Please give me honest advise-i think its time to have my cat put to sleep .

[fakeblonde]

Please dont judge me if your totally against this.I just would like some honest comments.
My cat is 20 years old and until a year ago was spritely and well.
She is now very arthritic and appears uncomfortable as she cant put her bottom down when sitting so she lies.She sometimes falls over and is unsteady on her feet.
She has never been much of an outdoor cat but now she never goes out.

My main problem is she is now urinating in my house.She uses the litter tray but more often now9at least once or twice a day ) she wees in my house and poos also.The smell is awful. She has never even weed in front of us but now she just does it.If i put her out for a wee she will take about 3 steps and do one but i cant do this most of the time because i work.
i`m seriously thinking of having her put to sleep for 3 reasons -firstly she is losing her dignity,secondly she has little quality of life and thirdly, most selfishly , because she is ruining my home.
What are peoples thought s please ?

She`s not got any infection by the way and is eating and drinking fine.

If I'd just read your first paragraph I would probably have said yes it might be kinder. Having a cat put to sleep because it's messing in your house is not a reason to end it's life BUT I do understand. Cat's wee is particularly noxious and unpleasant. I would take her to the vets, ask about the urinating problem and ask their opinion about her quality of life now.
I guess the question is, if she wasn't weeing in the house would you want her put down?

What would you want if you were the cat?

I would say it sounds like the time has come.

It is such a hard decision, but I think if you bare in mind that cats are 'clean' by nature, she would never have toileted in the house before, I think she is probably telling you she's had enough. Also if her body is failing her then it is probably time to say goodbye.

I don't think anyone would/should judge you on this. She is your lovely cat, only you can make the difficult choice. You have seen her go down hill, there comes the time when you have to ask who she is being kept alive for.

If her quality of life is suffering then so is she, i have over the years had to have several cats, dogs and a rat put to sleep, most due to illness and in 2 cases cause of illness unknown by us or the vet until PM when widespread cancer was found, how they both had been going on day to day astounded us TBH.

Thanks.
If she wasnt weeing in the house i would probably not consider it tbh .

I think the time has come and it is unfair of anyone to judge you and claim you are only doing this to save your house.

If she is unable to sit she must be in pain and 20yrs is a big age for a cat.

hugs and thoughts to you

It sounds to me like she has had enough. Only you will know the true answer as you have had her for 20 years.

I had to make a similar decision for my old lady (dog) and as much as I wanted (willed) her to get better - I knew it was better for her to go in peace rather than hanging her out for a while longer.

If you feel like your conscience is telling you to not do it because she is doesn't have an infection and is still eating and drinking then speak to the vet.

If you think it is just the weeing, do you have a room that you could confine her to where the weeing wouldnt matter? One with a lino floor maybe?

Oh and also if her bladder has gone (and by the sounds of it, it has) then it may be worth explaining this to the vet because leaving it alone may cause an infection and at her age she may not be able to cope with antibiotics etc.

If she is peeing everywhere, it could be her kidneys are failing, so it might kinder to put her to sleep
I have a cat of my own who I adore, so I do sympathise with you - 20 years is a pretty good innings for a cat.

It sounds to me like the time has come too. My parents recently had to have my childhood cat put to sleep and he had started to loose control of his bladder, amongst other things. It is such a hard decision to make.

What a fantastic long life she has had though

I am sorry fakeblonde. I went through this a few years ago with my beloved cat and he was only five He lost heaps of weight, could not do anything active and began to wee everywhere. In the end the vet decided he had kidney failure and it was the kindest thing to do. It broke my heart but I know it was for the best. His quality of life was awful. We took him home for one last night and cooked him a chicken breast for his last breakfast. I carried him into the vets as he hated the cat basket and cuddled him to sleep Now I have lovely memories of him and I know it was for the best. You know your puss and can make the right decision for her. 20 years is a fantastic long life for a cat.

Thanks everyone.
I have still not made up my mind but dh is cleaning up urine again so probably not a good time to decide !
I will discuss it with the rest of the family i think and thank you so much.

Talk to your vet, but if her quality of life is so poor it would probably be the kindest thing. You will regret it if you feel she suffered longer than she should have done, I am sorry it is awful when they reach this point, she has had a wonderful long life with you and now you need to do the best for her

This was the stage we let our beloved lab go, too. Not because of messing the house, as she was unable to handle stairs so peed where we could easily clean it (and had had some issues with that for years, treatably) but because she was just so very old and incapacitated that her quality of life was minimal. It was awful because she was such an indomitable dog - she barked at the milk-lady the last morning, and we wavered, and then her back legs collapsed under her and she struggled to get up again for some minutes, and we knew it really was time. It was 6 years ago and I still miss her - I grew up with her.

It's a heartbreaking choice, but don't feel bad about finding the cleaning up a nightmare. It doesn't make you a bad person, or your cat unloved. It makes you human.

I had to do this with my second dog. You would IMO, be making a kind decision, but it's a tough one to carry through.

I had to make this decision with my lovely old girl in january - she too was 20.

Not just because of the weeing, but taking into account ALL you have said, I think the time has come for you to say goodbye.

Hugs and strength to you

Later today I shall see the vet about our rabbit - who also has arthritis and has similar issues. I am probably going to ask them to put the rabbit to sleep because I don't think the painkillers are enough now.

You've given your cat a good life, now its time to give them a good death, not one in pain or distressed. There is always the worry they may die in distress while you are at work. Most people leave the decison too late.

I put off having my cat put down, she had a bad heart and mega high blood pressure. Her heart rate was uncountable according to the vet but somewhere in the 200s to 300s. She didn't seem in pain, but she'd stopped grooming and eating and slept most of the time. Twice we had to take her to the emergency hospital where they put her on oxygen and drained her lungs which were full of fluid. My vet was very gentle and suggested we might like to think about putting her to sleep. Like a sentimental fool I held off, and one day she had a heart attack in front of me. I was bfing ds at the time and sat there in horror and watched as she writhed and gasped for at least a minute. It was the most horrific thing I've witnessed, and I was helpless, I couldn't do a thing for her. I have been with one of our dogs when she was put to sleep and I can honestly say it's the kinder thing. When our dog was put to sleep it was just that, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. Watching my cat die convinced me that next time I will not leave things so long. Sorry that's a horrible story, but if only humans had the right to have their suffering ended in this humane and gentle way.

I think the time has come to let her go.
She is old and Cats are clean animals.

We had a stray cat who had problems with kidneys we took it to the vet who was able to give some medication which helped for a while. Eventually we had to decide to let go.

A least you'll let her go peacefully.

Our cat started losing control of her bladder and bowels and also stopped cleaing herself (the dog then took to licking her clean instead, which she let him do!), but we felt that she still had some quality of life so didn't do anything. Then we went on holiday and left the neighbour looking after her - and she had a stroke while we were away and the neighbour had to take her to the vet. No great, least of all for our neighbour, but the worst of it was that last year we went away leaving our elderly dog in charge of the same neighbour, and he deteriorated while we were away and she had to take him to the vet's too. Honestly, though, it's just so hard to make that decision and, having got it badly wrong twice because we couldn't bear to, I know exactly how you must be feeling.