For a few years our cat aged 14 has been "out of sorts" - several trips to vet to establish he has onset of arthritis plus possible gut issues, though not sure at all. He eats a ton of food yet looks like someone has stuck a Hoover up his backside and sucked everything out! For the past 3 months He has started declining though is not in obvious pain. He used to go outside for hours but now goes out for just 5 minutes at a time, and this is repeated multiple times throughout the day. Sometimes when he jumps up on to the sofa he can't quite make it, yet other days he will jump onto a high wall. He has started being sick inside the House between 2 and 3 times a week and doing the odd pooh (no litter tray). There is evidence outside that he is being sick and poohing lots.
In the past the vet has wanted us to consent to surgery but we are against that as the cat is old and it would be too traumatic to do exploratory surgery. Besides, he has had so many tests, all of which has been inconclusive.
So the question is, is now the time to take the cat to the vet and put him down? I don't want him to go but don't want him suffering.