Pets

[Imrahil]

I'm so sorry Lucas.

[LucasM]

Thanks, Im.  I know you have all-too-recent experience with also losing a close 4-footed friend.  Not even a year ago yet.  I suspect that the loss of Ajax is still painful for you.

I am not sure yet when it will happen with Lucas, but given that he's having difficulty even lying down long enough to get his belly rubbed (apparently it is more pressure on his open lung when lying on his side, or else it starts to fill if he's not upright), I don't imagine it will be long before he communicates he's ready to go.

Luckily I asked the vet something that a friend had mentioned was done for her cat.  And I was very happy to find that the vet is willing to make a house call to put Lucas to sleep, so that his last moments are not spent stressed in a car and unfamiliar place, but are as comfortable as they can be in the home he's lived in for over 10 years now.  It felt much better knowing that I wouldn't have to subject him to that stress, given how much he dislikes car rides and the carrier.  [Not that many cats like either.  I think I'm kind of rambling I'm so far past capacity here.]

Thank you again, Imrahil, goflyblind and MartyS, for the kind thoughts.

[Imrahil]

It's nice that you can have him at home.  All I can say is that I'm sorry. It's definitely losing a member of the family.

[LucasM]

Thank you.  Indeed it is.

Late tonight (Saturday), I sent an e-mail with this to the vet:

I’m writing this now because Lucas just refused petting.  It became clear today that he is struggling hard for every breath, and when he briefly lay on his side a little earlier it became far worse.  From the swallowing he did afterwards, I can only imagine that it felt like he was drowning when lying on his side.  I just looked downstairs and today he didn’t eat ANY of his canned food.  I presume the liquid in his lungs is pushing on the stomach, so either makes him feel ‘full’, or else makes it feel like he will vomit if he ate.
 
So, presuming you can’t come out tomorrow (Sunday), can you come Monday afternoon, preferably after about 2:30?  I want to be awake and alert when he goes.  I hate to wait that long, when he is so clearly this stressed simply breathing, and wish it had been clear yesterday (Friday) so that possibly he could have been released from this discomfort then.  I am so sad seeing him like this.  Far more sad seeing him suffer than I know I will be to have him gone.

[LucasM]

Well, that previous message to the vet gives an idea how messed up my thinking is/was last night.  Here is what I wrote her just a minute ago:

Lucas feels so uncomfortable that he doesn’t even want me around.  When I tried to lie down near him on the floor, he got up and left.  If I gently follow him, he just walks away again.
 
I feel bad that I missed his signals that he was probably ready to go Friday, and that he has been in this condition for about a day now.  I feel responsible for this suffering.  My heart aches as I watch him forcibly contract his ribcage to try to get air in and out of it.  And I am concerned that he will die before you could make it here, with him struggling for breath, and alone.
 
Me being ‘alert’ when he goes is FAR less important than stopping his suffering.  So please let me know the absolute soonest that you could come to help him move on.  I will make sure I am awake at whatever time that would be.

[LucasM]

Lucas is doing a little better today.  Spent some time with me, basically saying 'good-bye'.

The vet will most likely be out tomorrow before noon.

[LucasM]

Lucas died at about 11:45 today.

The process is usually two-fold: one shot is a muscle relaxer, the next - done about 5-15 minutes later - stops the heart.

Lucas was so ready to move on, that within maybe three minutes of the first shot, he'd already moved on.  So the second shot wasn't needed.

I've scheduled cremation for tomorrow morning.  It will be easier on me to leave my house shortly after I'd normally go to sleep, than to try to wake up after only a couple hours.  They said it would take about three hours, so I'll take something to keep me busy (maybe just music, as I won't be functional enough to read, and my laptop died, so I can't take that and watch a movie or something).

I'm sad that he won't be around any longer.  But I am so relieved that he isn't struggling just to breathe like he has been the last couple days.  [This morning when I saw him, he looked exhausted, and was clearly ready to let go.]

[Imrahil]

I was with Chewie when they put her down (kidney failure, then being put to sleep). It was so hard, but I was glad to be there with her at the end. I'm don't know, but I feel like it probably helps to have someone there at the end, a presence, someone touching them so they know they're not alone.  It's what I tell myself anyway.

I'm sorry again, Lucas. Just know that you gave him a good life, and he was better for having known you.

[LucasM]

Thank you, Imrahil, for the condolences and the kind words.

Yes, I think that it helps to have someone there at the end as well.  And while Lucas was moving on, I held him and sang to him the little song I made up for him shortly after I brought him home, and which I have sung to him every day during our petting time, with the petting/belly rubbing going on as long as he kept purring.  So the song was associated with love and peace, and that was what he was hearing as he slipped away.  So I do think it made a difference to him that I was there at the end, just as I'm sure Chewie was pleased that you were there as well.

Thank you again for your kind words.

[LucasM]

[k1]

Jeff the cat has been waking us up at 4am for the past week since we have been at my parents house. Hoping this pattern can correct itself sooner than later.

[wihogfan]

My current pack (4 dogs) didn't seem to mind the fireworks. Used to have a lab that would go and lay in the bathtub whenever he was upset or frightened and he would spend a lot of tub time on the nights leading up to the 4th.

[BathTub]

Jeff the cat has been waking us up at 4am for the past week since we have been at my parents house. Hoping this pattern can correct itself sooner than later.

Yeah he'll have you trained to get up on your on at 4am eventually!

[wihogfan]

We have a vet that comes to our house on a regular basis and the 3 dogs we've had to put down were all done at our home (one after a year long battle with Kidney disease, 1 with bone cancer, and 1 just last year after a year long battle with lymphoma). None were easy, but I took the last one the hardest in large part I think to him only being 7 at the time and the ups and downs over a year long series of chemotherapy where he would go into remission for a few weeks and everything would appear optimistic only for the cancer to come back even worse. Seriously swore I'd never get another dog again after our 2 remaining ones (at that point). Then the wife got me a border collie puppy to try and cheer me up and about 3 months later my wife had a beagle puppy who had escaped from the Humane Society jump into her car when she was visiting her mother. 4 dogs is a lot and our oldest was diagnosed with diabetes about a year ago and quickly went blind, but I'm past the point of thinking I'll ever go without a dog again (but never more than 2 or 3 at a time again).

[Darth Geek]

Has anybody here used a PetCube? It's an online video camera that you can use to check in with your pets via your phone. My brother just got me one. I like the idea. And this one is the PetCube Play, so it has a controllable laser that you can use to play with them. But the video is just glichy as hell. It will turn on and I can see it clearly for about a second and then most or all of the picture will get so much digital static I can't see anything.
It's literally a few inches away from my Wifi router, so it shouldn't be that. Plus my home Wifi is plenty good enough for my computer usage, so it should be fine.