There's a time with our pets when we go FROM doing anything and everything we can to keep our pets healthy TO maintaining quality of life...Our pet is Blue, a 19 1/2 year old female blue russian cat that has been for the most part healthy for her entire life (since I adopted her and her sister (passed away April 2003) when they were both only 4 months old.The hard part for most of us is realizing when maintaining quality of life supercedes anything else and what makes it even harder is Blue has been a part of the family all these years.Right now she has a few small problems but nothing major...she can still eat, drink, use the litter box and most importantly, still takes time to clean herself...she lost her teeth at 15 but still loves her hard food, touch of diabetes I'm sure, and hearing is all but gone but still seeks us out or should I say seeks out our laps...I know we are on borrowed time (heck we have been on borrowed time for the past 8 1/2 years considering how long most cats live) and we will do what we can to maintain her quality of life but once that is gone we will have to male the "decison", but we can only hope the 19 1/2 years since she "adopted" us will last just a few more years...Thanks for listening...

It's always so difficult to make the decision when it finally comes but one that every pet "owner" makes sooner or later. We have a 19 year old cat and her 18 year old daughter.

This is the hardest part IMO when you bring them into our lives!Pops

I've found that we all know when it is time because they tell you. Whether it be a look in their eyes as if to say now, or whatever. You will know when it's time and I think there is solace in knowing that.She sounds pretty darn healthy for a senior cat!

I battled this dilemma recently with my beloved dog, and there are no easy answers. He did not tell me "it was time" - however, he was losing weight and strength; then one leg grew more and more uncooperative, until it was finally my fear that he would fall and REALLY hurt himself, that made me make that awful decision. I'm sure if you asked HIM - he would have said something about the other 3 legs sort of worked and he was OK with that..... sort of like the French Knight in Monty Python's "Holy Grail" who keeps losing body parts and still hurls insults at his foes....I guess there just comes a point when each person says "I love you too much to see you live like that"

Went through this six years ago with my Queensland Chow mix. All the typicall things, weight lose, lost strength, legs giving out, etc. and told myself I would never put my self through it again. Now I am recieving daily kissess from a 5 year old black lab and a 3 year old chug (chihuahua pug mix), both rescues. I guess I am a slow learner.

QUALITY OF LIFE | Good Sam Community

24 Replies

dturm
Moderator
May 31, 2013
xteacher wrote:
It's always hard to know when it's time, but I won't take extreme measures to keep a pet alive...

I agree for my personal animals, but I've found that the definition of "extreme measures" is different for each person.

For some it's doing diagnostic tests to find out what's going on, for others it may be giving a medication daily, for some if there is a .000001% chance of success it's not extreme.

Doug, DVM
xteacher
Explorer
May 31, 2013
It's always hard to know when it's time, but I won't take extreme measures to keep a pet alive - I feel that it's only helping me, not the pet - JMHO. Don't get me wrong, I've made all my elderly dogs comfortable under a vet's care. I've had to help a few dogs to the Bridge over the years, and it's never pleasant. I had an 11 year old yellow lab whose arthritis went to his spine and he couldn't get up, a 7 year old boxer with rapidly advancing cancer, and a 14.5 year old black lab who basically just wore out, developing severe canine vestibular disease that he couldn't overcome (even under a vet's care). I can't imagine life without at least one furbaby in the house!
Uppercrust
Explorer
May 30, 2013
It is never easy knowing when to say goodbye to a much loved furbaby. I had a cat who was 24 with no health problem and then just started having a seizure, we knew it was time. Lady was 17 (dog) when she could not control her bladder or bowels and we knew she was not happy any more.
Continue giving lots of love and hugs and you wil know when the time is right.
bigcitypopo
Explorer II
May 30, 2013
I have always held the standard that when I see the quality of life shift dramatically. I make the decision... My animals know I love them. They know I won't let them suffer... I have never just gone out and got a dog... All of my dogs have come to me... Instant connection... Old, puppy,... Whatever their age...

Good luck to you...
CA_POPPY
Explorer
May 30, 2013
D.E.Bishop wrote:
When our rescue kitty Spike was a little over 18 yo, he started loosing weight and having symtoms of his renal failure. Things had been pretty goor for the last 4 or 5 years and at 16 1/2 he even made the trip to AK. He had several problems but he had been happy and never cried or did anything unusual. I knew that there was something wrong and took him to the Vet, he had been eating but losing weight, scat was pretty normal but something was wrong. Dr. Cartwright looked him over as I told him what was happening. I told the Vet as far as I was concerned, money was no problem if it would get him back on his feet. The Vet looked at me with a tear in his eye and said "It is time". (snip)

God bless those vets who will outright make the call and let the family decide what to do with that info. We had a vet like that for 30 years and oh, do we miss him. Last fall, our heart dog Poquita was tortured, to my mind, by the meds and false hope that our new vet extended. Our old country vet would've called it and we would've trusted his judgment. I swear, that's not going to happen to another of our pets, if I can help it.
discovery4us
Explorer
May 30, 2013
Deb and Ed M wrote:
discovery4us wrote:
I guess I am a slow learner.

I disagree - even though the heartbreak of losing one is awful - the love of a great dog far outweighs the pain of loss. I'm counting down the days until our new pup arrives :-)

I say this with a whole lot of sarcasim! I can not fathom the idea of not having a loyal friend laying beside my chair or in many cases trying to get them out of my chair so I can sit down:)
Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer II
May 30, 2013
D.E.Bishop wrote:
The Vet really liked Spike and was amazed at his coat, even at 18 it looked smooth and glossy, like a synthetic wig, polyester like.

This was the strange thing with my Aussie - he just kept losing weight despite getting Pancreazyme and a supplement that was supposed to help slow "wasting" - yet his fur was like mink. Thick, luxurious, satiny... it was like all his calories went to his coat? Here he is on his 14th birthday:
doxiemom11
Explorer II
May 30, 2013
It is one of the most difficult things to do, make that decision. We have survived losing 3, and will eventually lose more. The unconditional love they give is worth the pain and we will continue to do it over and over and over as long as we are able.
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
May 30, 2013
Code2High wrote:
Someday, though, things may be a little different. They're doing stem cell treatments for arthritis in animals
and I looked up stem cell therapy for kidney disease in cats and that's already being done as well. Still a bit out of reach for a lot of us
, but once it becomes more common the cost might come down. It just makes you wonder what will be possible in the future.

It's already here! We have been using stem cells treatments in horses for some time now. And it WORKS! And it is NOT expensive. But that said my horse vet bill, meds, etc are FAR cheaper than the exact same at a dog clinic.

If you find an Equine Clinic that also has a dog clinic you can benefit from a lot of the cutting edge stuff before you're local vet.

Albeit sadly most local vets won't ever even entertain the idea of new procedures, usually because they don't have the time to further their education on an on going basis.
M_GO_BLUE1
Explorer
May 30, 2013
Im the OP and I will add a few more things...

Her "meower" as I like to call it is very garbled and low recently but the vet and I attest that to her age, somewhat unsteady at time but hanging in there...still purrs when she comes see us, sleeps 20+ hours a day but is funny when she has to choose between our laps and laying in the sun, working on an ear infection right now with drops...

She's a trooper...

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QUALITY OF LIFE

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