Comments Not Always Welcomed Or Published

A comment was posted to the blog that I've not published. It was a personal attack and therefore, did not add to the conversation about Feline HCM. The comment said that I chose to let Myrna suffer by prolonging her life due to selfishness. This page is meant to encourage you to help your cat deal with HCM, to understand that it may or may not be a death sentence, that death may be months or years away. But that there is no reason to put down a cat just because they are diagnosed with HCM; that there is more they need and more that can be done to help them fight, to slow the progression of the disease, to help the body deal with the disease, etc. All of that is worthwhile. None of it is selfishness. Why end a life before it is necessary? Is it difficult to know when to let go? Yes-and many of us have gone through that. When I say that she died quickly, I mean that in the last few seconds, she had a heart attack and died. That she was not put down six years prior was not an act of selfishness nor did she suffer for six years. On the other hand, I have noted honestly that the last few months were very difficult for her but that we thought she would pull through, not knowing that those difficulties would add up over the last few months and lead to her death. When she had gone through so much before and pulled back-not from death but from being sick-we did not understand that she was no longer bouncing back near the end even as she got over each episode, even as she played energetically the last week before getting sick again. Do I want to do this again? No-because I don't want my other cats to get this horrible disease. But will I if they get sick with this or another disease? Yes-I will fight, read, write, organize, learn and deal and move on and help them and take the best care of them that they need-NOT "Do the best I can do" but do what they need. And that's what I did for Myrna. Her ending went as I had hoped-which is selfish-but I wanted her to be stablized first; I wanted to be with her; I wanted to do all that we could in order to know if it was the end or not. And God chose to end her life quickly with a heart attack, in the ER, with me by her side, after she had been stabilized, and leaving the decision not up to me. A blessing to us both? Not really. A blessing would have been for her to heal and come home. But one shouldn't discount whatever sort of blessing God sends. When to end a sick cat's life is not an easy decision to make. Fighting is hard. We must be their advocates. Why not fight the good fight? Why give up so easily as the commenter would-I'm assuming-based on their comment. Actually, it was a rant. Perhaps they have no heart. Because unless you've been there, taking care of a sick cat, you do not know what is involved, what it means, and how difficult it can be.