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I am very sorry your cat is so ill. But this isn't about you. It's about her quality of life. Had you taken her to the vet earlier, she could have received treatment for what sounds like classic kidney disease symptoms which may have allowed her to feel better for a longer time.
As it is, she is most likely suffering now. Please do the right thing by her, and take her to the vet. There may be palliative treatment that will keep her comfortable for a bit longer. If she is too far gone for any kind of treatment, and the only thing left for her is to be euthanized, it is the kindest thing, your final loving gift to her, to not force her to drag out what has become a miserable existence.
That is good advice. We had to put our cat down since I last posted in this thread. She was rapidly loosing weight, ate very little, rarely got out of her cat bed. It was time, we hated to see her go but it was time.
I have a 20 year old female cat and she went deaf a year ago. She was making loud obnoxious sounds which at first I thought was because she couldn't hear me and was confused. I did take her to the vet several times and she had crystals in her urine. For the past 2 years she has been drinking water like crazy. Recently she has been vomiting a dark brown smelly liquid. She doesn't want her dry food and when I google searched what to feed her it said water down her wet food but she just wants the juices. She will eat watered down tuna juices and milk. I noticed she has lost weight even though she has always been petite he whole life. Now, at this point I feel like I'm prolonging her departure.... I love seeing her everyday and I don't believe she's in any pain. She follows me around the house from room to room and I just don't have it in me to take her back to the vet and let her go. ((
Renee, I know exactly how you feel. I just got home from the vet's office and am waiting for a call later this afternoon re my 18-yr-old girl Clarissa. I noticed this morning that Clarissa's backside was soaking wet, and upon going to te laundry room (where the litter box is), there were drops of blood on the floor. She seemed fine otherwise. Fortunately I got her into a local vet clinic today who treated her for a similar problem a year ago (after paying over$1,000, never got a real diagnosis - took Clarissa to her regular vet a couple of months later and she was fine - no explanation then, either. She did not have bacteria in her urine, all bloodwork was normal).
The vet clinic is keeping her until late this afternoon to get a urine sample and hydrate her. I came on here today as I wait for the call because I know how much you all love kitties. My three cats are like children to me (Male Toby is almost 20, and my youngest Emma is 20 months, called affectionately the "replacement kitty.")
Right now I am jumping out of my skin waiting for news. Clarissa has been with me for half my adult life and I am just not ready to say good-bye (are we ever?).
I am heartened to see that others have cats 20+ years old. Thank you for "listening" to me while I wait to fnd out Clarissa's fate.
I am very sorry your cat is so ill. But this isn't about you. It's about her quality of life. Had you taken her to the vet earlier, she could have received treatment for what sounds like classic kidney disease symptoms which may have allowed her to feel better for a longer time.
As it is, she is most likely suffering now. Please do the right thing by her, and take her to the vet. There may be palliative treatment that will keep her comfortable for a bit longer. If she is too far gone for any kind of treatment, and the only thing left for her is to be euthanized, it is the kindest thing, your final loving gift to her, to not force her to drag out what has become a miserable existence.
Good advice for me, too! Thank you for your advice, as much as we hate hearing it. I love my "little girl" who is now at the vet, and i need to face the facts, although my kitties have always been rushed to the vet when anything is wrong.
Sorry to hear CptnRn - but want a wonderful life you guys gave Shelby, and visa versa.
I had an old cat that I said good-bye to a few months back, and during about the last year or so, she would MEOW!!!!!!! at about 5AM, which sent me straight up out of bed to her side - and she would - purr. I believe she was going deaf (as the vacuum rarely woke her, etc) - and I decided to try to ignore it. And that worked - she stopped (mostly) but it was not easy to ignore!
Also, for eating in those last couple years, I found baby food worked, chicken and turkey, mixed with water, and I alternated canned cat food also mixed with water. She was having kidney issues (I did some meds also) as well as a tooth problem that materialized.
I just have to say - it's HARD to pick 'the day' to say good-bye. Especially when they keep purring. And, for me, all the special efforts (which became real work, increasing - day-in, day-out) helped bring me around to 'picking the day'. Meanwhile, they still purr. It's just VERY HARD. But I also know that they don't know like we know (why we're going to the vet 'this time')..... and that helped me very much. And, I did not want a 'catastrophic' event, likely in the middle of the night, to 'pick the day' either. I just have to say - it is just NOT EASY. I can identify.
We were fortunate to have a small animal Vet who comes to our house to help us with our two parrots and Shelby. The Vet came to the house to put Shelby to sleep. So at least she did not have to go through the trauma of a visit to the vet's office as her final moments.
If you find your self in this situation it is worth inquiring if your vet will do this.
^^^ Oh yes, definitely. We did this for our 15 yr old dog that 'hated' the vet office, and a couple other (larger) dogs that especially when they become 'elderly' and/or ill, it's not as easy as when they were young to take them places in the car. We used the home vet for healthcare visits also. It is a 'wonderful' service. However, with the downturn, moving, etc... just couldn't this time. And my cat (FiFi) didn't mind the vet office, and we'd been there so much recently I felt comfortable with the staff, etc, as well. I totally agree, the home vet visit is really a nice (as possible) option.
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