In article
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PRW wrote:


As I said, though, my research on this has painted this as a worst-
case scenario in which treatment with medicine will only stave off the
inevitable, maybe even for just a matter of months.

We love the cat, we don't want to lose him, we don't want to just sit
around and wait for him to die, our inclination is to do something ...
but I don't want to do anything that's just going to buy him a few
months with no guarantee of good quality of life, because that few
months would be for us, not him.

Anyone who's had experience with this, or knows anything about this,
can you give me some idea of just how dire a situation this is, and
whether going above and beyond in treating this cat would be just
staving off the inevitable for a very short period of time? Or is
there reason for my vet's optimism? I guess the question is, is there
any real, legitimate hope or reason for optimism here, because my
family and I feel like we've been punched in the guts and all the air
knocked out of our bodies right now.

Thanks in advance for any help or input.

In 1992, my then 9 year old Mitze, who had a murmur since birth, threw a
clot, was partially paralyzed and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.
My vet recommended euthanasia, but another vet in his practice
recommended seeing the cardiologist. I jumped at the possibility of
saving her and we did that and things went from there. Kind of an "in
for a penny, in for a pound" situation.

There was no cure, but I'm not sure we really heard that as clearly as
we needed to. With meds and care, she recovered from the paralysis
after about 7 weeks and went on to live a pretty decent life for the
next 8 months, but with a lot of daily meds, side effects from such, and
a fair amount of veterinary expenses.

At 8 months, it happened again. We had just recovered from that
paralysis (about 7 weeks again) and it happened a 3rd time. That's when
we realized we couldn't continue. She died before the vet appointment.

If I had it to do over again, I'm not sure I'd put any of us through it.
Hindsight is like that though. While she did have 8 pretty good months,
then 2 rough months, but they were also a struggle with the meds and the
side effects, and the cost has to be a factor in most peoples' lives as
well.

If faced with the same thing today, I wouldn't choose the same route. I
don't know that it was right for her, and it was rough on all of us. I
think I was a bit selfish and fearful, not ready to let go.

An incredibly personal decision, we each have to know our limits of all
types, and take a very hard look at what a quality life is.

I wish you all the best in making tough decisions.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com