Relative Something

We are on Kitty watch at our house lately. It is quite possible that we are experiencing the last days of her life. Repeated visits to the veterinary clinic have yet to reveal any absolute diagnosis to explain her difficulties, which are all related to processing food. She may simply have cancer of some form. We have declined to purchase any invasive diagnostic procedures thus far, and are relying on the informed advice of the professionals to direct our care. Kitty is receiving some medication to calm her stomach, but the results of that treatment, thus far, are inconclusive.

She seems to have an awareness of her situation. For days, she ignored food. Since the medication, she has returned to her bowl a couple of times and timidly made attempts to eat. It only seems to come back up as vomit. It doesn’t appear to inspire her to try again after outcomes like that.

We are treating this situation as hospice care and doing what we can to make her comfortable. I find it a bit awkward to be assuming she is on death’s door without quite knowing for sure. Is it time to say my goodbye, or will she survive this and be back to her old self in time? I’m not quite sure. But the general feeling around the house is that she is closer to dying than she is to recovering.

It is noteworthy how much this influences the atmosphere of our household activities. Kitty has been a special addition to our family, despite my occasional grumblings otherwise. When she is not feeling well, none of us are, either.