Family pet is very old....

[eddiethehorse]

I have a cat, I have had him for 20 years. For the last year he has become a bit scatty and has been urinating on the floors. We have tried all kinds of things to stop him and encourage him to go outside or use his box but nothing works. Other than this behaviour he seems ok, the vets have checked him over and they can't find anything medically wrong with him, he is just very old.
We rent our home and the wooden floors are ruined in the places he has urinated, we have written off the deposit and are looking for ways to stain the floor or have to the affected areas replaced. There is no smell as the mop is in constant use.
I have a child who knows to avoid his hotspots, we will soon have DD2 but we have a good while until she will be impacted.
I just don't know what to do, when is enough, enough? Is it a sign he has had enough and should we say goodbye?
We love him very much.
AIBU to even be thinking about anything other than living with it?

I don't want to sound harsh, but he won't live forever.

My old girl was the same. We put a bin bag don on the floor, topped with a couple of old towels. Change as needed...

Puppy pads could do the same job?

As for puss, if his general health is reasonable for his age, then leave him be.
If you start to notice him struggling with things, then go and see your vet.

If he is mobile, eating well and not showing signs of pain, then he will be ok for a bit.

This could have been my post in February - my cat was 17 though. He was peeing on the couch, and was showing signs of hip problems. We had more tests done and spent more money than I care to think about, but eventually after discussion with the vet decided it was his time. My thoughts on the matter were that he was not going to get better, and every day he'd get a little worse. The peeing was becoming unmanageable, so we took the horrible decision. I held him as he died and we made it as gentle as possible - it was dreadful at the time as he was my pal from when I first moved here 16 years ago, but I still believe we made the best decision, he had a great life and was spared real pain. It is hard, I will be thinking of you.

I agree with whycant. If the vet agrees there's nothing physically wrong, then it's likely to be senility causing the accidents. And as said if he's eating, mobile, and happy in himself then I wouldn't call it a day just because of a touch of senile dementia.