Cat euthanasia - at home?

RainyDay

I'm starting to plan for the end of my gorgeous little cat. At 15.5 years, she's had a great innings, and she's still doing quite well. She was diagnosed with kidney disease in May, but the Fortekor tablets and the kidney diet food seems to keeping her going nicely. She's not as active as she was of course, and only ventures outdoors for a few seconds. She's still fairly sprightly about hopping up to the table if she smells something tasty, mind you.

Anyway, I was delighted that she made it through the year, but I'd be very (if very pleasantly) surprised if she makes it through 2015. I'm trying not to let the spectre of what is to come spoil our remaining time together. Sometimes I do get overwhelmed as I chat to her or let her settle on my knees, but there you go.

So I'm really wondering if it is practical to arrange for a vet to do the dreaded deed at home, when the time comes. She's a small cat, about 3.5kg, if that makes any difference. She really doesn't like the carrying case or the car, so I'd hate to stress her out with that journey for the final hour. She has taken injections to the back of her neck without any reaction at all in the past, but I presume they need to get a vein somehow for the final step.

Has anyone else done this at home, or heard of this happening?

scudzilla

Yeah, any vet worth his salt would do this for you, it's just like a home visit, but expect to pay a call out fee

DBB

I think if at all possible, and especially as she doesn't like the travel box and car, that you should arrange for it all to happen at home as it's such a peaceful way to do it. You may not have the luxury of it in the end if she happens to go downhill quickly, but for your own peace of mind I'd just check with your vet that they'll do the deed for you when you need them.
First is a sedating injection in the back of the neck, and once she has pretty much fallen asleep, the final needle goes into the vein, and the pet slips away knowing nothing.
What a horrible thing to have to talk about, but I do think it's good to be as prepared as you can.
Let's hope it's not something you're going to need to do for a long time to come though OP

Ice Storm

I read about an organisation that specialise in home euthansia for pets. The website is bowwout.ie (can't post link on my phone). I think they're fairly new; I don't know anyone who've used them.

Worth checking out if your own vet can't arrange it.

Sorry you find yourself in this situation.

franksm

Your cat might still have a good amount of time left if she can keep to her diet. Are you using Optiplan or something like that ? You can get it from Amazon.co.uk in 10Kg bags easily (and half the price of buying locally)

You'll know when it's really time when she starts to looks too much weight or just stops eating. Up until then, I'd see how the diet goes ?

And as for the final vet visit, I would definitely do it at home. I am still traumatised myself two years later from bringing my cat to the vet for *that* visit. The stress of cat carrier/car trip/vet just multiplies things for the cat, and it doesn't have to be that way, especially when you really are doing your best for your pet.

RainyDay

Ice Storm wrote: »

I read about an organisation that specialise in home euthansia for pets. The website is bowwout.ie (can't post link on my phone). I think they're fairly new; I don't know anyone who've used them.

Worth checking out if your own vet can't arrange it.

Sorry you find yourself in this situation.

Thanks - here's the link https://bowwout.wordpress.com/

Great to know that these guys are around if my own vet won't do it.

aonb

This is pretty normal practice I think. We called our vet to arrange it for our beloved Pepper when he started to go down hill (kidney failure etc) - they were very good and came out. Pepper HATED going to the Vets so much, there was no way we would have brought him to the surgery. Pep lay on his blanket while the vet injected him. He was very calm and relaxed on his sofa, and slipped away very quietly and calmly - in seconds. Call your vet to discuss, if your vet doesnt do house calls for some reason, you can find another.

RainyDay

franksm wrote: »

Your cat might still have a good amount of time left if she can keep to her diet. Are you using Optiplan or something like that ? You can get it from Amazon.co.uk in 10Kg bags easily (and half the price of buying locally)

Is it this one you're thinking of?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PRO-PLAN-ADULT-OPTIRENAL-Chicken/dp/B006UAB0OE/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1420808467&sr=8-14&keywords=cat+food+kidney#productDetails

It's a struggle to get her to eat any dry food now. She's on the Hills k/d chicken pouches, 1 pouch per day, mixed in with the Hills k/d dry nuggets. She does her best to eat the wet food and leave the dry. The pouches are about €1 each, which is adding up, along with her Fortekor tablets (about €1 each), so any cheaper alternatives would be most welcome.

franksm wrote: »

You'll know when it's really time when she starts to looks too much weight or just stops eating. Up until then, I'd see how the diet goes ?

Yep, I think you're right. She's been doing well so far, even putting on a bit of weight if anything, so hopefully, that will continue for as long as possible.

franksm wrote: »

And as for the final vet visit, I would definitely do it at home. I am still traumatised myself two years later from bringing my cat to the vet for *that* visit. The stress of cat carrier/car trip/vet just multiplies things for the cat, and it doesn't have to be that way, especially when you really are doing your best for your pet.

Thanks, much appreciated.

franksm

Yeah, that's the one - Pro Plan Optrenal. My vet recommended it as a last resort, they had to order it in However the DSPCA in Rathfarnam stock it, so you could try there if you wanted a "test" packet.

We have three other cats now, and the Optirenal is all they eat. They love it ! Kinda surprised as it would be like rock/paper/scissors as to whether they'd eat Whiskas or GoCat or Felix etc. They all love the Optirenal.

I believe the formulation is fine for cats that do not exhibit any kidney or liver issues, it's just a better recipe overall.

If you're around Lucan-direction, I can give you a jarful of it as a test.

ShaShaBear

Firstly, so sorry to hear about your kitty - it's a heartbreaking time and kudos for thinking ahead! I'd definitely say to get the vet to your house if at all possible. The obvious reason being that this will be less stressful on the cat, but also much less stressful on you. We had no financial means for cremation and had to bury my Shadow at my MIL's, so we had no choice to take him to the vet. Luckily for Shadow, he loved the car ride and meeting all the new people in the clinic, but it was ten times worse for us dealing with the aftermath in a clinic with people waiting to see the vet and I could see that they were uncomfortable watching a dead dog being carried out and myself and OH in tears. If we could have done it peacefully at home it probably wouldn't have made a difference to him, but a whole big difference to us!

DBB

That is a good point SSB, and one which is also relevant when you're getting your pet cremated via the vet if your pet has died at home. It is just awful having to carry the body into the surgery, then leave it behind.
I've had to do this twice in the past few years as I was opting for private cremation for my dogs, but in fairness to the vet staff, they made sure I could carry my beloved dogs in through a private entrance, and gave me a private room to say my goodbyes.
I think the next time, I'll bring my dog to the crematorium myself. I hadn't realised it was an option. You can bring your pet up and wait while they do the deed, then bring the ashes home with you that same day.
Sorry op, this is all very morbid and sad!

ShaShaBear

DBB wrote: »

That is a good point SSB, and one which is also relevant when you're getting your pet cremated via the vet if your pet has died at home. It is just awful having to carry the body into the surgery, then leave it behind.
I've had to do this twice in the past few years as I was opting for private cremation for my dogs, but in fairness to the vet staff, they made sure I could carry my beloved dogs in through a private entrance, and gave me a private room to say my goodbyes.
I think the next time, I'll bring my dog to the crematorium myself. I hadn't realised it was an option. You can bring your pet up and wait while they do the deed, then bring the ashes home with you that same day.
Sorry op, this is all very morbid and sad!

I didn't actually know that DBB, was something that put me off considering it despite the lack of funds - I didn't like the idea of leaving him in the vets and not knowing how he was being looked after.

It is very morbid, but I think its good to discuss. A lot of people don't know their options when it comes to this horrible time, and I know it really helped me to know I was making the best decisions and didn't find something out a few months later that made me feel like I didn't do enough if that makes sense?

Irish Stones

One of my cats had been put to sleep here at home.
I had been thinking about it for a long time, I knew he was going... What I was unsure about was where in the house to "perform" this final act, because I was sure that wherever I had done it I could have been haunted by that vision everytime I would have stood in that place.
Eventually I came up with the idea that the garden woud have been the best place.
When the moment came, I called the vet home, he arrived and did what he had to do right there, in the garden, so that my beloved cat could see the grass for the last time rather than a room wall.

On the following day I brought him to the crematorium and received the urn with his ashes after an hour time.

I'm really sorry for your cat, hope you're wrong and your cat will stay with you for many years more.

Magenta

RainyDay wrote: »

It's a struggle to get her to eat any dry food now. She's on the Hills k/d chicken pouches, 1 pouch per day, mixed in with the Hills k/d dry nuggets. She does her best to eat the wet food and leave the dry.

My vet said that wet food is better for cats with kidney disease as it has more water.
My girl is on Semintra, its a new drug and is getting very good results, she has improved hugely on it, gained weight, peeing less, ask your vet about it.

Irish Stones

RainyDay wrote: »

It's a struggle to get her to eat any dry food now. She's on the Hills k/d chicken pouches, 1 pouch per day, mixed in with the Hills k/d dry nuggets. She does her best to eat the wet food and leave the dry. The pouches are about €1 each, which is adding up, along with her Fortekor tablets (about €1 each), so any cheaper alternatives would be most welcome.

My two cats are on Trovet Renal and Oxalate, Chicken taste, wet food and they love it!
I had also tried Hill's K/D (they disliked it the most), Royal Canin Renal Tuna (wet) and dry food. This was OK, but a vet gave me five tins of Trovet Chicken and I (the cats) never turned back.
The price is 1.05 euro per tin (85 g) of wet food, and 30 euro per sack of dry food (3 kg).
I gave each of them half tin a day in the morning, I know that they wouldn't eat more than that.
I also add about 30 ml of water in the food in each bowl and then I mash it to make kind of a watery mousse. They eat and drink at the same time.

My elder cat is on Fortekor tablets too (Fortekor Flavour 5 mg), half tablet per day, but I pay them less. The 56-tablet pack is about 40 euro, so I can treat the cat for a bit less than 4 months with 35 cent a day.
She is also treated with hypodermic injections of Ringers Lactate solution (120 ml twice a week).
I don't know if it's all these things together or just luck, but my cat has been treated for kidney disease for 9 years now and she's quite fine.

All the best to your cat!

Zapperzy

Any good vet with an ounce of compassion would do this. I was always adamant that my cat would be put down at home when the time came but her time came too early and she was put down in the vets, she hated strangers and strange places and must have been terrified in there. The only consolation I had was that thankfully it was after closing hours so no clients and only a handful of staff were there. I don't think I could thank the vet any more either, she really was a lifesaver and couldn't have been any more helpful. Id be very surprised if you can't find a vet to do a home visit but if you can't at least insist on after closing hours so you won't have to walk out into a waiting room full of people.

Always the saddest part of owning a pet.

Apologies if I'm sidetracking a bit but would anyone be able to recommend a good quality memorial stone/plaque/marker for the garden? Just something small with an inscription that would mark where she's buried.

Irish Stones

Zapperzy wrote: »

Apologies if I'm sidetracking a bit but would anyone be able to recommend a good quality memorial stone/plaque/marker for the garden? Just something small with an inscription that would mark where she's buried.

I happened to find two websites a long time ago, by chance, I didn't need their services, I never contacted them either.
Here are the links:

http://www.feelystone.com/memorials/pet-memorials/
http://gravestones.ie/Memorial-Plaques/Pet-Memorials.htm

Probably thare are more, but I only know these.