My Beloved Cat Is Dying, cat diagnosed with leukemia Options

[Redhead27]

I am new to this forum and I hope you all can help me through this very difficult time. My beautiful little cat, Odis, has been diagnosed with FeLV and she's in the terminal stage. My vet says she probably only has 2-3 months left. She's only 8 years old and I am having such a hard time dealing with this. I've had her since she was a baby and my fiancee and I just adore her. We're doing everything we can to enjoy the time we have left with her, but I still find myself in tears several times a day.

[PHIL LONNE]

DEAR RHEAD27, I AM VERY SORRY FOR YOUR SITUATION. SINCERELY. EVERYONE ON THIS SITE IS GOING THROUGH LOSS AND GRIEF.INCLUDING MYSELF. UNFORTUNATELY YOU WILL TOO ; IT'S NORMAL BUT TERRIBLE ALSO.
I HAD A 12 1/2 YR.BEAGLE WHO WAS TERMINAL. SHE WAS O.K. UNTIL THE LAST 3 DAYS REALLY. AND EVEN THEN NO PAIN JUST ENEMIA, TOUGH TIME 'GOING', SHE WOULD HIDE HERSELF IN THE BUSHES AND I HAD TO CARRY HER. BANG ! THAT'S WHEN MY REAL PAIN STARTED. AND SHE HAD TO BE PASSED ON AS I CALL IT, THE NEXT DAY.THIS HITS VERY HARD AND UNFORTUNATELY I DON'T THINK THERE'S A WAY TO PREPARE FOR IT. BIG THING IS NOT TO LET YOUR CAT GET REAL BAD AND KEEP THEM ALIVE FOR US. BUT IT'S SOOOO HARD, WHEN YOU WANT EVERY ~MOMENT~OF LIFE TOGETHER TO GO ON. I AM A 6-1 GUY WHO CRIED EVERY HOUR DURING THOSE LAST DAYS. AND I AM STILL GRIEVING. SO I HOPE THIS HELPS MAINLY TO LET YOU KNOW I AND MANY OTHERS HERE ARE AND RECENTLY HAVE, GONE THROUGH THE SAME. GOD BLESS OUR PETS. AND YOU TOO.
PHIL L.

[lewcynt]

My heart goes out to you....Watching someone you love go through that is very hard. My family had a cat Moose who was dying of cancer. I was at school at the time and when I came home for Easter break they told me that they were going to put him down the following week. It was painful to watch. I stayed with him the last night he was with us, trying to store as many memories as I could. Like Phil said, there is no real way to help prepare you for what will happen. I recently lost my baby Odin two weeks ago, he was three and I was unprepared to loose him so soon. Just make your Odis as comfortable as you can while she is with you. Whatever choice you make with her, if you help to ease her pain, know that you should not feel guilty about it. Sometimes the greatest act of love is letting them go. Come back when you need support, strength or a sholder to cry on...we all understand what you are going through...

Take Care,
Cynthia

[Redhead27]

Thanks very much to you both for your kind words and support.

I had to put my other cat down two years ago. That was very hard - I'd had Buddy for 12 of his 14 years and I still miss my big orange kitty. But this time it seems so much harder. Perhaps because she is relatively young.

The vet says that when she doesn't have an infection, she isn't in any discomfort. She's lost 2 of her 8 punds and is looking very skinny, but she's otherwise her usual sweet/bratty self. We are feeding her high-quality kitten food to try and get her weight up and generally spoiling her as much as possible. We both also agree that when her quality of life starts to really decline, we will have her put to sleep as hard as that will be.

Again, thank you. And I am sorry for your losses as well. I guess this is one of the difficult parts of having these wonderful companions in our lives.

Mary Beth