shugabooga

hi everybody,

i've been sober for over a month now, and thank goodness, because i had a painful ear infection, bad cold and my beloved Maine Coon is very ill.

i may be facing a decision on whether or not to put him down. he has irritable bowel disease and has to see a specialist. he is only seven years old and i know he wants to live, but he may not make it much longer. he keeps throwing up and is weaker and weaker. at least he still has an appetite, which is the reason for trying to save him, because we know he still wants to live if he wants to eat.

thanks goodness i have sobered up to deal with this.

and i know i won't turn to alcohol to blunt the pain.

but how do i decide and when? sooner or later it's going to be about the cost as much as his quality of life. already have spent almost $3,000 and the specialist in Manhattan is sure to be EXPENSIVE.

i realize this is not a pet forum, but i know all of us have dealt with adversity and health and money issues and loss, so i am turning here for encouragement and advice on just dealing with difficulties.

other than this, i am feeling okay, making it to work, smiling, reaching out, and hanging in there. i just want my cat to stabilize and feel good!

Emimily

awww... i am so sorry. i don't know how else to express that. i really do understand. my little puppas has a really ridiculous ear infection and i can't afford to get her in to the vet, so i am cleaning it myself and have some leftover antibiotics from her last ear infection that i'm using to try to help, but it sucks to know she's uncomfortable. little furbabies, ohhh... know that i'm thinking of you and little kittyface.

(when i pray at night, i ask god to take care of everyone i love and everyone they love, and all the animals. they need it too.)

nandm

I am so sorry for your pain. I can relate to your problem as I have been in a similiar situation in sobriety. My 14 year old beagle, the one in my avatar, had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure due to a heart murmur she had been born with. I spent nearly $10,000 in the last 2 years of her life. My decision to let her rest and put her to sleep though was a decision I intentionally left the money out of. If you look at her picture you can see she is tired. This was taken 2 days before I put her to sleep.

This was a dog with so much pride. In the end to watch her decline was very difficult. What I finally based my decision on was I asked myself "who am I keeping her alive for, her because I can give her a good quality of life or me so I won't have to miss the loss of her?" Ultimately I realized that I was keeping her alive for me, so I would not have to feel the pain, not for her.

I realized the right thing for me to do was let her rest and finally have some peace. I placed her ashes at a place called Angels rest. A beautiful hike with a wonderful view in the Columbia Gorge. I thought it appropriate since she loved taking that hike before she got really sick.

I pray you will make the decision that is right for you. My decision is not necessarily the right one for you, that is for you to decide. Take care, you are in my thoughts and prayers.:comfort

shugabooga

thank you nandm, your response is really helpful. i know we can't keep our pets with us forever. i just am not ready for him to go at only age seven. but i'll have to wait and see. it's been a rollercoaster ride these past two weeks. just when he was doing better, he took a turn for the worse overnight and now he's back at the vet and they need to keep him tonight. off to the specialist tomorrow.

i'm sorry about your beagle baby. fourteen doesn't seem long enough either. and like you said, it's about quality of life for the pet, not the owner. i hope i can afford his health care and not bury myself further in debt. my years of drinking and related irresponsible behavior have brought on a pile of debt. i have to be careful. i may even have to find a new job that pays better....even though i like what i do now.

all my life i have never understood why God made pets' lives so much shorter than humans!

thanks again!!!!

nandm

I like to believe that my HP allowed pet's lives to be so much shorter than mine to allow me the privilage of having a lot of them in my life. Each of which has touched me in a different way and made me a better person for the experience. None is ever a replacement for the one that has passed away but each brings their own grace to my life.

1963comet

I know what you are going through. I had a dog named Dusty Sue for 13 years. She had cancer, I took her to the vet to put her down because my aunt said it was nessary. But the vet said to me that she looked to happy to be put down. I cried for 2 days before I went there.

So, I did have Dusty for another 5 months. But I knew when it was time to take her in. That was the hardest thing to do, but I did it for Dusty and not myself. I was told that the last gift you can give your dog is to take the suffering away.

I did not want to make that choice for my dog. I left it up to the vet. She told me what to watch for. And when I knew she was suffering I took her in.

My sister sent my and artical. It is called Rainbow Bridge.

CarolD

Here is a link to another thread
Please see #64 for info on a help line
about your cat

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ur-help-3.html

I can so understand....due to my finances
I left my cat at my sons 3 years ago.

Well done on your sober progress!

gypsytears

When a pet or loved one is ill, it's definitely stressfull.Good wishes for you cat's health coming your way. Well done on your month + of sobriety .

kelsh

Hi Everyone,

Our pets are special to us too. We had to have our Airedale put down because she had arthritis in her hips and was blind. It was a sad day.

After a while we got an offer from the gal that did our dog's grooming for a Rat Terrier that her brother didn't want anymore. She is my dog...about 25 pounds and is a lap dog.

My husband finally made a decision to get another Airedale so got a puppy again. She is so different from our other Airedale and so fun. They each have a special personality of their own. This one talks to us, meows like a cat, and begs for human food.

My little dog struts around like she is in charge of all of us...comes to let me know the microwave has gone off or the oven is beeping.

I love my little dog and she loves both of us. The Airedale guides me by putting her body next to my left leg to go where she wants me to...like the back door or the water bowl, or the food. She is going to push me over some time if I don't watch out.

kelsh

shugabooga

what does an airedale look like? i've heard of them but can't place it.

i walked into a pet store today and saw a pomeranian/yorkie mix puppy...adorable!

my baby had a second surgery tonight at the special hospital in manhattan. they had to remove part of his intestine. very complicated stuff. we're doing more tests and another biopsy. he's a sick little guy! i'm going to visit him tomorrow. i hope he recovers from this second surgery as well as the first!!!!

ARealLady

Shugabooga....sending positive thoughts to you and your "fur baby".

ARL

shugabooga

went to visit him today and they had to put one of those collars/lampshade dealies on him...........poor baby. he hates it! all the other cats were knocked out on meds, resting and sleeping, but Max was CHOWING DOWN, fighting the collar, trying to jump out of his cage, and even bit me! good LORD! it was disconcerting and disheartening at first, but they explained that the pain meds are causing him to be jittery, but he has to be on this kind of meds in order to NOT suppress his appetite, since he has lost about 40% of his body weight.

so this is a good thing. after he ate, he started to settle down, and i massaged his big head (he's a Maine Coon) and little skinny neck (he looks like a bobble head right now!) and he liked that. we got him calmed down a lot.

so he will be home soon and then it's a matter of managing his diet and meds, and as long as his biopsy comes back okay, then he might be okay!!!!

and on an equally positive note, i ordered a VIRGIN STRAWBERRY MARGARITA at dinner tonight. it was DEEEE-LISH!