A Heartbreaking Decision

Many of you know that there have been #2 bathroom issues with our cat Sam for over three years now. A pattern developed where we would find his "duties" on our basement carpet, right outside the litter room on and off for weeks at a time. Then for some reason, he would stop for about a month and then the cycle would begin again. He's such a beautiful, friendly, loving cat so we hoped things would get better but unfortunately, they've gotten worse this summer. It's been the worst these last few weeks. We've come home the last few nights to crap on the carpet. The steroid pills he's on at the moment are obviously not working. Believe me, it's NOT fun to clean that up, smell it, or see the nasty stain on your carpet time after time after time. Steve has done a great job of scooping the litter to make sure it's clean enough for Sam and that isn't doing anything either.

Over the years we've taken Sam to three different vets and none of them could pinpoint the problem. We've had test after test done, anal glands secreted, administered steroid pills, and nothing is working. The last vet we've taken him to said he probably has a digestive tract issue, it may not be curable, and he and the litter box simply may not get along. Also, Sam didn't seem like himself. He was constantly itching and the steroid pills were supposed to help with that and they didn't. Even with regular brushing, he would itch so badly he would get big mats of hair all over his body. The texture of his once soft fur, became oily and not so soft. He just didn't seem like the old Sam. So, Steve and I have seriously been discussing what to do at this point. We decided that we can't keep him anymore as his issue is not improving and we have a baby on the way. Neither Steve nor I want to clean up cat poop off the carpet for the next 13 years or however long Sam lives. AND...I don't want my child to pick up the poop, if they were to somehow get to the basement before I could get to them. We've put a lot of money into this and our ideas to fix his problem have run dry. So, we thought he may be able to live on a farm and be an outdoor cat but since he doesn't have his front claws and has never lived the "outdoor" life, he'd probably die after a few weeks/months. I also tried calling several NO KILL shelters but nobody is accepting surrendered animals at the moment, except for Wayside Waifs. They couldn't get an appointment for us until October 15th. After thinking about it, nobody will want to adopt a cat who is crapping on the floor so Sam would most likely live in a cage and eventually be put down by the shelter. These ideas didn't seem to be the right thing. All the options seemed to be pointing to Sam not making it, so we thought having a vet put him down was probably the best option. That way, he won't get torn up by another animal or die of hunger out in the wilderness, and he won't have to spend his final months in a tiny cage at a shelter.

This was the most difficult decision we've had to make. In the end, it was the best for Sam and us. He had an illness that wasn't necessarily life threatening but he was sick and not getting healthier. We couldn't keep putting hundreds of dollars into this with a baby on the way and the expenses that come with that in our near future.

Steve was brave enough to take Sam to the vet this morning. We fed him his last meal and let him play outside in the front yard for a few minutes. Then we said our goodbyes. I thought I'd blog about it so I don't have to tell the entire story many times over. Steve may be strong enough to talk about it in person, but I know I will need some time. Every time I think about it, the tears start flowing.

Here is our sweet Sam who we will miss dearly.