Noah & me (GA)
Member Since 2016
Trying hard not to make this the longest post ever. Nothing I say here is an exaggeration. I've had cats for 40 years and Noah is our second diabetic. Of our six cats he could be the Alpha male but doesn't want the job. This is a typical cat house, shredded furniture, cats on the kitchen counter etc. so this is a house of love, and tragedy (more on that later). There's no kids, no loud music, sock in the doorbell, lots of litter boxes, nothing we haven't thought of. Noah was one of a litter of four and his first year was uneventful. Then he spent the next six years living in our walk-in closet. He wouldn't even look out the window. He cannot be crated (goes ballistic) so trips to the vet mean he gets wrapped in towels and we call ahead to make certain the vet is not running late. Now it's so bad he leaves a trail of pee door to door. If any of you visited here you'd think we were abusing him. It's easy to meter and inject him, very patient. I make it very routine, same place every day, he knows what's coming, never runs and hides but he needs oral injections and that's when he freaks.
The tragedy part, his mom and dad, three brothers and Noah all had/have cardiomyopathy. One died in the car on the way to emergency, one on the waiting room floor at emergency, you get the picture. I've heard multiple vets tell me dogs feel loss but in reality cats just immediately accept it and move on. Noah looks sad, all the time. He needs major dental work but has an enlarged heart so he won't survive surgery. For his dental pain he gets Buprenorphine (morphine) twice a day and liquid ASA every third day to make things easier on his heart. I've force fed cats before which if any of you have done you know it's unpleasant but when Noah sees that oral syringe he cowers like I'm going to taser him. And every third day (the ASA) it's twice as bad. He's on Caninsulin and his numbers are respectable.
What does it feel like when your 12 year old cat is afraid of you? Just awful. We've tried multiple concoctions of Buprenorphine taste wise, same result. For both oral meds I just lift his upper lip and squirt, trying to make it quick. My vet did not misdiagnose him, I've seen his teeth and the ultrasounds of his heart. Someone here told me Buprenorphine can be injected subcutaneously but still waiting to hear back from my vet, that would be a huge help.
Now the big one. Noah's type of cardiomyopathy has no surgical option. One day he'll just start to wheeze and it will all be over in 24 hours. He can still bounce up and down the stairs, tail in the air. In the last three years our dog, six cats and my Mom have all passed within two weeks of Christmas and I don't want that to cloud my judgment. I've made that awful decision many times, twice the day after a death sentence and once on the spot. I'm not delusional about that, or am I?
If anyone has a better idea about oral injections please tell me. Hiding it in food doesn't work but maybe somewhere, even a grocery store or some herb, there's something I've overlooked. What about a different place in his mouth? I'm deeply ashamed about this but 30 years ago I put a cat through Hell because I could not let go. I swore I would never do that again.
The tragedy part, his mom and dad, three brothers and Noah all had/have cardiomyopathy. One died in the car on the way to emergency, one on the waiting room floor at emergency, you get the picture. I've heard multiple vets tell me dogs feel loss but in reality cats just immediately accept it and move on. Noah looks sad, all the time. He needs major dental work but has an enlarged heart so he won't survive surgery. For his dental pain he gets Buprenorphine (morphine) twice a day and liquid ASA every third day to make things easier on his heart. I've force fed cats before which if any of you have done you know it's unpleasant but when Noah sees that oral syringe he cowers like I'm going to taser him. And every third day (the ASA) it's twice as bad. He's on Caninsulin and his numbers are respectable.
What does it feel like when your 12 year old cat is afraid of you? Just awful. We've tried multiple concoctions of Buprenorphine taste wise, same result. For both oral meds I just lift his upper lip and squirt, trying to make it quick. My vet did not misdiagnose him, I've seen his teeth and the ultrasounds of his heart. Someone here told me Buprenorphine can be injected subcutaneously but still waiting to hear back from my vet, that would be a huge help.
Now the big one. Noah's type of cardiomyopathy has no surgical option. One day he'll just start to wheeze and it will all be over in 24 hours. He can still bounce up and down the stairs, tail in the air. In the last three years our dog, six cats and my Mom have all passed within two weeks of Christmas and I don't want that to cloud my judgment. I've made that awful decision many times, twice the day after a death sentence and once on the spot. I'm not delusional about that, or am I?
If anyone has a better idea about oral injections please tell me. Hiding it in food doesn't work but maybe somewhere, even a grocery store or some herb, there's something I've overlooked. What about a different place in his mouth? I'm deeply ashamed about this but 30 years ago I put a cat through Hell because I could not let go. I swore I would never do that again.
