Tough Spending Decision

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Coming in from the outside, where its warm and pleasant, theres grass, wood chips, bark, sand and dirt...and going about 50' in total, in order to poop on the rug, and then running? Inches out the IBD as a cause.

I fenced off our dining room for a 'cats only area'. Didnt help. She poops in that too.

 

[Martha]

She's uncomfortable and runs home to poo.

Or she gets stressed around people/dogs and she poos.

 

[azanon]

A 13 year old cat is an old cat Grumpy. He/she lived a full life. I would say my goodbyes.
From my viewpoint, you're going the extra mile for the cat by simply paying for it to be euthanized by the vet.

I'll just shoot you straight; paying $1250 for sugury for a 13 year old cat is, IMHO, completely insane unless you are worth far far more money than I am.

Azanon

 

[Andre1969]

I think the oldest I ever had a cat live to be was about 14. I got Tiger in late 1979 when I was 9 years old, and in the summer of '93 she got diabetes and had to get a shot every day. I hate to say it, but I probably missed about half the time, so I don't know if I contributed to that cat's death or not. Anyway, she was an outdoor cat, and one night that fall I went out to stay with some friends. I saw the cat looking at me as we backed down the driveway that night. And never saw her again.

My guess is that she just ran off into the woods somewhere and died under a fallen log or abandoned car or something. Cats often do that when they sense it's "time".

Now I have seen cats live to be in their early 20's. I worked at a vet clinic when I was in high school, and we had a few old dinosaurs come in. I think the oldest was about 22.

Similarly, that's the oldest I've ever seen a dog live to be. There's a junkyard/towing company nearby, and the had this big white wolf-looking thing named Toag. He'd come in regularly for flea baths and such, and would get hit by a car every once in awhile and get brought in to be patched up. Eventually though, he got fatally struck by a car, and that was the end. It would've been interesting to see just how old that dog would have lived to be.

 

[Outtahere]

Lazy,

I had almost the same problem with my last lab, fatty tumors, had the largest removed, the last one was cancer, finally went to his lungs, he was full of it. One day he was fine, the next day he could hardly breath, I don't regret putting him down at that point instead of letting him suffer.

Present Lab is allergic to all kinds of things, had Lymes Disease twice, gets horrible ear infections and on top of that is epileptic. We've spent I don't know how much on emergency vet visits for his seizures and he's now on Phenobarb, twice daily, thankfully he's good about taking the pills and I can have my dad take care of him when we travel. We make his food and his allergies and vomiting have disappeared. We keep meds for his ears on hand at all times and antibiotics if he starts to show signs of the Lymes, ... oh and now he's arthritic too.

Did we know all this when we picked up this poor abused dog from the Lab Rescue League, no, would I change a thing, no way! Will he live to be a ripe old age of 14 like most Labs, probably not but at least I know he's had a better life than before he came to live with us.

I spend the money, does it mean it delays my ER, maybe but the companionship and enjoyment are worth it.

 

[brewer12345]

I'll just shoot you straight; paying $1250 for sugury for a 13 year old cat is, IMHO, completely insane unless you are worth far far more money than I am.

Azanon

I'm gonna catch hell for saying it, but...

Not much of a surprise, coming from the guy whose estate plan is to pimp his wife out from beyond the grave.

 

[grumpy]

A 13 year old cat is an old cat Grumpy. He/she lived a full life. I would say my goodbyes.
From my viewpoint, you're going the extra mile for the cat by simply paying for it to be euthanized by the vet.

I'll just shoot you straight; paying $1250 for sugury for a 13 year old cat is, IMHO, completely insane unless you are worth far far more money than I am.

Azanon

Azanon,

Yours is about the only opinion in favor of putting the cat down. BTW it is not surgery,, just involves a single injection of radioisotope with no known side effects on the cat (we need to use precautions for two weeks until the radiation is "flushed" out of his system).

I don't know how much you are worth but I guess I am worth far more since the $1250 won't have any significant impact on our finances. I think I have about decided that Pye is worth the $1250 and we will get him the treatment.

Grumpy

 

[yelnad]

Grumpy, I would spend the money and do it.

We have spent tons of money on our lab and will continue to do so as long as she is not in pain and is happy living her life. She's 11, incontinent, blind, has allergies, arthritis, and is almost deaf -- she's on meds for much of it and we are able to keep it all under control. She also has some lumps. I expect her to blow out a leg joint someday and will pay to fix it as long as she will still have a good quality of life. She's a little slower than she used to be, but still happy.

 

[haha]

Grumpy, I would spend the money and do it.

We have spent tons of money on our lab and will continue to do so as long as she is not in pain and is happy living her life. She's 11, incontinent, blind, has allergies, arthritis, and is almost deaf -- she's on meds for much of it and we are able to keep it all under control. She also has some lumps. I expect her to blow out a leg joint someday and will pay to fix it as long as she will still have a good quality of life. She's a little slower than she used to be, but still happy.

I sure do not know the answer to this, but if this were a person, would he want to be alive? I don't think that I would. I have an old dog inherited from family members who have since moved on. I like hm, but when he goes, no more pets for me. I can go to the shelter and do a service, get my dog fix, and meet people by walking one of the dogs there on death row.

Ha

 

[Ginger]

Grumpy,  hurray - You are going to spend the money for the surgery.   Way to go...  

Can a neighbor watch the cat while you are on vacation?  

 

[FlowGirl]

Grumpy,

Sounds like you made a good decision.

If it were my cat, I would probably choose to put it down, but then I have issues: grew up in a family of cat rescuers with no less than 5-6 cats in the house at any one time. The amount of time, money, and emotional energy invested in hopeless cases (and at the expense of more important family needs) still has me a little resentful. But sounds like you have a good sense of balance.

 

[shiny]

Grumpy,

I totally sympathize with you. I have an old dog and if it were something as minimally invasive as this I would do it. Of course there are always people who go too far to keep their pets alive and spend way to much (in relation to their networth) but this obviously is not one of those times. You love your cat, you can afford to give him and yourself a better life, so do it and feel good about it.

 

[grumpy]

Grumpy, hurray - You are going to spend the money for the surgery. Way to go...

Can a neighbor watch the cat while you are on vacation?

Ginger,

Yep, that's the plan. If that can't be arranged I guess we will hire a pet sitting service.


Grumpy

 

[VoyT]

   I think you made a good decision, too.   
   My first cat developed cancer ... spent $1,000 on surgery, but lost him anyway. While I regretted putting him through the surgery, I've never regretted spending the $$.
     
     Nords, had an aunt and uncle who had a diabetic cat.  Rather than have someone deal with daily shots, they took the cat with them -- even to Vegas ... (no word on how well the cat did at the slots) 
   

 

[ladelfina]

CFB.. try a raw diet for your IBD cat, and your other pets.

http://www.catnutrition.org/ibd.html

Raw feeding can also help dramatically with skin ailments.

Haven't looked into the actual 'recipes' on the above site, but I would recommend a "prey model" diet: not low carbs, but NO carbs.. Just fresh meat, bones, organs. Many people go through grinding and adding vegetables but in my experience that is not worth the effort unless your pet has terrible teeth.

I was subscribing to a Yahoo! group for a while called "rawfeeding" that was generic, but they have a specific one called "rawcat". Many testimonials and tips, even for finicky cats.


Try it and let us know how it goes. What do you have to lose?

It's also just a heck of a lot of fun to watch them crunching away at a chicken leg!


Edited to add this site, written by a vet:
http://www.catinfo.org/#Home-Prepared_Diets

 

[Eagle43]

We (DW, that is) has a cat that's diabetic. DW gives her a shot twice a day and takes a glucose reading. We took her to Galveston with us. When we take a long airplane trip, she gets put in the kennel. Of course, DW worries about her all the time we're gone. I recommend NOT having a pet when you retire, because, like kids, they must be fed and cared for every day. Don't take this wrong, I like the cat, too. But, the animal's care is detrimental to and/or costly to your travel.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Ladelfina...long time no see!

They're pretty much ON a 'raw diet'. Innova EVO dry food is a no-grain, dry alternative "raw diet" style food for pets. Its just protein, including the bones and connective tissues, organs etc. Some vegetable matter and some probiotics. Almost all protein and fat.

Seems to be working for the cats, even the non-diabetic ones. They look pretty good and are holding their weight and the IBD is better.

Still craps on the floor if I let her in though. Did it right in front of me last week, walked up, squatted, pooped and then ran like hell. Did it to my wife a few days later.

The EVO didnt work as well with the dogs. A prodigious amount of very unhappy smelling gas.

 

[KB]

I switched my 11 year old cat to Innova dry food about a month or two ago. I got a sample of 2 of the dry foods at the feed store while picking up my bird seed. Gave my cat his choice of the 2 new foods or his regular food, and he picked one of the Innova brands.

The racoons loved his old food...the one that he refused to eat after I started him on Innova. Not sure if he has more energy eating the new food but I feel better feeding it to him. At 11, he sleeps a lot....

 

[ladelfina]

hmm, well, I tend to look at dry foods the way I'd look at Nutri-Form or Slim Fast bars. They may have "complete nutrition", but if you raised your kid on that and nothing else, they'd probably have a whole host of issues.

There are millions of dollars that go into slick marketing campaigns for processed pet food (and processed human food). No-grain is a step in the right direction, but you are brainwashed fooling yourself if you think any dry food = "raw". Comprehensible only in the double speak world of food processing, where Tropicana is "fresh-squeezed" (rather than "boiled") and "fresh frozen" is a common descriptor.

CFB, just try actual real raw food for a few weeks. Again, what do you have to lose? Read the vet's link which addresses specific issues with dry food. Don't wanna be on a soapbox, but I feel pretty strongly about this topic and am just trying to help -- I'd love to see your kitties happier & healthier, and you spend less time cleaning up poop. Let us know if it works!

 

[d]

re all of the above: that's what i like about cats .... no trouble at all!

 

[sailaway]

I you elect for radioactive iodine thyroid ablation, which is I am sure what they are talking about, this will probably be a one time pill. If it is successful, then the thyroid will probably be entirely destroyed. You may have to supplement with thyroid in the future. I just had this done on myself.

$1,200 seems very high as I paid much less for myself. I would call around to other vets. I would consider calling your nearest Vet College as I know they normally do the best of work at honest prices.

As for me, having raised many bottlefed calfs and animals over the years to ultimately feed my family with them, if it cost that much I would take care of (get rid of) the cat...unless you are exceedingly rich then what does it matter.

Sailaway

 

[grumpy]

I you elect for radioactive iodine thyroid ablation, which is I am sure what they are talking about, this will probably be a one time pill. If it is successful, then the thyroid will probably be entirely destroyed. You may have to supplement with thyroid in the future. I just had this done on myself.

Sailaway

This apparently is not the case with felines. The overproduction of thyroid hormone is almost always due to a thyroid tumor. According to the vet where the procedure will be done, the radioisotope destroys only tumor, not the healthy thryroid. So no future thyroid supplement should be required. I certainly hope this is the case as the primary reason we are opting for this treatment is that the local vets will no longer accept our cat for boarding due to his hostile behavior toward anyone but our family. Since we are the only ones who can give him his daily pills (without major injury ) we presently cannot leave him home while we travel and have a neighbor give him food and water. The expectation is that after the treatment we will be able to do that.

Grumpy

 

[Lsbcal]

Grumpy, have you tried any other techniques to administer the medicine? For instance, could the pills be ground up and mixed with your cat's wet food? Maybe this would work if the cat were good and hungry.

For our dog, we roll the pill in a small amount of thin deli meat. He is very enthusiastic about this and with other techniques he would try to separate the pill from the food.

Les

 

[grumpy]

Grumpy, have you tried any other techniques to administer the medicine? For instance, could the pills be ground up and mixed with your cat's wet food? Maybe this would work if the cat were good and hungry.

For our dog, we roll the pill in a small amount of thin deli meat. He is very enthusiastic about this and with other techniques he would try to separate the pill from the food.

Les

Les,

The cat only eats dry food and he "snacks" a little bit at a time throughout the day. Therefore, it is not possible to control the dosage that way. Also he shows no interest in people food or kitty snacks (we've tried putting his pill inside one). Actually, I have no difficulty giving him the pill by hand. I just put him on my chest, pry open his mouth, pop in the pill and hold his mouth closed until he swallows. He has learned from experience that "resistance is futile" so he is pretty cooperative. That all applies to me or DW but anyone else risks a severe scratching or bite if they try to give him his pill.

Grumpy

 

[Lsbcal]

Grumpy, my thought was that even though the current pill delivery works for you it does not work for caregivers e.g. your daughter or others. You have plenty of time to experiment and develop a method. I can relate to the fact that your cat likes dry food and that is certainly easy and nutritious, but it is probably not the ideal food to hide a pill (or ground up pill) inside. The best time to introduce your cat to a new dietary delight is when it is not stressed by other things. If the cat does not go for the wet food right away there is always the "this is all there is" tactic. Perhaps your cat could be trained to go between dry and wet. Most of our pets are terribly spoiled when it comes to food. Now if you had a Corgi like ours there would be no problem as he will eat anything (including horse manure, used tissues, you name it).

On the other hand there is always the $1200 solution. I agree with another poster that it might be wise to shop around. We were told that our dog might need an MIR and spinal tap totalling about $3500 (we chose not to do it). Only later did another vet casually mention other alternatives like going to a nearby city to make use of the university verternarian center there -- the cost was at least half off.

Just my thoughts and perhaps others have some experience along these lines.

Les