but it was the right thing to do for him. Please don't let him die of starvation which is what our vet said would happen. I really feel your pain, it's so sad.
I just put my dog down a couple weeks ago. He was almost 16 and a tumor in his spleen had ruptured. About a decade ago, I put my cat down when he stopped eating and moving around. Once their quality of life is gone, there's really no point in prolonging their existence, imho.
Look, I know it sucks to make that decision, but what is the point of letting them suffer just so your hands remain clean? Why would you want the last moments of an animal you loved and were responsible for to be filled with pain and suffering?
Yeah, there are rare occasions when euthanasia doesn't go well, but it's still quicker and less suffering than a death that can be drawn out for weeks. I mean, I suppose I could have watched my dog suffer as his belly filled with fluid and less and less oxygen circulated in his bloodstream and waited to see which issue killed him off. I could have waited while my cat slowly starved to death, unable to lift himself out of his own excrement. But it wasn't about me - it was about giving them the best possible end.
Frankly, after watching two relatives die slowly of metastatic cancer, I think it's a damn shame you can't do the same for people. Ask yourself the question: Would you want to die the death your cat is currently facing without intervention on your part?
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