The week 18 tallies are in. The Photo of the Week with the most hits, likes, shares and/or comments is And The Feather Wand Is Mine with a total of 30 points.
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My beloved pet, Smokey crossed the Rainbow Bridge this morning at 11:25. It was time. He went peacefully surrounded by his human friends Thank you for all the happy times, cuddles and purrs. Rest in Peace my loyal friend.
1997- 2014
Smokey and I have an appointment this morning. His tumor has grown to the point that he is drooling long, strings of drool. He is eating but I don’t see him drinking much. I make sure he has wet food, the kind with the gravy, and he eats baby food from a spoon. It’s my feeble attempt to keep him hydrated. He still climbs onto my lap for cuddles and I do my best to gently dry his chest hair and comb out the matted tangles caused by the drool.
He never opens his eyes wide anymore and he has stopped playing. He watches the other 2 cats with interest while they play but doesn’t try to join in. His mouth must be causing him pain because he tries not to put his head down on his paws. It’s sad to see him trying to prop his head on the edge of a pillow or side of the cat bed. He sits or stands on my lap for hours but won’t lie down and rest his head.
I swear he has lost more weight. He is a skeleton with hair. I cry for what he’s going through and I cry for what I have to do. I need to give him his release. We’ll visit the vet for the last time today.
I think of this time with Smokey as a Kitty Hospice. I’m glad I work from home and can be here for him. I want him to spend as many of his final days in his home as possible. I’ve heard that some vets will come to the home to euthanize a pet but I don’t think my vet does that.
My vet specializes in cats and is a very caring lady. My pet sitter when I vacation is also a vet tech in her office. I never worry about “the boys” when she takes care of them.
Even before I knew that Smokey had cancer I knew he wasn’t doing well. I was watching him closely. I had this feeling that some morning I would wake up and he’d be gone, dead in his sleep. I still hope that’s the way he goes but it doesn’t seem likely.
So he’s home and I’m trying to make him comfortable. He is still managing to eat and I saw him drinking from the water bowl this morning so he still has that much function of his tongue and that’s the key. Once he can’t eat and drink it will be time to make a decision.
My vet says they have pain meds they can give him so he’ll spend his final days in a happy haze. So far I haven’t asked for them. He doesn’t seem to be to be hurting. It’s just hard to tell. Cats mask it so well.
Anyone with experience with this, please offer suggestions. The last cat I lost was Little Joe. He had cancer too. His was in his stomach and the vet I had at that time didn’t find it until little Joe had stopped eating and drinking. He’d had it for at least 3 months and as the tumor in his stomach grew he slowly starved to death. I can’t imagine his suffering and to this day I feel so guilty that I didn’t end it for him sooner. I don’t want to do that to Smokey.
“They” say that when it’s time your pet will let you know. Obviously I missed that message with Little Joe. How can I be sure I’ll recognize it with Smokey?
I guess when it’s your time there’s no cheating it. Some of you have been following my feline family from the beginning of aroudustyroads.
Back in September 2011 Smokey had his first health scare. You may remember a series of posts around that time. ( http://aroundustyroads.com/2011/09/15/smokeys-home-from-the-vet/)
I’m happy to say that we’ve been able to keep his enzyme levels stable. In March of this year Smokey had his annual physical. He’d lost weight so we ran the blood panels and did a full work up. Everything was ok and we went home with instructions to use more Senior Diet cat food and move him to a bi- annual check up. That was 30 days ago.
This past week has been extremely busy but even so I noticed Smokey was either curled into a little ball or following me around. He had to be next to me all the time. Also, he didn’t seem to be grooming himself. His fur never used to get knots. In fact, he used to groom so much that it became annoying because it sounded like he was “slurping”.
To make matters worse he insisted on sleeping in bed with me. That would have been fine but he wanted to have his face nose to nose with me and he had the worse case of bad kitty breath I’ve ever smelled. Neither Rocky or Buddy have bad breath like that. I became concerned that he might have an abscessed tooth or something. I had seen an episode of My Cat from Hell where the cat they were working with had bad breath and the diagnosis was cancer.
My vacation is right around the corner so I thought I’d better get Smokey in sooner rather than later to have his mouth checked. I was really hoping for an infection.
The first thing they do is weigh in. In the one month since his annual, he had dropped another pound! From a 14 lb. cat at his prime he was down to 9 lbs. When the Vet joined us she cuddled Smokey a minute and confirmed that she smelled his halitosis too. She pried his mouth open and immediately let it close again. She didn’t even have to look close. He has a large, angry, red growth under his tongue.
She pried his mouth open again so I could see. It was huge. Even I could see it. My first question was, is he in pain? She said it was hard to tell. She said at first glance it appeared to be a sarcoma. She wanted to sedate him to get a better look and if necessary do a biopsy.
I was numb but gave her the go- ahead. Once Smokey was under she called me in to show me. Even a layman like me could see that it was a nasty growth. It looked like something out of a text book on cancer.
The Vet explained that this is a very aggressive form and can show up seemingly overnight. Cats use their tongue to eat and drink and eventually this will prevent Smokey from being able to do that. This type of cancer is resistant to treatment and has an 85% chance of recurring. Where it was located would mean they couldn’t remove it surgically because they can’t cut out the tongue.
Smokey may have a week or he may have a month. It all depends on how fast the tumor grows. If he begins to exhibit signs of pain, we’ll give him pain meds but as long as he is eating and drinking I will let him live out his days. Softer food is easier for him so the Vet suggested picking up some baby food.
I don’t know what kind of life Smokey had before he came to me but I know he’s had a good life with me. He’s made it to the ripe old age of 17. I guess that’s a pretty good run.