My cat, Thomas, who had been fighting cancer since December, had to be euthanized today. He originally had three tumors-one on each kidney and one in his intestines. The tumors were very large, and he was given 2 days to 2 weeks to live and placed on steriods to help with pain management and to stimulate his appetite.
Thomas proved everyone wrong, though, and by early March, the tumors on his kidneys had shrunk and the one in his interestines had disappeared completely. I took him to the vet about a month ago, and he checked out fine. We agreed to do another ultrasound just to see how the tumors were doing (b/c they weren't noticeable during his physical exam).
On Wednesday, Thomas seemed lethargic-this was nothing new for him, though, b/c he was kind of a bum, but I kind of worried about it. Then on Thursday, I dropped by the vet and scheduled his ultrasound for the end of the month when his normal vet is due back in town. I told them that he was lethargic, but I was keeping an eye on him. That night, he didn't eat. I went out and bought him his favorite treats, offered him dog treats, etc. This is the same cat that broke into a new bag of dog food over the weekend and was meowing for dog treats when I was training the dogs on Saturday. So I took him in on Friday morning. His kidney numbers were all elevated, including his phosphorus, which I was told indicates end stage kidney failure. They gave him a catheter for fluids and said I could take him to an emergency vet to continue fluids for the night or I could take him home and bring him back today (Saturday). I chose to take him home. I didn't want him at the vet 24 hours a day for his last couple of days. The first vet thought he'd make it until Monday, and they'd recheck his blood then. She didn't sound optimistic, but she did make it seem like he had a little while left. The vet who was there when I picked him up on Friday told me she didn't think he would recover and that his kidneys were failing.
Last night, he hardly moved around at all. He slept curled up in my arms for about half the night, only moving under the bed when I got up in the middle of the night. He looked like he was finished, though-his eyes said it. My ex-boyfriend was coming down today to see him, though, so I took him in this morning for the fluids for the day. I got a call around 2:30 from the second vet saying that he was worse and that they could let me do subcutaneous fluids and take him to an emergency vet tomorrow if needed. The implied "or" was that we could put him down. My ex and I drove over to the vet, and I chose to let him go. We got to sit with him for a while and the vet techs, who absolutely adored Thomas, set up a buffet of tuna, treats, clams, and even a plastic bag (his favorite thing to eat...). He didn't touch any of it, but they tried. They let me choose clay for his pawprints, and he sat on my lap while the vet cleaned his catheter then injected the anesthsia and the medication to stop his heart.
Thank you to all of you who wished him well before. It definitely worked out for him, and we were lucky to have another 8 months of good, quality time. He felt fine, acted like a normal cat... He was a lucky little guy. The vet told me during his last visit (his normal vet) that now when he gets a cat with a mass, they think maybe they'll try steriods and the cat will "do a Thomas". This is the vet that cried about him doing so well, too. I wish he had been there today, but the rest of the staff at the hospital was great.