Sorry - long.
My cat is only 11 - I think of that as relatively young; I've had two previous cats which lived to 18 - but the vet says it's elderly.
She was fine up until this summer. In the hot weather it was difficult to interest her in eating but that's always been the case; I thought she was just being fussy. I noticed one of her pupils was dilated; turned out to be nerve damage and is almost back to normal now. Didn't seem to bother her in the least. Investigations looking for the cause (blood tests & x rays) revealed ankylosing spondylitis in her spine and borderline abnormal kidney function (all 3 conditions apparently completely unrelated.)
A few weeks later she started limping - nothing wrong with the leg, must be the spondylitis. Vet put her on pills (anti inflammatory) but a week later she deteriorated sharply, repeat bloods showed kidney function had declined. Off the anti inflammatories and onto kidney medication.
She's been a bit up and down since then, back legs have got worse and her tail drags. Last week she perked up quite a bit, much more alert and active, eating more, "talking" to me, asking to go out (she has a litter tray indoors but has always liked going out,) even holding her tail higher. She's continued losing weight though and is down to an awfully skinny 2.3 kg. When you stroke her you can feel how bony she is (she's long-haired so it's difficult to see.) The vet agreed she had a reasonable quality of life still but her limited capacity is the "new normal".
This week she's declined again. Very lethargic, not wanting to go out, not eating. I've been hand-feeding her some tiny pieces of chicken and some soft pâté stuff the vet gave me (in a tin) but she won't have much before she turns her head away. I've tried all her favourites, cooked white fish for her, you name it. She won't even drink whiskas cat milk; she used to go mad for it. She doesn't generally seem to be in pain although she cried last night when I (gently) combed her whereas she has always been quite tolerant of being combed and even enjoys it around her head/neck/chest. So that did seem to be hurting her.
I'm thinking maybe her kidney function has deteriorated further. She's not really drinking water, but most of her food (the little she eats) is sloppy stuff and she's never been dehydrated when the vet has checked. Yes, I know I need to take her to the vet again and I will do. But it will need another blood test to check the kidney function.
How much more do I put her through? How do I know how much she's suffering and whether she has any quality of life?
Some background: I am moving house soon and a sick cat is quite inconvenient. But I love her to bits and want to be 100% certain that any decision I make is purely for the cat's sake as I am prepared to put up with any amount of inconvenience if it's worth it for her. As against that, I think I let my previous cat suffer too much because I wasn't prepared to let him go, so I delayed the decision beyond the point I should have done (in hindsight.) It's so hard.
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Mitzimaybe · 14/11/2014 13:15
It's such a hard decision to make 
, you need to do what you feel is best for her, the house move could be very stressful for her and could upset her more. Talk to the vet and see what they think you should do, the fact she is not eating and is losing weight is not a good sign, poor baby .
We made the decision to let our beloved cat go on Monday after a visit to the vet. On Tuesday the deed was done. He weighed 2.2 kg and didn't seem to be in pain, but his quality of life was poor, spending hours laying by the water bowl or litter tray and not wanting to go out at all. He had kidney disease and a urine infection and over the last couple of weeks he had deteriorated. We, also, could have had more tests done, but sometimes you know it is just delaying the inevitable. We have been in bits this week but actually I do think we did the right thing.
Whatever your vet says on Monday, you know he is advising you of the best course of action for your cat and it is the kindest thing in the world to put your pet's needs above your own. Thoughts are with you 
Thanks; we had lots of cuddles over the weekend and she was PTS this morning. I'm a bit weepy right now.
Many thanks & much sympathy to those of you who have gone through this yourselves recently and still found the strength to comment on this thread.
to you all
So sad to hear your news, thoughts are with you and hope you can take comfort that your dear little cat is no longer suffering due to the decision you've had to make
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