When to euthanize: 16-year-old cat with congestive heart failure - seeking guidances
Hi everyone,
My cat is a little over 16 and had been diagnosed with CHF in late July. She's on lasix (pill or injectable depending on the day), benazapril, and diltiazem. I'm not able to get aspirin into her with much success.
Her breathing improved drastically for the first two months, but now its consistently laboured. We've upped her lasix the past two weeks with no real improvement. Our (wonderful) vet tried to explain how we only look for positives at this point in our pet's life, and that it's better to euthanize "a week early over a minute late" but of course did not try to sway us one way or another.
The real trouble I'm having is that she still uses her litter, can maneuver stairs (slowly), and drinks a ton. She eats tasty food - small amounts, but she's still interested. She also purrs occasionally but she is not as affectionate as she was before. And she falls into these deep sleeps sometimes, and I watch her laboured breathing with a long pause between each breath, almost praying she just passes quietly, but then she'll jerk awake and go about her business. She is usually hunched up sleeping around her water bowl, or in my bed these days. She stumbles occasionally. Her eyes look sad. But she also still occasionally sits beside me while I'm studying, like the good old days.
How do you know when its time? I'm terrified of her suffering a blood clot as the most painful way to die, but I also can't tell if she's ready to go. I'm looking for input or anecdotes to help me. I've been focusing (re: worrying) about her since the summer and I know my parents are worried for me not focusing on work or school but I would never euthanize her because of my focus issues.
Submitted November 05, 2018 at 03:15PM by AlienJones
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/cat/comments/9ui84w/when_to_euthanize_16yearold_cat_with_congestive/?utm_source=ifttt
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