Elderly cats - death by a thousand cuts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear you OP. I had an 18 year old cat who kept chugging along but nothing major and I was just like I don't have time for this (also busy with 2 kids and was in the middle of RTO for my job). But at the same time I didn't want to put her to sleep just because I was being inconvenienced. I knew at that age, she statistically wouldn't be around too much longer so I just enjoyed her. A month later, I found a lump which the vet confirmed to be cancer and so I put her down a few weeks later. I feel mixed feelings. I feel like a bad person wondering when it would be over, but at the same time I do miss her.

OP here. So sorry for your loss.

I feel awful about this, but this is actually what I find myself hoping will happen. That we’ll take one of them to the vet for some new symptom and the vet will say, “I’m so sorry, it’s cancer, your choices are to put her to sleep or shell out $50k for kitty chemo” and it’ll be an easy decision, and this will all be behind us.

I get it, but your cat has a UTI not cancer, and yes, it's expensive and recurrent and you have little kids and it's not the right time to deal with this stuff. But to put a cat to sleep for a UTI is not what I personally would feel comfortable doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Put the cats to sleep

This. They have had a good run.

[Anonymous]

Statistically they do not likely have much time left. Like the poster above I wouldn’t put a cat to sleep for a UTI but it is likely something will go downhill soon for them.

I did a year of giving my older cat two pills a day for seizures. She had kidney disease. It went downhill fast and we put her to sleep. I miss her dearly - I miss the healthy version of her - but I don’t miss the last year of pills and constant worry about her health. There was an element of relief that this was over.

[Anonymous]

Put the cats up for adoption

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear you OP. I had an 18 year old cat who kept chugging along but nothing major and I was just like I don't have time for this (also busy with 2 kids and was in the middle of RTO for my job). But at the same time I didn't want to put her to sleep just because I was being inconvenienced. I knew at that age, she statistically wouldn't be around too much longer so I just enjoyed her. A month later, I found a lump which the vet confirmed to be cancer and so I put her down a few weeks later. I feel mixed feelings. I feel like a bad person wondering when it would be over, but at the same time I do miss her.

OP here. So sorry for your loss.

I feel awful about this, but this is actually what I find myself hoping will happen. That we’ll take one of them to the vet for some new symptom and the vet will say, “I’m so sorry, it’s cancer, your choices are to put her to sleep or shell out $50k for kitty chemo” and it’ll be an easy decision, and this will all be behind us.

I meant my cat too had a bunch of mild issues we went through until the big one hit. As I said, statistically I knew it wasn't going to be too much longer until she reached that point so I just kept with it until it finally hit.

[Anonymous]

Where are you all finding these vets who will put elderly cats to sleep? Our cat is 19 years old - he has been a wonderful cat and had a good run. Recently he declined in a big way, and last weekend he stopped eating and drinking and was hiding in the basement. Took the cat to the emergency vet fully expecting to put him down humanely and the vet proposed $1200 in tests to figure out what was happening. He's 19! He is still alive and did manage to drink some water with encouragement, but really skinny and clearly not himself.

[Anonymous]

Long time cat owner here...the only time I put a cat to sleep was for inoperable cancer and internal bleeding with no chance of surviving past a week. My cats now are young but we do have medical issues that come up that cost us around $600-1000 per visit and that's per individual cat. I agree with the person who said this is what you sign up for. If a cat is suffering and can't have a good quality of life then that's one thing, but if you want to put a cat down because it's stressing you out, I would advise you to not be a pet owner in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it is too much for you to deal with, put him to sleep. Keep in mind that it is one thing after the other for the cat too and he's never really comfortable. You need not feel.guilt.for providing a peaceful end.

This. A 15-year old pet with recurring health issues is a fine candidate for euthanasia, especially if the owner(s) can't afford the upkeep. It's lovely to say "you have to keep them until they die of natural causes" but that's not always what's kindest or best for the pet. Cats especially get stressed out by vet visits, and most pets are sensitive to the moods of their owners. If the cat is making you miserable and/or causing you stress, it knows and it's likely upset and stressed about it.

There's nothing wrong with giving your pet a gentle, humane death. There's only so much we can reasonably do for our pets, and people need to stay reasonable about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Put the cats up for adoption

at 15?! No. This is far more cruel than a great last day with their family and a humane end.

Moving a medically-deteriorating animal to a new home will be stressful, at best, and might cause trauma to the animal, especially at that age. This is NOT a kindness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are you all finding these vets who will put elderly cats to sleep? Our cat is 19 years old - he has been a wonderful cat and had a good run. Recently he declined in a big way, and last weekend he stopped eating and drinking and was hiding in the basement. Took the cat to the emergency vet fully expecting to put him down humanely and the vet proposed $1200 in tests to figure out what was happening. He's 19! He is still alive and did manage to drink some water with encouragement, but really skinny and clearly not himself.

Disrespectfully, your vet sounds like a money-grubbing, guilt-tripping jerk. Find a new vet. If you can, find somewhere that isn't a managed/chain practice (but this is getting harder and harder to do).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are you all finding these vets who will put elderly cats to sleep? Our cat is 19 years old - he has been a wonderful cat and had a good run. Recently he declined in a big way, and last weekend he stopped eating and drinking and was hiding in the basement. Took the cat to the emergency vet fully expecting to put him down humanely and the vet proposed $1200 in tests to figure out what was happening. He's 19! He is still alive and did manage to drink some water with encouragement, but really skinny and clearly not himself.

I believe lap of love will do it with "old age" as a reason. Of course they are $$$ too.