# I hate to make my introduction on such a grim note, but I need some advice...



## aurora85 (Jun 9, 2012)

My little kitty Mel is a little over a year old now, and we adopted her Feline Leukemia positive. She has had a sudden decline in health beginning after our last visit to the vet (it stressed her out too much). We had brought her in to get spayed and the vet found out that she was severely anemic, and was surprised she was still alive (she was no longer producing red blood cells). At this point she still seemed pretty healthy, meaning you wouldn't tell from her physical condition. Just goes to show that you never know what's going on underneath the surface. But my question is, how do you know when it's time to let her go? She's lost most of her body weight, she hides for hours in the most random place (we couldn't figure out where she was in the house!) She's not at all herself, she only perks up randomly, I'm not sure she's eating enough, but mostly she seems weak and is breathing very shallow. I don't want to just give up on her, but I don't want her to suffer. I adopted my kitty with my boyfriend, and it feels like I'm being more realistic about the situation. He seems to think she's not ready to "die at our hands yet", so I just don't know what to do  Any advice would be appreciated, although I think i already know what's coming...


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Welcome. I'm so sorry for what all of you are going through. Letting a cat die "naturally" is something I could never do. From your description, if Mel was my cat, I'd take her in very soon. I've gone through this, unfortunately. Yes, it was horrible, and yes, you do feel like it's at your hands, but letting her go before worse symptoms set in, in the arms of someone who loves her and who she loves, is much kinder than the alternative.

She's had a short little life, but it sounds like it has been filled with love.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

For me, it is when their quality of life is no longer at a level where I would want to live. 

It's a horrible decision to have to make and I'm so sorry you have to make it. Marie is right though, you've filled her short life with love and care and that's a great gift to give her.


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

so sorry to hear about your little Mel. i think marie and mowmow said it all, though. i will be thinking of you.


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## AnnieH (Jun 9, 2012)

So sorry about your cat. I've had to put down a pet in the past and I can say that it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I always think that if I were an actress and had to cry on queue, I could just by thinking back to that day. But, in the end, it was the best thing for Peanuts. He was in pain and suffering. I think when they are suffering, you have to be strong enough to know when it's time to do what's best for them. It's obvious how much you love your kitty - you'll know when it's time.


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

If Mel is severely anemic, then don't wait. Do the humane thing and euthanize her. I lost my Smokey, who was FeLV/FIV+ on January 14, 2011. He too was severely anemic and had lost his appetite. We took him to the vet earlier in the day and she gave him a shot of Vitamin b12 and Epogen. He perked up, but his body was too weak. He went into cardiac arrest later that same evening and had to be rushed to the emergency vet. I opted to have him euthanized because his body was so weak and if he had recovered from the cardiac arrest, his quality of life would have greatly been reduced. Please, don't let your sweet Mel suffer anymore. Cardiac arrest is not pretty and to this day, I'm still haunted by the image of my baby boy thrashing around under our kitchen table. He was just two months shy of his second birthday.


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