Some of you may remember Dude who had extensive dental surgery a few months ago to remove many roots all through his mouth. (For those that don't remember him, he is an FIV+ cat who had spent most of his life at a no-kill shelter and has severe stomatitis.) Here is the photo I posted at the time:
I found out today that he has a tumor in his mouth that cannot be treated. For a while after surgery, we thought we'd cured the stomatitis. When we had to go back to depo shots, we all thought that he had become resistant to the effects of the steroids, which does happen, because the effects lasted a few weeks only instead of a month. Last week we switched to pain meds to hold him over until it was safe to give him another depo shot. Dude has always been impossible to examine without sedation because he lived with an extremely painful mouth at the shelter for years, so our looks into his mouth since surgery have been very brief. After his pain med. on Saturday, I ran my fingers lightly around his mouth to see if it was working well and found a swelling. I thought it was an abcess. On Monday, they did surgery, took some needle aspirates and sent them off to the lab. It could have been a bone infection and we were ready to fight that, or it could be cancer. We lost the toss.
I've had months with Dude that I didn't expect to have when I first adopted him last May, but in those months he became my favorite cat and I am devasted by this dreadful news. I asked the vet to come to my home a week on Friday to euthanize Dude, wanting to spend my two week home vacation with him. Then I realized I was being too selfish and so it will be this Friday. The pain med is very effective and he eats well for hours after it is given, and gives me lots of affection - leaning into my body and gazing up into my face while I'm on the computer. It will take me a long, long time to be able to look down at whichever cat sits in my lap as I type and not expect, and long, to see Dude's face gazing into mine. I will at least be able to give Dude the gift I promised him when I adopted him, that he would die in my arms and not simply be found dead at the shelter.
Reply With Quote
Although it's very difficult, I think you have the right decision. You have given him the best time he has ever had in his life, and I hope it will be a comfort to you that Dude enjoyed that. Remember the good times and know that Dude will be free of pain.
Bookmarks