Monday, June 16, 2014

Cayenne's Quality of Life

I found this tool for assessing the quality of life for a pet.  A score of 35 or better is an acceptable quality of life.  Lower than that and it's time to consider euthanasia.



Each item is scaled 0 – 10, where best quality of life for that item is 10:
  • HURT: Adequate pain control (including breathing ability). 
  • HUNGER: Are you eating enough? Do you require hand-feeding or a feeding tube? 
  • HYDRATION: Are you hydrated? Do you need to be forced to drink? 
  • HYGIENE: Do you need someone to clean you, especially after elimination? 
  • HAPPINESS: Do you express joy/interest? Respond to the environment? Show signs of boredom / loneliness / anxiety / fear?
  • MOBILITY: Can you get up without assistance? Do you have seizures / stumbling? 
I tried to be really honest and calculated Cayenne's score.  She got a 40.  I am pretty sure her number would change from day to day.  Some days it would be higher.  This evening I gave her a lower-than-usual score on hunger, for instance, because today I've had to coax her to eat and twice she threw up.  In fact, I just finished hand-feeding her six (I counted them out) pieces of kibble.  If she keeps those down, she can have six more in a little bit.  But this is not typical for her and hopefully does not continue.

But still.  She got a 40.  Which does not seem great to me but is acceptable according to this scale.

I'm glad to have some sort of tool to help me judge things.

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