Dusty is aging not so gracefully **UPDATE**

[catmandu]

If Theres A Cost In Being A Pet Guardian Is Not The Food Or Vet Bills , Its The Knowledge That We Will Outlive Our Furry Little Friends.
And We Will Have To Live With The Agony Of Watching Our Once Vibrant Companions Get Old And Frail.and The Agony Of Having To Decide On The Time When Its Time For Them To Be Angels.
We Are Praying As Hard As We Can For Our Friend Dusty , That Shes Not In Pain And Still Has Year S Ahead Of Her To Be Your Dear Little Pal.

[kb2yjx]

Prayers for dear Dusty. Growing old is no fun...but Dusty is lucky to have you looking out for her well being...

[kimlovescats]

I'm so sorry to hear of Dusty's pain. My vet did give my dear Tucker Metacam to bring home, but I guess that is because she knew he was terminal anyway. (FIP) I just brought him home to spend the last bit of time I could with him.

I hope you can find ways to make your Dusty comfortable. The heated bed sounds like a good idea!

Hugs,
Kim

[Medusa]

Fingers and paws crossed for Dusty that she gets some relief.

Blessings,
Mary

[BigCharles]

Give Dusty some extra love from us.

Know when the right time for the last time is so hard. I wish they would tell us when they hurt. I just went through saying goodbye to my boy cat Lamoni. Fifi went to the RB just over a year ago. I still miss them both an likely always will. I know what you are going through right now. You hurt just as bad as she does, but on the inside.

There are some signs that you can use to guage when the time has come. Right now be with her every miunute that she will let you.

[Catlady711]

That Metacam 1/2 dose injection seems to be helping. While Dusty still limps (and probably always will because of the damage to her joints), she does seem to be moving around more easily, and has not been going off alone to sleep as much, she's been staying in the livingroom area more. Seems like she takes the stairs a little easier too. She's always had her good days, but since the injection seems most everyday is a good day, and she still plays some, although for a very short period of time and not using her back legs though. Her appetite is good, and she's not been doing any vomiting (last time she got a full dose injection she vomited for 3 days straight!).

While I can't say it's dramatic improvement, it does seem to be better. It's so hard to tell because cats are not only very good at hiding pain, but since the muscles in her back legs have atrophied (sp?) and she has the joint damage, it's kinda difficult to tell the difference. Her mood seems good.

I told the vet about it, and he said that we'll wait until it seems to be wearing off and repeat the 1/2 dose injection. We really don't want to rush into a LOT of pain meds because of liver/kidney damage side effects, however I don't want my baby in pain either. It's a fine line to balance.

Here's a pix of Dusty taken a few weeks ago.

[Taz_Zoee]

I'm glad to hear Dusty is feeling a little better. Its so hard when our kitties aren't feeling well.