The End of at Era
Doushka, my tiny 2kg, 18yr old Burmese cat, is dying. She can barely move, refuses food, and is clearly come to the end of her days.Overnight, I set her up with a soft rug and litterbox and waterbowl out for her in front of the gas fire, and most of the night she lay there, sprawled out, breathing very slowly.
She is now in her favorite spot in the sun, drifting in and out of sleep, at times quite alert, lifting her head and getting into a sphinx position, or curled up sleeping, and then she slumps down on her side, stretched out, eyes half closed, so it's hard to tell if she is still in the land of the living, She seems peaceful and content, not in pain at all, just a bit restless at times.
. A year ago she developed diabetes and I had to give her insulin injectiones twice a day. Then I started monitoring her glucose with Ian's glucose meter, and put her on a protein and fat only diet of chicken and tuna and sardines, and after a week or so, her diabetes was in remission completely and has stayed that way. She has been pretty good until a couple of months ago when she just got slower and slower and slept most of the day. The vet thought she was fine, since she seemed still to enjoy life. And now she is slowing to a total standstill
She was the kitten I got when I first came to live in WA in 1996, and she has kept me company through good times and bad. She has moved house from Perth to Sydney, Christchurch and back to Perth. In Sydney she once leapt off the roof to chase away a big bully of a tomcat yowling on the front lawn. And sent him running.
Always a gentle good companion, always amazingly grateful for a hotwaterbottle on cold days and nights, or a knee to sit on. I have thought of calling the vet for euthenasia at home, but am aware Doushkas veins are also very tiny, and remember a friend who watched a vet jab and jab to find a vein, then seeing the cat die with the look of agony still on her tiny face. What is kindest at a time like this? I am thinking that if she seems to be painfree and calm and settled, it would be best just to let her die in her own peaceful way.
I am grateful she saw me through my surgery and the worst of the chemo before coming to this point. But I am sad that she is leaving us. She will be missed
Comments
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Oh dear,
Doushka will be missed and will always have a place in your heart.
Often pets are way ahead of humans in their caring factor, and I feel for you, Jessica.
Make sure you are kind to yourself over this period, non pet people can easily trivialise the importance and feelings of loss when we lose our best mates, confidantes and chums!0 -
Oh dear,
Doushka will be missed and will always have a place in your heart.
Often pets are way ahead of humans in their caring factor, and I feel for you, Jessica.
Make sure you are kind to yourself over this period, non pet people can easily trivialise the importance and feelings of loss when we lose our best mates, confidantes and chums!0
