Pretty sure I'm going to have to put my beautiful baby boy to rest on Monday. He's been getting very lethargic and lost his appetite. Spent 48 hours at the vet and he was treated for pancreatitis, kidney disease, and now we find heart failure. He's back home with all the meds he could need and he's comfortable.
He's my 17 year old very special boy. We've been extremely lucky with only 2 minor health issues that needed vet care and otherwise normal visits with clean bills of health. He's always been very strong (if very picky when it comes to eating) and he's been with me through the death of my mother and father.
Im honestly feeling pretty lost right now, but every time I look at him I can't help but feel it's time. He's got the best chance the vet can give him, but I still don't want to watch him suffer.
I really don't have much faith, but if you do, please pray for Bear.
Edit: Bear was laid to rest at 10:50am. It was extremely fast and he was so out of it he barely felt a thing. His suffering is over and so mine begins.
We feel you :'(
Since 1.5 months we're fighting for the life of our cat Loki. He usually had 6-6.5kg and only has 4.25kg left because of his gastritis, after surgery of an unrelated eye tumour, when we're did a gastroscopy.
We tried to give him some stomach protector, which he hated. So I mixed it into his food, which only led to him declining his diet food more and more.
We switched the stomach protector to something more easily eaten and we started cooking for him - every 2h from 5 in the morning until 1 at night (sometimes also at 3, when he had appetite)
Didn't really help...
So he got daily subcutaneous infusions with antibiotics and after a week or two he was much better and even gained like half a kg.
He was happy, we were jumping in joy.
But exactly after the last control visit at the vet, he declined his food again and 2 days layer he was diagnosed with a pancreatitis.
So he would need to go for 24 hours stationary at the vet with IV infusions.
That didn't work out, as he wouldn't hold still without us.
So we went with him and did daily IV infusions for nearly 2 hours a day and he finally got better.
He gained nearly 1kg and we were happy as fuck - him as well, as he was enjoying just being outside again.
Then he started puking again...
So the vet told us, that we need to switch to a specific diet food instead of our low fat cooking.
He surprisingly ate 1-1.5 portions, but after that he declined it again - even with Mirtazapin to give him some appetite.
That was yesterday. So last night he like really proudly showed me his puke, with a face of "look what this new food has done" and we switched back to cooking.
I'm currently at the end of my wisdom and we're emotionally completely drained.
I'm self employed and haven't worked for the whole time now, because I can't focus anyway and with him being miserable I was just a 24 hours nurse. My wife luckily had a vacation now, so she could jump in a bit, so I could catch up with some sleep...
But it's a daily rollercoaster. Sometimes he has good days and wants to go outside, sometimes he just want to sleep and mostly he cuddles with us.
He is the nicest and bravest cat I've ever had and we'll fight however possible. But have my whole sympathy as we now how shit it is to see your loved cat deteriating and you can't do much but watch :-(
I actually wanted to add some pictures as tax, but I can't find an easy easy in comments (in my mobile app) now
At least feel hugged from very understanding other cat owners, currently facing mostly the same dilemma
(By now I could probably fill a book just with the shit that happened in the last month...)