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For cat lovers, feeling guilty

Posted: Jun 4, 2013

I just found out my 2nd cat in 10 years likely has a cryptococcal fungal infection. The 1st one I did the whole treatment, surgery, biopsy, blood titers, fluconazole (150 bucks a month for a year), cost me over $2000. She got better, but about 6 months later, it came back and I could not afford to treat her anymore. I put all that cost on my credit cards.

Well fast forward, I now have another cat with the same thing. Saw the vet (different one) and he wants to do a biopsy ($400). He said she would have to be on antifungals for life. I just can't afford it, but I feel so guilty about not treating her, just letting her go. I know I am doing the right thing, but my heart just breaks every time I look at her, knowing I can't do everything I possibly can to save her. She is fine right now, happy, playful, loving.

I told myself if I knew it would recur with the 1st cat, I would not have treated her and just kept her comfortable and not spent all that money. But now that it's happening again, I just feel so guilty. She's like my kid, but I have to think about myself and my other cats, need to keep a roof over our heads or else they could all end up at the shelter. Anybody else been through this or have some advice, maybe I just need a shoulder to cry on. Any spare shoulders?

;

Sometimes, reality is just reality... - Effie

[ In Reply To ..]
I am so sorry... I had the exact same experience with a cocker spaniel we had many years ago. We did the whole treatment even though he already had some pretty significant symptoms/deficits by the time it was diagnosed. Medication was so expensive.. kept it up for a year, took him off because he did respond well.. but he still had some major deficits.. and then six months later, bam, it was back. We put him down at that time and I felt guilty for months afterwards.. I look back and I realize it was for the best.. but I hate it that financial concerns were such a big part of the decision making process.. but the reality was that it was just too expensive.

Well... - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
We always had cats, and we finally had to put a "cap" on how much we would spend if/when they got sick, weighing it out with the prognosis. They are not people, but we still want to give them the best possible.

I would just treat the cat as best you can (financially), then make sure he's always comfy if that runs out. A vet may agree at some point, that it should be put to sleep. We no longer spend tons of money for "maybe's." We want cures if we are going to spend hundreds of dollars.

I feel your pain - been there, doing that again

[ In Reply To ..]
Three years ago my 3 year old male cat had a urinary tract blockage that wouldn't stay unblocked and led to surgery and a final cost of $6000. By the time we realized he was going to have to have surgery, it was a total of 13 days of stays between the emergency vet and my vet and $3500. At that point, I could come up with another $2500 for the surgery and have my cat, the feline light of my life, or I could still have a $3500 bill and a dead cat.

Fast forward and my 10 year old cat has a huge bony tumor on the side of her hip. It doesn't bother her, but it's gotten bigger and today my roommmate and I noticed that the fur has rubbed off and it's sort of red. I just flat out can't afford to do anything about it right now. My past due state taxes for a number of years have finally come home to roost in the form of a wage garnishment to the tune of $300 a paycheck and there is just nothing left after paying the mortgage and the rest of the bills. I feel bad and my roommate sort of gives me the stink eye, but there's just nothing to be done and it's not bothering the cat, apparently, as she lays on that side fairly frequently.

So, yes, you definitely have a spare shoulder in me. I absolutely know where you are coming from and I feel your pain. LIfe is hard sometimes and we have to make difficult choices. Unfortunately, the need to keep the roof over our head will always have to be the #1 choice, sometimes to the detriment of other things in our lives.

Thanks for all the replies - Sadkittymama

[ In Reply To ..]
I really appreciate you sharing your experiences, it helps to know I'm not alone. At least I know when the time comes, I can take her to the local shelter and they will give her a shot for $30 and she can go peacefully. I'm not sure if I want to put her through a surgery to debulk the mass or not, pain of the surgery versus pain of the mass. I just don't want her to suffer. I cannot imagine the pain of having your nasal tissues cut open. I think I'm still in denial, I mean she has had this mass for a few months now, put off taking her to the vet, mostly money reasons, but was afraid to hear the word cancer or how much it was going to cost to treat her. Oh well at least I know now and I can start dealing with it.

Cat lovers.. - Kitty

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through now. I have lost a 20 year old in the past, and my 18 year old just passed on after a year's bout with what they told me was just CRF but at the very end found out she also had stomach tumors. I read a book by psychic Sonia Fiztpatrick that says we will all see our beloved friends again in heaven and to let them go if they are suffering - that's the kindest thing to do. Other than that, all we can do is try to keep them comfortable as long as possible and also keep a roof over our heads - not easy for transcriptionists these days, I know. Best wishes to you. Take care.

I feel your pain, too. Shortly after my DH - and I bought a house,

[ In Reply To ..]
our "adopted off the street" cat was diagnosed with a tumor in his throat due to feline leukemia. We had the very best doctors and they wanted to send him off to Duke University Medical Center to put a radioactive seed in the mass to see if it would go away (cost $1400)and the cat would be in isolation for two weeks. We seriously considered it even though we were completely out of cash, but decided that the prognosis was not good anyway, and to put our poor baby through two weeks of isolation would probably kill him. It was such a hard decision but in the end we had a vet come to the house and put him down in his favorite spot. I still miss him like the dickens, but I feel we did the right thing, both for him and for us. Your cat knows you love him and will be on the other side waiting for you when your time comes. I know my dogs are on the other side with my dad; my FIL probably has my cats :-)

My Sad Story - see msg pls

[ In Reply To ..]
We had brought in a stray back in the early 1990s.

Around 2006, the cat's eye started watering like crazy. We just figured it was an allergy. Gradually, the eye obviously started to puff out and looked infected and very oddly colored, like blue. Mind you, we could not get this cat to a vet w/out medicating him, so finally, we got some medication to calm him and took him to the vet.

Vet did x-rays. Turns out, there was a bullet lodged in one of his sinuses. By all counts, the vet said like it looked like someone shot the poor thing through the mouth to kill it, and he never died and it never showed up until later on. Vet said we could try surgery or antibiotics, that it was up to me. I decided to try antibiotics as a trial, but they didn't work.

Cat was to the point of not eating, so we made the choice to put him down. He was suffering sooo horribly. I had no clue how much the surgery would cost, but whatever it was, it just didn't seem worth all the risk. Vet had said it was a very risky surgery, could render the cat totally blind, could send a hemorrage to his brain, etc.

So, sometimes we have to make a decision. Mine wasn't really a financial one (since I had no clue what surgery would cost), but the whole thing was just too risky. The cat was relatively old, so----that is what we did. Put him down.

I have had several dogs have cancer - sm - XXX

[ In Reply To ..]
but have never gone the chemo route, etc. We did spend some money to diagnose one of the dogs years ago but in the end just let nature takes its course. I suspect my husky has cancer now, but will not go crazy trying to "save" him. Going to take him to the vet shortly as he as several tumors I can feel on his chest but they could just be benign cysts, but not going to spend a fortune to find out. No biopsy either. He is almost 12, which is quite old for a husky (10 is their average). All it would do is squeeze a little more time out and put him thru hell in the process. I love him to pieces but do not see the point in trying to prolong his life at this point. Guess I have put too many dogs to sleep(5) and have hardened myself a bit, though I know I will cry like a baby when it is Slade's time which I fear will be within the next year from the looks of things now.

We have a (indoor) cat too but healthy for the most part (but fat) for now as far as I know. I know it will be hard on the kids when her time is up, she is 10 now so figure she still has a bit of time.

Just do what you can to keep your kitty comfortable. You are doing the right thing and I am sure she knows it too.

You said she is happy, playful and loving now - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Perhaps she will stay that way, we don't really know. I know that back when I was growing up nobody EVER took their animals to the vet. I am not even sure we had vets, lol, but the neighborhood we lived in I can still about name every kid's pets because they were around so long. Animals have a way of healing themselves sometimes.

I have a story though. I had a dog that was ran completely over by a truck (tire tracks on the dog and all) and it broke his hip and back. I took him to the vet, because he was my baby and was devastated when I was told it would cost $3000 for surgery, because I could not possibly afford that. The alternative I was given was to put the dog down. I couldn't accept that and told the vet I would take him back home with me. I was told that was "inhumane" and the dog would only suffer and he would never walk again. I even researched online like crazy with same responses on how I was so selfish and this dog was suffering.

Well, I made him a bed and I hand fed him, hand watered him, cleaned up his urine and feces multiple times a day so that he would not lay there in it. He seemed, to me, to be getting stronger, so I kept on. One month later, I was caring for him and he stood up and WALKED into the yard to potty!! He still limped and had lost weight and such and looked horrible actually, but he actually walked!!!

That has been two years ago and now my very loving Dobie RUNS, JUMPS, PLAYS, and you can never tell he was even hit by a car! He is the most loving, protective dog ever and it truly saddens me that I even considered putting him down. I would have taken a life from him that he still had plenty to live.

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