It's been a long time coming, but I had to put my cat Tino to sleep today. Reviewing his record, this illness started in April 2001 and he weighed about 12 lbs at the time (but had lost weight which is why I took him for examination). He's had every test that can be done on a cat except exploratory surgery and by the time that was an option, we thought he was too frail to handle it (about 6 pounds). He had many extensive tests done more than once, everything from blood tests to upper and lower GIs. Today he was down to 3.2 pounds. The hardest part is that he's still so alert and had energy and was loving and affectionate. But he was starving to death no matter what he ate or how much. It's like there was something wrong with his ability to absorb nutrients. My vets couldn't figure it out; no vets they consulted could figure it out. One of them even took his case to a convention and discussed it and no one there could suggest anything we hadn't tried beyond surgery (which was a death sentence).

I think this was the hardest decision I've ever had to make, but I know there weren't any miracles waiting around the corner and it was more compassionate to let him go while he still acted like a happy cat than let him get to the point where he couldn't hold his head up. It doesn't make it much easier though.

I'm letting them send his body to a diagnostic clinic so they can do a full autopsy and see if there was something internal that couldn't have been detected with all the other tests. I hope his case can help some other cat someday.

Becky