[John Tyler Connoley,
Sunday January 29, 2006 at 10:36pm]
What If It was Mom?
My cat, Cady, died this weekend from kidney failure. We had known this was coming for about two years, because the vet warned us her kidneys were slowly failing. She'd also been showing signs of kidney failure for a few weeks, and hadn't eaten since Monday.
So, when she started getting wobbly and acting weak on Thursday night, my spouse and I talked about whether we should take her into the vet on Friday and have her put down. Our last cat who died of kidney failure had only lasted six hours after he got wobbly.
It was a difficult decision, but we decided as long as she was purring and chirping, we would keep her at home. No need to rush things.
Friday, she refused to lie down. It was as if she knew she would die if she relaxed too much, so she stayed upright and moved from place to place in the house. I had stayed home from work to be with her, thinking she would die that day, so I followed her from room to room. She was clearly uncomfortable, but also fighting death.
It actually took Cady 48 hours to finally let go and die, and during that whole time I wondered if I was doing the right thing by not euthanazing her. She was clearly fighting to live, despite the pain and discomfort, and she eventually died lying in her favorite spot while I sang Brahms Lullaby to her, so I'm comfortable with the decision I made. But it was still agonizing, constantly wondering if I should call a vet and put an end to her suffering.
If this decision was so hard with my cat, I can't imagine what it would be like if it had been my mother I was caring for. What if euthanasia was common enough for humans that people almost expected it of me, as they now do with cats? Would I be considered cruel for not "putting Mom out of her misery?"
It makes me wonder about the social and emotional implications of having euthanasia so readily accessible — for cats now and possibly for humans in the future. I've always thought it was a good thing to have that easy option, but now I'm not so sure. If I had euthenized Cady on Friday, she wouldn't have died in her favorite spot with me singing to her. Then again, she wouldn't have suffered through Friday and Saturday either.
As with many things, euthanasia seems good in theory, but is confusing and difficult to implement in real life.
So, when she started getting wobbly and acting weak on Thursday night, my spouse and I talked about whether we should take her into the vet on Friday and have her put down. Our last cat who died of kidney failure had only lasted six hours after he got wobbly.
It was a difficult decision, but we decided as long as she was purring and chirping, we would keep her at home. No need to rush things.
Friday, she refused to lie down. It was as if she knew she would die if she relaxed too much, so she stayed upright and moved from place to place in the house. I had stayed home from work to be with her, thinking she would die that day, so I followed her from room to room. She was clearly uncomfortable, but also fighting death.
It actually took Cady 48 hours to finally let go and die, and during that whole time I wondered if I was doing the right thing by not euthanazing her. She was clearly fighting to live, despite the pain and discomfort, and she eventually died lying in her favorite spot while I sang Brahms Lullaby to her, so I'm comfortable with the decision I made. But it was still agonizing, constantly wondering if I should call a vet and put an end to her suffering.
If this decision was so hard with my cat, I can't imagine what it would be like if it had been my mother I was caring for. What if euthanasia was common enough for humans that people almost expected it of me, as they now do with cats? Would I be considered cruel for not "putting Mom out of her misery?"
It makes me wonder about the social and emotional implications of having euthanasia so readily accessible — for cats now and possibly for humans in the future. I've always thought it was a good thing to have that easy option, but now I'm not so sure. If I had euthenized Cady on Friday, she wouldn't have died in her favorite spot with me singing to her. Then again, she wouldn't have suffered through Friday and Saturday either.
As with many things, euthanasia seems good in theory, but is confusing and difficult to implement in real life.