1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

@Wulf @Kwikvette @eon_blue and any other members that have 2 pets and care to weigh in, I have a serious question.

With the heaviest of hearts, the wife and I are losing our youngest cat, we don't know how much time she has left, but due to an unknown to us birth defect, (we rescued her from a country farm when she was less than 2months old, shes 3.5yrs old now) she's now going through renal failure. Wife had to rush her to Vet ER yesterday, they've kept her overnight and will give us another update in a few hours. We got her to be the little sister and keep the wife's older cat company. It took a few months for them to be friendly but they've been real brother and sister the past 3yrs... it breaks my heart more that he spent most of last night and this morning looking for her.

We know we'll have to put her down but we're unsure (until we get the phone call) wether we'll have 2 more days or 2 more months. When the inevitable has to happen, would you bring the older cat with you to the vet so he can have closure and know he sister won't be with us anymore? Or would that be too traumatic and be a bad idea? I wish I didn't have to do this but an exorbitant amount of money has already been spent in the past 4 days and the total surgery costs with everything is estimated at another 20k with the doctors saying they can't even guarantee another 2yrs of life

 

I would just leave the older cat home. He might act different for a couple days but I'd imagine he'll be fine.

 

Thank you for your input, I appreciate anyone willing to weigh in

 

oh man I'm really sorry, that sucks so bad. We went through similar with my wife's cat Mo a few years back, a few months before our daughter was born. Renal failure as well, cats are very susceptible to kidney problems. Vet once told us that being dehydrated for just a couple days can lead to kidney failure in cats.

when my wife and I met she had 2 cats, so we had 3 at one time before Mo passed. His brother Mai Thai looked for him around the house for awhile after and the first few days especially were really sad to see. He'd go to all of Mo's favorite spots and just look around and meow for him. To be honest I never thought to bring him over to the vet to say goodbye, but it was such a whirlwind when we had to put Mo down (happened fast) it would have been hard. Plus....getting Mai Thai out of the house its a huge effort in and of itself lol.

I would probably look it up online too and see what others say about it. The one thing that comes to mind is it might make it more difficult to take him to the vet for future visits if he associates it with his friend getting put to sleep. Animals can draw very quick and strong associations with stuff like that.

Sorry again putting a pet down is such a shitty experience no matter how you try looking at it, even when it's for the best.

 

I hadn't thought about that association that's a really good point, thank you.

It is so shitty, especially since I can't have children, pets really do become "your kids".

 

The best choice I've ever made with my pets over the years regarding end-of-life has been to have them put down at home. We put our family dog down at a vet and...never again. Having them come to the house where the pet is comfy is the best. It sucks making the decision. (My rule of thumb now is once the question starts being seriously considered, its either time or past time.) Just my 2¢. Good luck and hang in there. Having them stick around and suffer is always worse, because they'll just keep hanging on for you.

 

That's right I forgot about that option, we haven't done it but I think we will try the next time it happens.

 

I will look into that, I didn't know it was even an option thank you. I definitely don't want her to suffer, she didn't act in pain at all.. just stopped having an appetite. Up until yesterday she was she drinking water just fine

Did you know there are organ transplant lists for pets? Crazy

 

It's great. They can be in their favorite spot, chair or bed, etc. Very peaceful, they're not wondering what's going on or freaking out. Just, going to sleep. The doc / nurse have so far always been very kind and patient, they get it.

 

My parent's cat is currently having the exact same troubles. I'm sorry man

 

Wow, that's unfortunate, sorry you all have to deal with that.
I can definitely believe there are transplant lists for them though, people go to (sometimes insane) lengths to keep a pet around. Part of me gets it, but also, its not fun for them going through all that trauma either.

 

Yeah cats and kidney issues are unfortunately common.

my ex had an older cat that got kidney issues and we had to hold her down and give her subcutaneous bags of fluid morning and night until the poor thing filled up like a camel and was hydrated until the next time. Felt cruel tbh and eventually she decided it was better to let go and not have her suffer any more.

 

I'm really sorry to hear that losing a pet unexpectedly really really sucks especially when they're so young.

I would agree with keeping the other kitty at home to avoid traumatizing them with the vet association. Pets are intuitive with that stuff and they may have already had an understanding that their friend was ill in some sorts.

If you can do a home visit it is a good option.

We said our goodbyes to Bert at Thanksgiving and at home he was able to be more comfortable. molly was around and was able to get some closure. I'm glad I went that route and i don't think it cost much more than doing it at the vet.

I know there's probably not much any of us can do but let us know if we can help somehow

 

Thanks, it's extra rough cause she's so young and supposed to outlive the older cat.

I'm sorry your parents are going through it as well

 

If you find someone to do a home euthanasia will you let me know, I'd like to give them that option too. They live close to you

 

Thank you

I'm sorry you had to do that for your Thanksgiving but I'm hope it's some closure they're not suffering anymore. That's uplifting to here Molly got some closure as well

 

Absolutely, I'll keep you posted. Haven't discussed with the wife yet but I'm confident she'll want the in home option

 

Considering how much of a hard on the feds get for crushing a 2000 Mini Cooper and other random uninteresting illegally imported cars, I guarantee those Jimnys won't last long.

I see modern Hiluxs driving around with Texas plates occasionally but I bet they're just using random Texas plates they had on hand illegally.

 

@Sperrunner was triggered

Didn't even open it, it looked like thick simple green

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