Old, sick cat. Thanksgiving. What would you do?

[Anonymous]

Cats don't generally pass away easily. Why prolong the pain and suffering longer. Vomiting is not fun, the cat is dying. Soon organs will start shutting down and the cat will be in more pain than now. The kind thing would be to put the cat down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cats don't generally pass away easily. Why prolong the pain and suffering longer. Vomiting is not fun, the cat is dying. Soon organs will start shutting down and the cat will be in more pain than now. The kind thing would be to put the cat down.

If you do get a sitter and the cat hits the wall Wed evening or Thursday, the sitter will have to deal with emergency vet or the cat will suffer even longer until Friday.

[Anonymous]

Ask your vet see what she/he suggests. If vet suggests to board the cat board at a vet boarding facility.

[Anonymous]

Ask your vet for advice.

If vet does not recommend putting the cat down, you go see your family and your DH stays with the cat.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to say I'm really sorry OP. Such a sad and stressful situation.

Agree with others euthanizing now is not a convenience for travel even if it feels that way.

[Anonymous]

Talk to your vet. You may not be able to schedule euthanasia on this short notice. Then talk to the teen and teen parents. Pay more for more visits and longer visits. My neighbors had a sick cat and they asked me to watch it for a few days. The cat was immobile and had lost a ton of weight and not eating. It was difficult being in the room with it but I did my best to spend some time with it a couple visits a day. If your cat is mobile and eating then Inwould be ok leaving it with several visits a day. But if she is on her death bed, you need a plan B. Maybe DH can cut trip short?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talk to your vet. You may not be able to schedule euthanasia on this short notice. Then talk to the teen and teen parents. Pay more for more visits and longer visits. My neighbors had a sick cat and they asked me to watch it for a few days. The cat was immobile and had lost a ton of weight and not eating. It was difficult being in the room with it but I did my best to spend some time with it a couple visits a day. If your cat is mobile and eating then Inwould be ok leaving it with several visits a day. But if she is on her death bed, you need a plan B. Maybe DH can cut trip short?

Whatever you do, do not have this teenager take care of the cat. A teenager is not equipped to deal with this if things go south and it would weigh on them very heavily.

[Anonymous]

The time is right when you are ready. Sounds like ready is now. No reason to overthink this Op - you are a loving cat owner.

It is not reasonable to torture yourself by thinking there exists a perfect/correct/optimal time.

[Anonymous]

You poor thing. It’s always inconvenient when animals get sick. I’d either try to board the cat with the vet, or talk very frankly with the teen and the teens parents about what’s happening.

It’s ok if you decide to put the cat down - he’s lived a very long life. Kidney problems has been what has done in all my male cats over the years, we’ve never gone to extremes to treat it either because the cats were all suffering enough.

[Anonymous]

I would ask the sitter to check on the cat 3x per day and pay extra.

I would not rush the decision based on travel.

Go be with your dad.

Have a plan if the cat becomes more ill, could the parent of the sitter take it to the vet if need be? I'd have a plan but it likely will not be needed.

I used to pet sit, often for elderly and unwell pets, and have been in your shoes, my cat lived with kidney disease until 17.

I would not board an older pet in poor health, it would be very stressful and they would be exposed to a lot of germs. Kitty will likely be fine at home. Make any decisions when you get back. Just focus on your dad for now. Hugs to you, OP, it is hard.

Safe travels!

[Anonymous]

A year is a good amount of time op.

[Anonymous]

I think that you could euthanize with a clear conscience given his age and health. I wouldn't leave a possibly dying cat with a teen.

You don't say where you're located, but Pender pet boarding in Chantilly has the vet hospital right there as well as other pet services.

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry about your situation. Go be with your dad.

I would not leave a teenager in charge of this cat. It would be traumatic for the teen if the cat died in their care. Talk to vet about options-euthanize, board at the vet etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sigh. I don’t think there’s a right answer here. I need some advice

My cat is 17, will be 18 in May. He’s been vomiting a lot lately and so we took him to the vet. He has kidney disease and his heart enzymes are extremely elevated. We just learned this today. It’s not that surprising, he’s lived a long life. The vet suggested bring him to a cardiologist but said that would prolong his life maybe a year depending on what exactly is going on with his heart. I should note, there wasn’t an acute reason we went to the vet, just the observation that he seemed to be vomiting more than usual, which has been happening for a few months. But the vet did say that a blood clot or congestive heart failure could happen at any point.

We’re supposed to leave for Thanksgiving on Monday, flying across country to see my family. My Dad is terminally ill so just canceling isn’t really an option. We have always left the cat alone with a cat sitter coming 1-2 times a day (in our case a neighbor’s teenager who feeds and changes the cats water). We have a litter robot so that part is taken care of. It’s never been an issue but I know it’s stressful on the cat to be left. And I’m scared he’s going to pass away or have a blood clot and be paralyzed while we’re gone. The thought of him suffering breaks me.

And I wouldn’t want to put that burden on my neighbor. My vet doesn’t do boarding and the few places I called are full. I also think boarding him would be even more stressful.

I just don’t know what to do. I’m almost thinking it would be more humane to put him down now than have him potentially die while we’re gone. But then I think that’s cruel to kill him just because we have to travel.

I just don’t know. Sigh.

We had a very similar situation last Christmas with our older cat. We were just going on vacation - no dying relative.

We ended up outing the cat down. It was very sad and whole family cried!

My husband still feels guilty a year later. I’m at peace with it. He probably would only have lived a few more days and was uncomfortable. Had we not been traveling we would have waited a bit longer, but it is what is.

Honestly when we asked the vet if this was reasonable they agreed.

I sorta got the feeling they just didn’t want to say it was the end.

I’m sorry.

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry, OP.

One of the things that helped me make the decision when my dog was clearly on the way out but still having some good days was the advice to make sure her last day wasn't her worst day.

Maybe she could have had a few more good days -- it seems likely -- but they were fewer, and I knew we couldn't be sure there would be enough.