The Dilemma

I've got this cat, well not just a cat, my baby! My first baby that is. I got her after moving out on my own from a friends place. He was allergic to EVERY thing. So when I got my own place I was ready to have a fuzzy cuddle partner. Growing up I was a dog person, always had them. We never had cats because we lived on a very busy street, and with five kids my mom was not interested in making up story after story for why the cat was gone. I had moved into a small apartment and couldn't bear to think of tying a dog outside or leaving it in my little box of a place while I was at work for 9+ hours a day. Never having a cat before I decided, probably irrationally, this would be my best solution for my need for some furry love in my little home. So I went to the pound thinking to my self I would not get the first kitten I saw. I was going to choose very carefully since this would be my first pet that I would have sole responsibility for (besides my rat Scooter that I had when I was about 10). I walked into where they kept the cats and kittens. The woman working there showed me the first kennel that had a tabby grey stray momma cat and her 5 kittens. There was one that sprung to the door of the cage and clung to it as if it should have been wearing a tiny Spiderman suit. I told the woman helping me that I would like to see "that one".  As she handed the scared kitten to me it was almost like we were two socks out of the dryer that had no static cling sheet to help from the stickiness. I couldn't help but feel nurturing to this little ball of fuzz that had enormous ears compared to her tiny frame. So, yes, I ended up taking the first one I saw. 


Flash forward 10 years. 


This cat has been through EVERY thing with me. Moving from town to town, from place to place. Even from one guy to the next. Throughout it all she never judged me (if she did, she never said any thing <3). She was always there for me to cry into when my life seemed to be falling apart. She was my sanity in the crazy world of humans. I couldn't love her any more than I could love my own mother. Especially when my mom was so far from me along with the rest of my family after deciding at [probably] too young of an age to move nearly 1500 miles from them all. This cat was all I had and really all I needed at the time. Then I met him!


I met him at a bar, of all places. But it's not like that, although that's a story for another blog. We were two opposites finding common interest in the weird way the world and it's inhabitants worked. After only a few months we were inseparable, 3+ years later we were married and a year after that we were pregnant. Through all this [now] our cat has been the baby. He's been the first one she really took to and at times I accuse her of being a trader. She's a very picky cat. She's only known me as a constant. Every thing else she's known has been nothing short of a whirl wind of my crazy life. She's not fond of other cats at all. I think she thinks she's a dog, but only gets along with them if they are either afraid of her (she's a large cat) or they could give a rats ass about her. She's actually been know to cuddle with the right dog. She gets pretty skittish around new people and usually takes quite a while before she'll even come into sight. And she hates little kids with a fiery passion, which concerned me when I was pregnant with our daughter. After the kid was on the move the cat, one; was much faster than the kid at the time, and two; she had some time to get to know the kid a bit before she was being chased all over the house. To say the least it all worked out. The cat hates it when the kid tries to get too lovey, but she's surprisingly good with her. 


With that all said I now have this dilemma. The cat is now nearly 14 years old and starting to show signs of old age. ...Or at least that's what I'm guessing. Since she has always been an indoor cat (because of the whole fear my mom instilled in me about cats and busy streets) I took her in as a kitten and had all her shots taken care of along with having her fixed. Since then she has not been back. She has always been a very healthy cat and has never been out to be exposed to any thing. Well, recently she has been throwing up a lot. Not like an annoying amount, but more like 6 or 7 times in a day. Maybe not every day, but at least a few times a week or more. Now, you're probably thinking, "Why won't you take her into the vet?!?". First, we are having a difficult time paying our house payment at the moment not to mention the fact that she is not a traveler. She gets WAY stressed out when being moved from house to house. Of course if she was 3 or 8 I would take her in and do what I could even if I had to set up payments some how. This cat is 14 years old. I can hear her play at night (when she is not puking her guts out all night). She doesn't seem to be loosing tons of weight. And there are days she seems to be just fine. But then we return to the days that she is heaving most of the day and obviously not feeling well and sleeps ALL day, which those days are not normal. But do I put our selves in more way-over-our-heads-debt for a very old cat?  I've read and heard from vets opinion that I would have to do blood work on her to figure it out. (I've ruled out all the other obvious issues like hair ball problems or the food, etc.) That could cost a pretty penny before any thing is payed for remedies. 


So there are my options. 

• Take the cat in and do every thing I can for her no matter what that means for my family financially, after all she was my first baby. 
• Leave her be and hope for the best, cleaning cat puke off of EVERY thing every other day.
• Have her euthanized. (If the vet sees it fit.)

And to be honest I can't even believe I would think the last option would even be an option for me, but as I said I'm in a dilemma and just want to do what is best for her and the whole family. :(