Pets~ma all around. I've had to make those decisions too many times. Unfortunately it is part of the gig, but so is all that unconditional love so I deal.

What Laura said. It's never easy, and you always wish you had more time with them.

Hubs and I have learned a lot from our experiences, including that we held on too long a couple of time and sought treatment that wouldn't really help long term.

> he eats all his food almost every day, and he walks around fine, but he's very slow, and he does struggle to get up from lying down, and he seems to be having some cognitive decline

Our Truman had the same thing. We had started lifting him to his feet, as he couldn't seem to do it himself. He stopped wanting to play and was doing a lot of staring into space. We took him to the vet and she discovered he has some disc problems in his back. He is on a low-dose regimen of painkillers and anti-inflammatories and is like a whole new dog. He plays, and wrestles with our other dog and follows us around like before. It's great.

How old was Truman? Kato will be 15 in about 2 months, and he's a larger dog (60-ish pounds), so he's definitely elderly. He takes a low dose of anti-inflammatories every day, but maybe the dose needs to be increased.

Calli and bennet, thank you for the suggested questions. I jotted them down with my other questions. Still waiting for vet to call back.

Love and purr-vibes to all the elderly pets among us. They give us so much love but they just can't stay.

Aw, I just ignored a call on my cell, since I was talking to my coworker, and I missed one of those "Something is wrong with your computer! scam calls." I generally hang up on telemarketers, but I played along with the last scam guy who called me until I ran out of ridiculous questions to ask.

Edit: OMG, I think it was the same number that called me back in May. Did they not put a note by my name last time?

When Lilycat was diagnosed with a tumor in her nose, the recommended treatment was something like 20+ weekly radiation treatments, each one requiring anesthesia. I would've spent the money - she was the last of my Mom's cats and as sweet as she could be - but she would've been so unhappy. So I went with only 4 palliative treatments that bought her nearly two more years. I'm glad I did it, but it is SO hard finding the balance between what might have cured her and her quality of life.

Did they not put a note by my name last time?

Yes, it says "Check back in a couple of months, to see if she's changed her mind." It's just another spin of the wheel.

This year is my 10-year-anniversary with the company. I'm supposed to pick a tangible gift worth $275, no gift cards allowed. I wonder if I can wait and ask them to buy me a new bed when I move in a few months.

I wonder if I can wait and ask them to buy me a new bed when I move in a few months.

Hey, it's worth a shot.

Just got off the phone with the vet. His take on the amount of red cells in that urine sample was that it was a small amount - playing the odds, more likely to reflect having hit a blood vessel as the needle passed through the bladder wall to collect the sample than to be bladder cancer, and since Sammie is showing no clinical signs, it is perfectly reasonable to watch and wait. The vet did recommend a recheck on the UA in a few months at Sammie's annual appointment, and I should pay attention to her litter box habits and bring her in sooner if I see anything unusual. Side note, this vet said there was more likely to be something going on in a cat's kidneys than bladder cancer.

I am sooooooo relieved, like weeping with relief. Thank you all so much for the ~ma and support.