Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Quality of Life

I'm a big believer in maximizing quality of life - for me and my pets.  My cat Meesha has hyperthyroid and has been on meds to supress her thyroid for about 4 months.  She had some problems early on then it seemed like she was doing fine.  In the last few weeks, I have been begging her to eat and she hasn't eaten much at all.  All in all too stressful for all of us.  So I called the vet today and we decided to take her off the meds and let nature take it's course.  Hyperthyroid causes a rapid heart rate, elevated blood pressure and kidney failure.  At the worst Meesha will die suddenly from a heart attack or there will be a gradual decline from kidney failure.   The good thing is she is in good condition now with a sleek coat and seems quite content.  She has been off the meds for a few days and has started to eat a little better.

Speaking of quality of life, Silver dog and I enjoyed a 5 mile recovery run...can feel my legs from the track workout yesterday.  We dodged the rain but it was pretty windy.  When I told the vet I was getting ready to go out for a run with Silver, she thought I was nuts.  I told her this is Silver's favorite kid of weather.  Not mine...I prefer sunny and warm like yesterday.

2 comments:

Julia said...

Good choice I think... Sometimes those choices are difficult to rationalize but it is our responsibility to care for our animals through their whole entire lives. Maintaining a quality of life is what an unselfish person does. Good for you.

kirsten said...

Somehow I don't have a hard time making what are often agonizing decisions for people. However as easy as the decision is for me to make, I take the actual death of a pet very hard. I try to look at the big picture and imagine if it was me in my cat, dog or horse's place. Please shoot me if I'm ever in a bad way!