Wait. That's a lie. They work but only for a few posts, then they can't load any more posts.

I'm just going to keep posting.

My problem with having Slinky euthanized today is that she's not on death's door. Or my perception is that she doesn't seem to be. And I know it's a fine line -- I would never want her to get to a point where she's suffering in pain, but I don't want to cut her life short needlessly. She still walks around and can get up on the furniture, and eats.

But she's 20, and she's had kidney disease for 2 years (the vet said the average cat with kidney disease lives for 1 year after diagnosis, even with meds and treatment), and she has hyperthyroid disease. She also has a chronic infection in her mouth because she's too old and frail for a dental cleaning/extraction. And Tim said that in the past week, she makes noises that sound like pain when she eats (I haven't heard them, but I believe him).

In the past 4-ish months, 2 different vets have basically told us that it's time to let her go. They didn't tell us "Hey, if you don't do this now, you're being cruel," but they emphasized that she's very old, and has multiple illnesses that are not going to go away, and she doesn't have much time left.

I know this is not an unkind thing. The fact that she can still walk around and eat doesn't balance out the rest of her illnesses/problems. But because she's still able to walk around and eat, I keep viewing that as "proof" that she's still okay.

But she's not. If she were a friend's cat, and the friend described her to me and was wrestling with the decision to euthanize her, I would say that this is not a bad decision. And it's not cutting her life short needlessly, because she's only going to continue to decline. And it's better to not force her to experience that decline.

But it still feels wrong.

I'm so sorry, Teppy.

Oh, Teppy, that's so hard. I would also have significant anguish about this. Thinking about you and Tim and Slinky.

Steph, for what it's worth, your discussion of this decision is making me rethink my stance that Harvey would let me know he was ready to go by loosing interest in eating. He is so very food motivated, and I wonder if he might fight to get to food right up to the end. I reviewed, and plan to keep reviewing at intervals, a pet quality of life checklist that assesses a much bigger picture than I was thinking of. So I thank you for sharing this struggle here.

{{{Tep}}} It has been such a cruelly hard year for you and Tim and your beloveds.

Steph, for what it's worth, your discussion of this decision is making me rethink my stance that Harvey would let me know he was ready to go by loosing interest in eating. He is so very food motivated, and I wonder if he might fight to get to food right up to the end. I reviewed, and plan to keep reviewing at intervals, a pet quality of life checklist that assesses a much bigger picture than I was thinking of. So I thank you for sharing this struggle here.

Yeah, losing interest in food was my clear bright line. But Slinky is hyperthyroid, which makes her hungry ALL THE TIME. Since I work from home, I've been feeding her small amounts about 6-7 times a day for at least a year. She's still eating voraciously as of a few minutes ago.

Hurricane update: Well, west Houston isn't getting much worse than a heavy thunderstorm, so the Aged Parents are mostly worrying about keeping water out of the carpet. On the other hand, what's left of Harvey seems to coming right up the freeway to San Antonio. We haven't gotten anything worse than moderate rain and wind so far, but it's supposed to get pretty stormy tonight and tomorrow.

One thing I learned working in a support capacity to the insurance industry is how very nitpickey insurance policies are. You may have flood insurance, but if the damage can be attributed to wind, you're SOL, even if everything is soaking wet. Likewise, the water from basic rain--even the torrents from a hurricane--may not be considered flood. And I don't even remember all the rules I saw for whether a basement is actually considered a basement. There were parameters for the grade of the property, did any of the basement rise above ground level--ie, was the front of the basement below grade but did it open up at the back because you built into a hill?

Steph, you're allowed to make this decision in a way that works for you as well, I think. I had been watching my Hazel very closely for weeks before I put her down, and maybe I picked the wrong day, but I was new at my job, so I did it on the weekend, in large part because with Homer, I woke up one day and knew I couldn't make him do this anymore, and that was a random weekday.

Basically, I'm saying if this feels like the right decision for all of you, then it is. Love to you.