Tidy, my 19 year old cat with bladder cancer and kidney trouble, is still here. I have come to the decision that I will not continue to give her medications any more. I will give her some fluids only. The medicine was never intended to make her better and it is only prolonging the inevitable. She's getting very thin. I have told her to just go to sleep and let her soul go the Heaven-I will understand and miss her. She is still eating, drinking, walking, purring, and looking out of the window. But I know she is not well at all. I cannot put her down with that much life left in her even if she is already dying. That's is supposed to be God's decision not mine. I guess by my decision for the cat that is His will being imposed through me. Having the power to end another's life is not a power I care to have.
The picture is Tidy outside on a leash on a bright sunny day. As a younger cat, Tidy was petite but fiesty, not a cat any other cat wanted to mess with. She would take off for 2 and 3 days at a time. I never knew where she went and sometimes I would go out looking at dead cats on the roads to make sure Tidy wasn't one of them. Sometimes she would come back smelling like a cow pasture! She only goes outside for about 5 minutes now before she wants to go back in. Tidy will be survived by one cat sister, Kitty, who is 17 now. Her older sister died 3 years ago of hyperthyroidism at 16 years old. These cats were with me for half of my life! They've been through a lot.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
A Life In My Hands
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I am a cat lover also, I have 3 at the moment. They are part of the family to me. I can't imagine life without a cat at my side I have always had one or two for as long as I can remember.
Just wanted to say Hi and that I am thinking of you and Tidy just now. Hugs to both of you
I've not kept any cats but I loved cats just the same.Understand how you feel, my rabbit "Honey Bunny" just passed away last month, I was really sad. Even my another rabbit "Onxy" looks sad too. He became listless and lack of response. Maybe he was bored without his friend.....
Hope that your Tidy will be better! Am sure Tidy is already blessed and happy to have you as her owner.
Oh, my poor Tidy will never get beetr. That was known from the start. She and I are just waiting for the inevitable. Sorry about your rabbit. I'm sure the other one misses himand really is sad. My mom's cat died a couple months ago and the one that was left moped around. He would not eat or do anything for many weeks until she got a new cat.
Hi,
I just stumbled upon your site and respect your view on your ailing, aged kitty. However, many years ago one of our kitties (who had had kidney problems early on and then for many years - primarily because this was in the 1970s before it was well known that male cats can have blockage issues, which he did at one point when young) that I wish we had taken that step to end his misery at the end. It was at the point that he had absolutely no quality of life. His last night on earth was horrendous. I guess we were in denial and kept hoping he would rebound. The kindest thing we could have done was to intervene and take him to the vets to end his misery that night. Even after that, it was still hard to make that decision with any pet and we rarely did (at least when it should have been done). But that is one gift we can give our beloved pets: to be there at their side when we say good bye for the last time (by the choice to euthanize). We make that choice when no other humane option is really left. I truly believe that they know that our actions are out of love. But it is hard to let go and that is a curse that humans carry it seems. It is in retrospect that I now wish I had made that decision for the sake of my beloved pets more often than I did. But again I do respect your view. Just wanted to add a different perspective which is more reflective than anything.
Oh heaven, it's so tough! I still cry from mine. She also had cancer, but the vets couldn't figure it out - the pathologies kept coming back as canine which was funny because my friends always said she was half dog.
It was a hard decision for me, till the end she was happy and wanted to look out the window and purr - I think she was waiting for me to be ready more than the other way around.
Cats are so important to me- and you are so lucky with the 19 years. With mine, her name was/is Penny, and three days before she told me she was ready to go home I found a Penny in the street with a cross cut out of the center. My angel was being called home. That weekend she looked at me, and collapsed. She stood up again- but I knew.
A couple friends went with me to the vets. There were so many tumours it took them four tries to get the needle in, but for the first time she didn't struggle- she searched for my hand, put her head in it, and closed her eyes.
Damn, I want to cry now, for both of us. They are such wonderful fuzzy joys. I wish you the best and am here to virtually hold your hand if you need it. I'm sure you know Tidy is going to a wonderful pain-free pasture.
((hugs))
Post a Comment