Struggling.

[si_c]

Sadly she's developed a tumour on her jaw at 16, only serious way to address it would be partial jaw removal. So she's on palliative care.

Aside from struggling to eat a bit now (we've started blending her food) she's otherwise absolutely fine. Still playing like a kitten and chasing toys. The only real change is she's a bit clingier than normal and she's sleeping more. We've a couple of red lines around her health and have spoken to a home care service, so it's just a waiting game now really.

 

[raleighnut]

Poor wee girl

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

It is always heartbreaking when it happens. Palliative care and keeping her comfortable is the best decision I think.

 

[johnnyb47]

Poor old cat,
Hope she's ok

 

[oxoman]

Currently going through similar old age related issues with our mutt. Sadly he won't see the end of summer. Unfortunately they get under your skin without realising and boy does it hurt when they're suffering. Good luck and enjoy whatever time you have left with her.

 

[si_c]

It is always heartbreaking when it happens. Palliative care and keeping her comfortable is the best decision I think.

That's where we came down, the surgical fix would have meant long recovery times and an indeterminate period of feeding via syringe as she would be unable to chew. She's 16 and I'm not sure she could recover from that and it's just unfair to put her through it. Been a couple of weeks now so we're just waiting.

Unfortunately it's quite an aggressive tumour growth wise, it's definitely irritating her a bit but she was chasing a squirrel in the garden yesterday so not slowing her down too much.

Just spending time with her for the most part now, probably won't be much more than a week. She's always had lots of character, last year we took her to the vet for a routine checkup and some blood tests and the practice nurse just said "oh god not her" left the room and came back with oven gloves and a towel. she'd only been once before.

 

[alicat]

Take care of yourselves. It sounds like you'll have some really good memories to look back on.

 

[Reynard]

*HUGS*

I went through this last autumn with Madam Lexi, though in her case, it was an aggressive mammary tumour that eventually spread to her lungs and bladder. We did go ahead with surgery, and it bought her an extra three months. She crossed to Rainbow Bridge the night before I was due to take her on her final vet visit.

You just need to do what's right by her. As long as she's got quality-of-life, then that's fine. She'll let you know when it's time to let go.

 

[si_c]

Sadly we had to let her go this afternoon. The tumour had started to push into her mouth in a way that had caused a scab to form. Added to the existing trouble she had eating and she was starting to indicate she was finding it unpleasant. So we spoiled her rotten last night and this morning and a vet came over at lunchtime so she was at home, comfortable, unstressed and unaware of what was happening. Mrs C and I are both sad, but glad that we were able to take care of her properly. House is weirdly empty.

She was definitely ready, the vet had barely administered a third of the final dose before she slipped away. Couple of pictures below, 12 weeks, 18 months and 16yo.

 

[Reynard]

Play hard on Rainbow Bridge, beautiful girl xxx