A bit over a year ago, I took Cosmo, our eldest cat, to the vet to treat a UTI. In addition to having to pill one of the world's most evil cats, I also learned that her kidneys might be starting to fail, but otherwise she wasn't bad for a cat approaching 15.
This month, she'll be 16, or so we can guess, since she was adopted. For the last week or two, she has been slowing down a bit, not eating particularly well, and lethargic. None of this is unexpected at her age, but my bigger concern was whether or not she was in any pain. She wasn't leaving the kitchen chairs much, but then in the last few days she was coming upstairs and moving around a bit.
Then the bloody diarrhea came, so Diana took her to the vet today. I honestly expected this would be it for her, but the doctor suggested we do blood work and see what we could find out. She has low red and white blood cell counts, but the rest of the things they typically measure were actually pretty good for a cat of her age. Combined with her symptoms, she's leaning toward some kind of cancer attacking her bone marrow. Of course, they could do all kinds of tests and imaging to further explore that, but it's unlikely that it would result in any treatment that would extend her life. Alternatively, she got a steroid injection that could at least limit the problem, but of course it does adversely affect her immune system.
I'm fortunate to have dated a vet, so I called Cath to see what she thinks. She agreed with our local vet's assessment, and that the steroid can sometimes be a nice "hail Mary" in the short term. Our local doc felt Cosmo was fighting too much to euthanize at this point, and she didn't seem to exhibit any serious signs of discomfort or pain beyond being lethargic (and that has more to do with the anemia).
Because she's so aggressive, they had to sedate her, and bless their hearts, they were able to get the dreadlocks out of her fur. Grooming has always been a challenge for her, but it's worse because she has never allowed us to help. So for now, she's resting comfortably at home, and we'll see how she does for the next week or two.
This is the part that sucks about having a pet, because most of the time you're forced to play God. People talk about being humane, but it's such a crock of shit, because you don't put down your grandparents when they're sick. Cath used to joke that Cosmo would live forever, because she's too evil to go quietly, and she might be right.
Sixteen years is a long time to have a pet. She was always bitchy and aloof, but I have to admit that she always showed concern when I wasn't emotionally well. I've even seen her investigate when Simon was distraught. She has been a great "furry bastard," as Stephanie used to say, and she will be missed. I hope she can give us a reasonably clear sign when it's time.
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