Tough decision coming up...
Discussion
It's always sad to see folks posting about their loss with the death of a pet. So I guess I'll try to get in before the bell. Not sure why I'm writing this, but I can't concentrate to work right now, and I guess it's a bit cathartic.
Murphy is our 16 year old Burmese. He doesn't really look or act 16, and he replaced a really super cat Guinness. Guinness to Murphy...gettit? I never thought we'd have a car to match Guinnes but Murphy really has been a great cat - and right now still is. A friendlier, softer, more contented and tolerant cat you'd be hard pressed to find.
Even all the vets he's been through in the last few weeks (and there have been many) have said he's 'such an angel'. But therein lies the problem. He lost his voice a few months back. He seemed otherwise healthy enough but tests showed a mass in his throat behind the vocal chords.
The initial thought was a lymphoma so we got ourselves prepared for a chemo solution. But all the tests have suggested some form of laryngitis. All the vets suspect there's something else behind this, but 4 biopsies later still it's coming up laryngitis and no sign of cancer. So he's been on steroids and antibiotics, but now he's stopped eating so he has a tube down into his stomach that we inject drink and drugs. But the growth has just about closed his throat up now and he can hardly breath.
Sitting here feeling real helpless as we're doing all we can for him, but nothing seems to be turning things around. Daily he's getting thinner and finding it harder to breath. I just can't see the point of giving him the trauma of pumping him full of drugs that don't seem to be working. I'm trying to get hold of the consultant who saw him last to see if there's some surgical option, as even though I guess it would be real risky I can't see any other alternative. Other than that I guess it will be a tough session at the vets and a so-long-Murphy update
It's at times like these you really feel so helpless. Its also times like this I realise I don't have too many photos of him. My wife has loads on her camera, but I've only a few.
Here's Murphy with his pal Woozle (an Oriental Spotted Tabby)
Murphy is pretty much in indoor cat. But is we were in the garden he come out with us, then come back in when we went in.
I'd really like to think that in a few days I'll be posting up that he's on the mend. Sadly I'm not sure that's going to happen.
Jeez. Pets. Why do we have them
Murphy is our 16 year old Burmese. He doesn't really look or act 16, and he replaced a really super cat Guinness. Guinness to Murphy...gettit? I never thought we'd have a car to match Guinnes but Murphy really has been a great cat - and right now still is. A friendlier, softer, more contented and tolerant cat you'd be hard pressed to find.
Even all the vets he's been through in the last few weeks (and there have been many) have said he's 'such an angel'. But therein lies the problem. He lost his voice a few months back. He seemed otherwise healthy enough but tests showed a mass in his throat behind the vocal chords.
The initial thought was a lymphoma so we got ourselves prepared for a chemo solution. But all the tests have suggested some form of laryngitis. All the vets suspect there's something else behind this, but 4 biopsies later still it's coming up laryngitis and no sign of cancer. So he's been on steroids and antibiotics, but now he's stopped eating so he has a tube down into his stomach that we inject drink and drugs. But the growth has just about closed his throat up now and he can hardly breath.
Sitting here feeling real helpless as we're doing all we can for him, but nothing seems to be turning things around. Daily he's getting thinner and finding it harder to breath. I just can't see the point of giving him the trauma of pumping him full of drugs that don't seem to be working. I'm trying to get hold of the consultant who saw him last to see if there's some surgical option, as even though I guess it would be real risky I can't see any other alternative. Other than that I guess it will be a tough session at the vets and a so-long-Murphy update
It's at times like these you really feel so helpless. Its also times like this I realise I don't have too many photos of him. My wife has loads on her camera, but I've only a few.
Here's Murphy with his pal Woozle (an Oriental Spotted Tabby)
Murphy is pretty much in indoor cat. But is we were in the garden he come out with us, then come back in when we went in.
I'd really like to think that in a few days I'll be posting up that he's on the mend. Sadly I'm not sure that's going to happen.
Jeez. Pets. Why do we have them
One of ours is called Murphy and he is about 16 too. He'a whingey old git but brilliant and still doing well but is slowing down.
It's a horrible decision but when his time comes I'm not going to see him suffer in any way. Better a day to early than a day too late IMO.
16 is a great innings though.
It's a horrible decision but when his time comes I'm not going to see him suffer in any way. Better a day to early than a day too late IMO.
16 is a great innings though.
Oh I'm really sorry to hear of this situation OP.
When Pegerty (blue smoke Persian) contracted cancer, she muddled along for a decent amount of time but when she lost condition and even for a Persian looked thin with straggly fur we knew she just wasn't happy any more and we couldn't keep her going. It was a sucky situation but ultimately the fairest decision.
I really hope there is some improvement and a glimmer of hope for Murphy though
When Pegerty (blue smoke Persian) contracted cancer, she muddled along for a decent amount of time but when she lost condition and even for a Persian looked thin with straggly fur we knew she just wasn't happy any more and we couldn't keep her going. It was a sucky situation but ultimately the fairest decision.
I really hope there is some improvement and a glimmer of hope for Murphy though
rosie11 said:
So sorry to hear this,
Is he gasping for breath or just laboured breathing?
Really struggling to breathe with the throat obstruction - lungs are clear, he's just being 'choked'. Took him up to the vets again last night again as he was struggling to get air in and out, and after a wee while in the oxygen 'tent' and more steroid injections he's 'fine' again. But he can't live on steroids in an oxygen box. Vet's now going to keep him in for a couple of days with boosted medications to see what happens as I picked him up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons...ended up having to get him back to the vet Friday, Saturday and Sunday (and Monday) nights.Is he gasping for breath or just laboured breathing?
They still seem to think that the medications may have an impact but a week on and he's still getting worse. We'll see what tomorrow brings...
17 year old Burmese Karnak went from being a chubby, lively cat to seriously thin and ill (with cancer). We exhausted all options of medication and surgery was the last option, but it was risky and wouldn't have given him much longer. One day you could tell he'd given up, so we did the humane thing of putting him down.
His sister on the other hand, Luxor, 19 years old and spent the last 3-4 years being the most annoying naggy old woman going!
His sister on the other hand, Luxor, 19 years old and spent the last 3-4 years being the most annoying naggy old woman going!
We have a younger Burmese on our books. We found a mass on her larynx, struggling to breathe etc, we thought cancerous but no confirmation with all the tests we did. Eventually steroids settled it down. She does have flare ups and was quite bad a couple months ago but she rallied. We've never really been able to diagnose an exact condition though.
Difficult times for you at the mo. I hope they can find a treatment that will relieve the symptoms but if not you will know the kindest decision
Difficult times for you at the mo. I hope they can find a treatment that will relieve the symptoms but if not you will know the kindest decision
Ah well. That's that then. Thanks for the support and good wishes.
He'd been overnight at the vets as he could only really breath in an oxygen environment and even then was really struggling for breath. It was pretty clear he was continuing to get worse despite a cocktail of medications. The obvious solution was just to put him to sleep, but there was a slim chance that the mass could possibly be surgically removed. We knew it was a slim chance and a high risk, but if the alternative was just to go out with a whimper I reckoned he deserved one last chance. Sadly the mass couldn't successfully be removed and he didn't make it through.
I lost both parent and grandparents in the last few years - at their bedsides at the end - and did all their funeral arrangements and hosted/spoke/ran the ceremonies; my wife's father died a fortnight ago, and we both agree losing Murphy was worse than any of that. We're all absolutely gutted. My daughter is in Vancouver and doesn't get back until Christmas and I would have liked for her to see Murphy again (as did she), so a tough time on Skype yesterday too.
Our previous cats have died at home of old age so this was the first time we've had to pick one up from the vet. They were very good about it, with him wrapped in his blanket in the cat box. Of course me first question when I saw the box was 'is he in there?'. Of course he was on his side under the blanket - but even though I knew I was picking up the wee body I somehow just expected to see him sitting up. Cue for massive lump in throat, which I still have...plus a massive hangover. Toasted in style.
Made up a nice little box and spent most of last night digging a hole to put him beside the previous cats in the lawn. They were great cats too, but Murphy was something special.
On a more serious note, I guess there are lessons learned and conclusions to be drawn. He 'lost his voice' at the beginning of the summer and we took him to the vet. There was nothing immediately apparent, so put down to 'one of those things' - possibly age related and he may or may not get it back. I guess at that time we should have forced the issue. If one day a cat can meow and the next they can't, then something has changed. I guess we should have forced the issue to get the reason diagnosed for sure at that time.
He was latterly referred to a specialist vet who did loads of tests and biopsies (2 operations) to conclude it wasn't cancer and could be addressed through medication. I have no problem with their service or diagnosis, but I fear there is perhaps an issue with possibly taking a simplistic cause-and-effect approach. Tests say X, and we treat X with Y. But despite re-presenting him with 'but his breathing is worse day-by-day' there seems a steadfast 'treat X with Y' despite a clear worsening of the symptoms. In my naive world (and since its a motoring forum!) if the standard cure for a strangled engine is to change the air filter, but having changed the air filter if there is no discernible change then you don't keep replacing the air filter.
There also seems to be perhaps an undue deference to the referral vets by the local vets, who in their defence took a far more holistic and indeed practical view. Initially at least, there was the view that whatever the specialist had diagnosed and prescribed 'must be right'. It was only as the symptoms got progressively worse that they started to question the effectiveness of the regime and started to focus on trying to make him breath easier. For my part I guess I had the same deference that what is being done 'must be right'.
I'm not sure if anything could have been done to change the final outcome, but (and I have found this with quite a few doctors too) there often seems to be a very single minded focus on aligning symptoms with a textbook cause, and then and then delivering the textbook remedy against the case at the expense of perhaps stepping back and considering the bigger picture, and especially monitoring effectiveness as the treatment and symptoms progress. 'House' it ain't. Not meant to be a rant, just an observation that perhaps owners need to feel slightly more empowered to question diagnoses and the effectiveness of treatments. But the local practice was extremely good, especially as I had to call them out-of-hours on a few occasions and deliver him post-haste to get some oxygen and steroids. I think in retrospect their 'gut feel' and holistic view had more merit than the specialist referral vets.
And insurance! We'd never had pet insurance since vet trips had been relatively infrequent over the last 30-odd years of pet-owning. We had totally underestimated the magnitude of the costs of some procedures and treatments. I can well understand how many folks have to get 'curable' animals put to sleep when they are faced with some of these costs. As it is, I guess we spent enough to buy a new small car. Was it worth it? In retrospect probably not as I don't really think we bought any more quality time. But if we hadn't done all we could we'd forever have been troubled with the 'what if we had' question.
So that's it them. No Murphy on the bed this morning sharing toast. And when I came out the shower he hadn't nipped through and pulled the towels off the radiator to make a bed to catch a post-breakfast 40-winks...although I still instinctively looked for the towels on the floor with a sleeping cat.
Probably too soon to think about it for sure, but we'll have to get a replacement - and Woozle (oriental spotted tabby) is looking a bit lost and howling. I guess the only problem with getting another Burmese is we'd always be comparing him/her to Murphy. Not sure if we should look for a change as Burmese kind of 'fitted in' so well with us.
Jeez I never posted a ramble like this when my parents died - I don't think I posted anything at all. Animals. Why do we put ourselves through this?
Anyway, so long Murph. It was good while it lasted.
He'd been overnight at the vets as he could only really breath in an oxygen environment and even then was really struggling for breath. It was pretty clear he was continuing to get worse despite a cocktail of medications. The obvious solution was just to put him to sleep, but there was a slim chance that the mass could possibly be surgically removed. We knew it was a slim chance and a high risk, but if the alternative was just to go out with a whimper I reckoned he deserved one last chance. Sadly the mass couldn't successfully be removed and he didn't make it through.
I lost both parent and grandparents in the last few years - at their bedsides at the end - and did all their funeral arrangements and hosted/spoke/ran the ceremonies; my wife's father died a fortnight ago, and we both agree losing Murphy was worse than any of that. We're all absolutely gutted. My daughter is in Vancouver and doesn't get back until Christmas and I would have liked for her to see Murphy again (as did she), so a tough time on Skype yesterday too.
Our previous cats have died at home of old age so this was the first time we've had to pick one up from the vet. They were very good about it, with him wrapped in his blanket in the cat box. Of course me first question when I saw the box was 'is he in there?'. Of course he was on his side under the blanket - but even though I knew I was picking up the wee body I somehow just expected to see him sitting up. Cue for massive lump in throat, which I still have...plus a massive hangover. Toasted in style.
Made up a nice little box and spent most of last night digging a hole to put him beside the previous cats in the lawn. They were great cats too, but Murphy was something special.
On a more serious note, I guess there are lessons learned and conclusions to be drawn. He 'lost his voice' at the beginning of the summer and we took him to the vet. There was nothing immediately apparent, so put down to 'one of those things' - possibly age related and he may or may not get it back. I guess at that time we should have forced the issue. If one day a cat can meow and the next they can't, then something has changed. I guess we should have forced the issue to get the reason diagnosed for sure at that time.
He was latterly referred to a specialist vet who did loads of tests and biopsies (2 operations) to conclude it wasn't cancer and could be addressed through medication. I have no problem with their service or diagnosis, but I fear there is perhaps an issue with possibly taking a simplistic cause-and-effect approach. Tests say X, and we treat X with Y. But despite re-presenting him with 'but his breathing is worse day-by-day' there seems a steadfast 'treat X with Y' despite a clear worsening of the symptoms. In my naive world (and since its a motoring forum!) if the standard cure for a strangled engine is to change the air filter, but having changed the air filter if there is no discernible change then you don't keep replacing the air filter.
There also seems to be perhaps an undue deference to the referral vets by the local vets, who in their defence took a far more holistic and indeed practical view. Initially at least, there was the view that whatever the specialist had diagnosed and prescribed 'must be right'. It was only as the symptoms got progressively worse that they started to question the effectiveness of the regime and started to focus on trying to make him breath easier. For my part I guess I had the same deference that what is being done 'must be right'.
I'm not sure if anything could have been done to change the final outcome, but (and I have found this with quite a few doctors too) there often seems to be a very single minded focus on aligning symptoms with a textbook cause, and then and then delivering the textbook remedy against the case at the expense of perhaps stepping back and considering the bigger picture, and especially monitoring effectiveness as the treatment and symptoms progress. 'House' it ain't. Not meant to be a rant, just an observation that perhaps owners need to feel slightly more empowered to question diagnoses and the effectiveness of treatments. But the local practice was extremely good, especially as I had to call them out-of-hours on a few occasions and deliver him post-haste to get some oxygen and steroids. I think in retrospect their 'gut feel' and holistic view had more merit than the specialist referral vets.
And insurance! We'd never had pet insurance since vet trips had been relatively infrequent over the last 30-odd years of pet-owning. We had totally underestimated the magnitude of the costs of some procedures and treatments. I can well understand how many folks have to get 'curable' animals put to sleep when they are faced with some of these costs. As it is, I guess we spent enough to buy a new small car. Was it worth it? In retrospect probably not as I don't really think we bought any more quality time. But if we hadn't done all we could we'd forever have been troubled with the 'what if we had' question.
So that's it them. No Murphy on the bed this morning sharing toast. And when I came out the shower he hadn't nipped through and pulled the towels off the radiator to make a bed to catch a post-breakfast 40-winks...although I still instinctively looked for the towels on the floor with a sleeping cat.
Probably too soon to think about it for sure, but we'll have to get a replacement - and Woozle (oriental spotted tabby) is looking a bit lost and howling. I guess the only problem with getting another Burmese is we'd always be comparing him/her to Murphy. Not sure if we should look for a change as Burmese kind of 'fitted in' so well with us.
Jeez I never posted a ramble like this when my parents died - I don't think I posted anything at all. Animals. Why do we put ourselves through this?
Anyway, so long Murph. It was good while it lasted.
So sorry for you, doubt there was any difference could have been made, just like some of the people I have sadly been close to and involved with over the last few years but who have lost their battle to survive. I wish more specialists could hear your sadness and learn, most of them haven't experienced enough to know the difficulty of life and its end. So sad for you.
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff