Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [60]
Today, his kidney is fine. His extravagant displays of affection have not returned, and he’s still relatively quiet compared to before his illness. Today, his kidney is fine. “But his quality of life is back,” says Marc.
Since the transplant Zepp has faced other challenges. Most transplant cats get both prednisolone and cyclosporine daily for the rest of their lives to prevent organ rejection. But he developed diabetes, and it is a balancing act to regulate him because the antirejection drugs also affected insulin/glucose levels. “I don’t mind giving him insulin shots. It’s easier than dealing with giving him a pill,” says Marc.
His experience has taught him that veterinarians are very busy, and unable to offer the detailed attention an owner could give your pet. “Trust your instincts,” he says, and educate yourself to what’s involved in the health needs of your cat. “If you have an older cat these things are going to happen,” he says. “Try to know your limits and try to know your cat’s limits in terms of what they can take.”
He would do everything again in a heartbeat. “Fortunately, I can afford it, so I did it. And I’m glad,” he says. “Zepp has brought me such joy. Looking at Zepp right now, lying on the couch a couple of feet from me, grooming himself—it’s worth it when you see that. When you see him doing normal cat things and enjoying it, it’s worth it.”
CHAPTER 6--MAKING CHOICES
Today we are privileged to enjoy sharing the company of our cats for longer than ever before. Of course, even two decades of time together isn’t enough. Most cats will not outlive their owners, however. That is a sad fact we must accept when we welcome a pet into our heart.
As they age, we know our cats may develop a health problem or disability. We understand that someday we will lose them to death. If anything, that makes the short time we share with them even more precious. But as our strong connection with special cats grows stronger year after year, making choices about her life and death becomes ever more difficult. Is it selfish to want to prolong her life? When is the right time to say goodbye? Cost of care, concerns over her comfort, and guilt about making these choices can make your last weeks or months together even more difficult.
There is no wrong answer. Take a moment to look at your cat, stroke her soft fur, and smile through any sadness because you know she trusts you to make these decisions for her. She’s not worried. She won’t “blame” you, no matter what choice you make on her behalf. And what’s more, it doesn’t matter what other folks think, or what they’d do—every situation is different, and what applies to others may have no bearing on your situation. Give yourself permission to say yes, this is hard. It hurts. In a strange way, it’s supposed to be hard. It wouldn’t be so difficult if you didn’t care so much.
A hard decision is often the right decision when it comes out of love for your cat. Take comfort because the best any of us can hope to do is to make informed choices with the best information available at that time. Any choice you make that’s based on love and concern for her welfare cannot be wrong.
The Final Gift
Cats are born, live for a time, and then they die. Accidents may tear them away from us while they’re young. Some drift off in the gentle sleep of old age and never awake. Others linger, in questioning pain, begging for relief with silent eyes. These last need our help, a gift that comes with equal measures of love and pain—that is, giving them a calm, dignified and gentle death through euthanasia.
When do you know the time has come? When you begin asking yourself that question, it’s time to consider the possibility the end is drawing near.
Does she still like her life? Does she enjoy being with you? How many more days will she have that are as good or better than today? “I think that’s one of the most meaningful measures,” says Susan G. Wynn, DVM, a certified veterinary acupuncturist practicing