Meet Dr. Kate Cutting DVM of Doorstep Vet

Misha not feeling well

Revisit Misha's bio here.
With Misha's declining mobility I had two thoughts; first, it will be very difficult getting her in the car to see the vet and second, she's a biter when she's not feeling well.  I knew she wouldn't be comfortable with being lifted in and out of the car even if I had help.  I had been talking about this to a friend, actually the woman who Whitman likes, and several weeks later she emailed me the name of a traveling vet.  Dr. Kate Cutting of Doorstep Vet.  It was such a relief to know there is still such a service and now I had to find out if she would be the one to help me help Misha over the "rainbow bridge" when it was her time.  (By the way, I thought it would be an interesting post to explore how that phrase came along and how that community has grown to become such an intrinsic part of an animal's death and dying.)



With email correspondence Dr. Cutting had set an appointment to come out and see Misha.  I wanted to make sure she was a "feel good" vet, primarily that Misha and I felt good having her in our space.  I also wanted Misha to meet her at least once instead of just calling her in a panic and asking her first time to come and euthanize my dog.  It's never easy to prepare for such a thing, but after so much experience I wanted to make sure I had everything in place when it is Misha's time.

We liked Dr. Cutting right away.  Misha was pretty nervous since we never have many people in our house but she interacted with Dr. Cutting with no issues and at times went to her for pets.  Dr. Cutting spent a great deal of time (90 minutes!) with us and we spoke at length about the state of Misha's health.  Dr. Cutting listened closely to all my Misha stories and took her time with her exam.  Overall, Misha is pretty healthy although she has some issues.  She's had digestive problems for about 18 months and it's difficult to use any anti-inflammatory medication as it upsets her stomach.  She is starting to have a cough which is very likely laryngeal paralysis and Dr. Cutting suggested that we could address that when it was time.

Misha feeling good

I point blank told Dr. Cutting that I needed to know if I felt okay with her being the one to come into our house help us during "that" very intimate and sensitive time.  Dr. Cutting understood and began to talk about comfort care measures and end of life issues.  She shared stories of a wide range of individuals and their experiences with the declining health of their pets.   Everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to palliative care for their pets.  As within the social work profession, Dr. Cutting stated care starts where the client "is".   Some are more willing and able to tend to their aging and sick pets towards end of life and others, maybe not so much.  But everyone's timing is right for their families and their pets.  I told her I thought she sounded like a social worker and we both laughed.  Then I told her I had recently found out about Veterinary Social Work.  This is the time I learned about the AHELP project.