Greetings,
My 18 year old cat is suffering from an enlarged heart, high blood pressure, and pleural effusion (fluid in the chest cavity between the lungs and the chest wall - pushes on the lungs, heart and other vital organs making breathing difficult). This whole downward spiral has just occurred in the last couple of months. I took her to the vet a couple of weeks ago to check her blood pressure. She had an x-ray that revealed a huge amount of fluid, which the vet drained - 200 CCs! She seemed to breathe easier afterwards, and I took her home. My husband and I discussed it, and we don't want to put her through the constant agony of having excess fluid drained out of her chest cavity. Why prolong the inevitable? I am having a hard time with deciding when to put her down. She is scrawny - like a little old lady - just a 6 lb bag of bones. She still eats, drinks, grooms herself and goes to the litter box. She appears to have problems with her balance from time to time. She started drooling intermittently a few days ago. This could mean that her blood pressure and diuretic meducations are irritating her stomach. But it looks like she is starting the belly breathing again, so I think the fluid is coming back. My question is when do you know? I don't want to feel like I did it too soon, but I don't want to wait too long and make her suffer. Anyone else been through this?
Thanks,
greenbud
