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.

In other news, I finally went to the Greek market my mother will never take me to (it's on the way to the nursing home, but I was on my own today), and got $20 of YUM.

I couldn't fall asleep until around 2AM last night, and I would really like a nap about now. Or about 10 minutes ago.

I'm sorry this is so hard, Teppy. My vet did tell me with Brandy that some animals just don't let you know in any way when they are in pain. Brandy continued to eat and get around, but it was clear to me that it was time. It is different for each animal. The only thing that is consistent is that it sucks.

16 1BR apartments, lower level have small yard, upper level has balcony. Gated lot with parking spaces. Just over 2mil, which would be less than 150K each. We make it a condo and boom.

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