More on Basil

[rkold]

To go into a little more detail, Basil has end stage cancer which is why he now has kidney failure. He's already lost a lot of weight and has steadily been losing interest in food. Each day he eats less and less. We could put him through chemo, lots of future blood tests and injects of fluid, but our vet says at the best that extends his life by a year and a half and I just worry about the sort of life he would be having. I want to make it clear, it's not that we are not willing to spend the money on our cats. Last summer, Basil was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and we paid a small fortune to get him radiation therapy. However, after treatment he was for all intents and purposes better and he was happy. I just have my doubts about how happy he would be with us trying to force him to live longer. If he were younger I might feel differently, but it's so hard when the cat is already over 14.

I do bring the cats to the vet at least once a year, so it is not as if I've been slacking in their care. Basil in particular had a bunch of appointments and check ups recently with his thyroid issues.

I don't write about my cats here so often, but they're a huge part of my life since I tend to be home quite often. I love just sitting on the couch or the bed and having a cat curled up besides me. It makes me feel loved. I love holding the cats even though they don't enjoy it. They're almost like children... and yet not. I adore them, but I know it's not the same as the baby growing in me. You also... expect to lose your pets. No matter how much you love them, I know I've always expected to outlive Cookie, Basil and Nutmeg, just like I expect to outlive my parents and for Ryuchan to outlive me.

Today Basil was no longer interested in his beloved challah, which has always been his favorite food. I can't say how many times we accidentally forgot to put it away and we found the plastic bag ripped to shreds and large bits of challah missing.

I suspect he doesn't have long now. He's no longer really eating and just seems really sad. I don't want to let him suffer like his sister did. I felt bad that I didn't realize something was so seriously wrong with her when she stopped eating but we were busy with the holidays. I think he and Cookie know he is dying.

Cookie fortunately had a clean bill of health. She's going to be 16 in a week or two.

Comments

[reynardine.livejournal.com]

I've had two cats put down due to illness. Mirrim was only 9, but she had an aggressive form of cancer. She had an operation and was fine for nearly a year, then the tumors came back. We didn't want to put her through another operation like that.

Lily was slightly older when we had her put to sleep. We had the fluid treatment done on her twice, but when the vet said it would be a common thing, then we knew it was time. Having those treatments was a miserable experience for her. It was kinder to let her go.

I'm so sorry about Basil. Like you said, you know that eventually a pet will die, but that doesn't make it easier when it happens.

[rkold.livejournal.com]

This will be my second or third depending on how you count the family cat I shared with my birth family.

I wasn't there when we had Nutmeg put to sleep, but I knew she was doing poorly when I left for Japan. I was really surprised when I heard during my layover that she had improved.

I keep telling myself we had him for 14+ years which is a long time and he's been mostly happy and mostly in good health except the last year+ Before that, he was always our most healthy and active cat.

I worry about Cookie being alone, but maybe she will get along well with the baby.