Meet Miss Scooter
Scooter is a terminally ill foster. She will not be adoptable.
Scooter passed away April 4th 2015. She passed in the arms of people who loved her.
Poor Miss Scooter. We have just left the vet, and sadly there is not much good news for her. I think our time with Scooter will be limited at best.
Scooter has very painful glaucoma in her right eye. Glaucoma is a very painful disease caused by a build up of pressure in the eye. It often follows a mature cataract, which she has in the right eye. Her right eye is completely blind. It is possible to have cataract surgery to possibly bring back some vision if the pressure from the glaucoma hasn’t destroyed too much, but with Scooter’s advanced age and other medical problems, surgery isn’t an option for her. We will begin treating Scooter’s glaucoma with twice daily drops to hopefully relieve some pressure and make the eye less painful. Another option is removing the eye which is painful and non-visual, but again we hesitate to place her under anesthesia, so we’ll try the drops first.
She has another cataract in the left eye, but it is not yet mature and still provides her vision in the form of shadows & light.
Her teeth are in horrid condition, her skin is thin and discolored, her fur is thinning.
She has weak sphincter muscles which cause her to urinate on herself when she sleeps. There’s a drug that could help, but it can’t be given to a patient with glaucoma, so Scooter can’t take it.
She has a very enlarged heart and some signs of congestive heart failure. Her heart is so enlarged it is crowding her lungs. Dr. Esther thinks that the enlarged heart is straining to beat and going into arrhythmia complicated by a heart murmur and resulting in panting spells when Scooter can’t get enough oxygen. We will be starting her on 2 heart medications, one which will make her urinating more frequent and more difficult to control.
Lastly she has a mass near her intestines which makes it difficult for her to defecate. It’s possible it’s cancer, it’s possible it’s just a fatty lump, but it doesn’t really matter. We could do an ultrasound or MRI to get a better idea, but removal isn’t an option as she would almost certainly not survive the surgery.
So, Scooter will be starting eye drops, eye ointment, & heart medications. She’ll be eating soft food to make “going” as easy as possible. She’ll sleep and nap on moisture wicking pee pads to avoid urine scald.
We’ll keep her as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. Please send her positive thoughts that the medications will make her more comfortable in the time she has left.