# End of Life advice



## nickle_9 (Dec 7, 2020)

Hello,

My name is Nicole and I am the proud Fur Mommy of 3 beautiful girls: Scarlett, Peppermint, and Suzie.

I decided to visit this forum in the hopes of gaining some advice about one of my girls from some fellow cat owners.

Within the past year, Peppermint's health has been deteriorating. It started with her getting something I can only describe as "the shakes." She would look to the left or right and her head would hesitate a bit to follow her gaze and then her head would shake. Then she began to lose the function of her back legs. It started with her not being able to scratch herself properly, ie. her neck and head, and slowly started to lose the function of her rear left leg quickly followed by her rear right leg altogether. She has her good days and bad days, but there are times when she pretty much just moves herself around with her front legs, dragging her back legs behind her.

When this all first started, I had taken her to her vet and after her blood, urine, and fecal work, along with other tests they ran came back normal, they referred me to a neurologist. Her neurologist suggested we try some pain meds and steroids. The steroids helped at first. They almost stopped the shaking and even her legs seemed to be behaving more normally. She suggested getting a CT scan and/or MRI, which I had to decline, as that is out of my budget right now.

Fast forward to the recent weeks. I took Peppermint back to her neurologist, as now she is having trouble controlling her bladder. They ran tests again and again everything returned normal. They said again that they could do an MRI although at this point, they are not sure that whatever they may find could be "fixable." They gave me some more steroids for her since they worked last time and sent us home. After one day of the steroids, she seemed to be improving, although very slightly. That lasted for about that day and she was back to where she was before.

To get to my ultimate reason for writing:
Peppermint is now confined to 2 rooms in our house. Due to her bladder control issues, we do not want her to have free reign in any of the carpeted rooms. I have "puppy pads" everywhere for her because it seems that as she walks, she pees. She still eats, drinks water, pees (obviously lol), and goes poop. She is still a little lover who cherishes cuddles and is the biggest talker of my 3. She is completely lucid and enjoys going outside to sit in the sun.

I am wondering if I am being selfish by keeping her alive. Having to be confined to 2 rooms, although they are rather large rooms, just makes me feel uneasy. She does not have the freedom to wander about and sleep on the comfy cozy couches and does not get as much quality time with us or the other 2 girls as she used to. She also cannot seem to keep up with cleaning herself as thoroughly as she used to, so I give her baths about every other day.

She is 13, only weighs barely over 5 pounds, and is the sweetest, most non-threatening cat that I have ever met. I have literally had her since the second she was born. (She was born in my house because we also own her Mother, Scarlett.) I do not feel like I am ready to let her go, although I doubt that one is ever ready for it. She is the only pet that I have ever had for their whole lifetime; she is my baby. 

With her still being so lucid and having an appetite and such, am I jumping the gun considering putting her down, or am I doing the right thing by letting her continue to live her life?


I know this was a long one, so thank you to whoever reads this and I appreciate any advice given.

Thank you,
*Nicole


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## eldercat (Jul 3, 2015)

That's a sad situation. I don't know what I'd do. Cats hide their pain, so it's hard to tell if they hurt. Is she afraid or taking it all in stride?

I had a crippled cat who was incontinent, but he didn't leak (much) if I "squeezed" him often enough. He spent his nights in a large carry box. Not sure how that would work with your baby as she grew up healthy - my cat was crippled from birth and the cat carry box was his night "home".

He also didn't have proper bowel control, and that's what eventually caused me to put him down... he ate something that caused permanent issues inside. 

I would wait a bit longer, maybe after New Year see how things feel. Unless you want to jump at the MRI, which might tell you something important and give you the answer you need. I bet that's an expensive thing, a cat MRI. I was horrified enough with an ultrasound!


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## nickle_9 (Dec 7, 2020)

Thank you so much for your kind words. If I could answer for her, she seems to be taking it all in stride. She used to be a pretty "jumpy" little girl when it came to loud noises and such but now it seems that those types of things rarely bother her. (Which I don't know is a good sign or a bad sign.)
She has been healthy her whole life and we are thinking that her lack of bladder control has to do with her losing her hind leg function. That maybe she either cannot get to the litter box fast enough or simply cannot hold it in like she used to.
From what we were quoted, the MRI would run us anywhere from $900-1500...so yes, rather expensive. If only we all had unlimited income!
I like the idea of waiting until the New Year. It might just be enough time to really make a decision.
Sorry to hear about your boy. He was lucky to have an owner that gave him such love.

Thank you again,
*Nicole


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