I am going to have to phone vet about jaycat to be PTS and very sad

[Mrsjay]

jaycat is elderly and has health problems , I think her time has come she is very wheezy and is coughing , she has renal failure and she is struggiling although still going out to do the toilet and was lying in the sun yesterday , when is it time to make the call , I know i have to do it over the next few days , but I want to make sure ive made the right decision , Do i wait for her to get really poorly or stop eating

Ah bless her, and you! I don't have any answers but didn't want to read and run.

I have had to take 4 of my pusscats to be PTS over the years, I thought it was the right time but needless to say wondered later if it was.

But I knew I couldn't wait for them to suffer [anymore]:( Three of them had medical problems and the last one was elderly, 22 years old, and fading fast with distressing speed.

It doesn't get any easier and I'll hold your hand.

Thank you she is 18 and out in the sunshine ATM , she has been going down hill since January we agreed with the vet to stop her medication as she wasnt taking it , I just dont know when the right time is I think its soon though i guess i will know ? our dog died in her sleep which of course is heartbreaking but we didnt have to make that decision . I would be better for me If she just passed away , but i know i cant let her suffer,

You will know when the time comes because you dont feel as bad about it, I.E they are suffering more than they are enjoying life.

I'm so sorry, it's an awful thing to do we cried buckets everytime we did it (4 times).

I think while she can still enjoy the sun and she is eating I would let her enjoy this beautiful weather, buy her whatever she like to eat best and spoil her rotten.

I love this poem, though it is very sad.

A 14-YEAR OLD CONVALESCENT CAT IN THE WINTER

By

Gavin Ewart

I want him to have another living summer,
to lie in the sun and enjoy the douceur de vivre ?
because the sun, like golden rum in a rummer,
is what makes an idle cat un tout petit peu ivre ?

I want him to lie stretched out, contented,
revelling in the heat, his fur all dry and warm,
an Old Age Pensioner, retired, resented
by no one, and happinesses in a beelike swarm

to settle on him ? postponed for another season
that last fated hateful journey to the vet
from which there is no return (and age the reason),
which must soon come ? as I cannot forget.

You will know when it is the right time, I always think the light goes out of an animals eyes when they no longer want to be here.

Hugs to you, it is so hard to watch them very ill when you know that they will not last much longer

the poem is beautiful I did cry yes she is enjoying the weather sitting on the bench , she is also having gourmet cat food she used to get go cat before she just eat little bits now and is partial to quavers , Thanks again i appreciate you both taking time to be comforting , and i think i will now be confident in knowing when it is time ,

not both all of you ,

It is really sad. It comforted me to know that the vet will help you make the decision and it is the last kind thing you can do for her. I've heard vets say it is a privilege to be able to give an animal a kind, gentle death. It helped me; hope it does you.

I feel very sad for you. Its a really tough decision to make. I agree with the poster who said you will know when its time.

I used to be a vet nurse and my boss used to say that you have to listen to your gut - your head will rationalise ("oh but he had a good day yesterday") and your heart just cannot bear it. When you get that sinking feeling in your tummy you know its time.

Practically, if your cat is purring for no reason, it is often a sign that the end is coming.

I feel so sad for you, its such a tough decision to make but at least we have this to let our pets go with dignity.

xxxx

I've quite literally just got back from the vet after having one of my cats PTS. (and making a complete fool of myself when there - could barely speak). She'd also been going downhill the last few months - skinnier but still eating and moving normally. However, she last ate Saturday and I just knew - having seen it so often before - that she'd switched off. She was in the sun yesterday, but more unconscious than asleep IYKWIM .... she just wasn't laying right. And though she still purred when I spoke/touched her, this morning she went totally downhill - difficulty breathing and doubly incontinent. I just couldn't leave her like that - had hoped she'd die in her sleep, maybe in the garden .... but when they're struggling the kindest and last thing you can do as a loving and responsible owner is to take them out of that half life.

It bloody hurts though.

If your cat's still eating then maybe she still has some time. You will know, and I'm sorry you're going through this awful shall I shan't I thing too.

I'm so sorry for you mrs jay, it's so heartbreaking. My lovely tabbyboy,age 18 had tobe pts in january and then 3weeks later,his wonderful mum age 19. Although i hve 3other beautiful cats, i still miss them so very much especially on sunny days like today when they would sunbathe in the garden for hours. I look at photos of them both,taken in their last weeks and they look still alert and so often feel guilty that i should have hung on to them for a little longer but have to also reassure myself that they both had such a long and happy life but the end is not easy is it?

Thank you all so much for your kind words catsmother Im so sorry about your cat

goawaybob that feeling in my gut has been there since i posted thats why i posted , we have decided to have jaycat PTS Dh is going to phone the vet today and discuss when , probably monday . thank you all again i will need some hand holding

I am sorry about your lovely old cat. I had my 17 year old boy pts last month- thyroid problems, then heart murmur and following a UTI he just went downhill over a week. He started to wheeze and the vet said it was water on his lungs due to heart failure and we had him pts straightaway- I couldn't bear to see him struggle. It was hard even though I'd done it before but I felt better he wasn't suffering. I think I let his brother go on too long before we did the deed.
Your vet will let you know if he thinks it's time- don't take the whole burden of the decision on yourself.
It's horrible but your cat has been lucky to have had a lovely life with you.

Aw, sorry to read that, but you and I both know you're doing the right thing. You've got to keep telling yourself that it's the last loving thing you can do for them, and as such, it's the right thing to do. I think it's the only thing to do when you're constantly thinking about it - as opposed to just thinking they look old. I'd been thinking my cat was looking elderly for the 6 months or so though she was still active and caught a mouse just a week ago.

18 is a very good age ... mine was almost 15 ... but regardless, it is like losing a family member and no age somehow makes it feel any better.

I need to take her sister to the same vet later for something routine. Just hope I don't get all emotional again and inflict an hysterical blubbing creature upon the staff two days in a row - though they were all very nice about it (am taking them a box of chocs by way of a little thanks for their compassion and understanding).

yes I know we are doing the right thing and i read the posts last night and some of the thinks goawaybob said rang true she is purring a lot , I need to just go with my gut and no rationalise it , I dont think i will go to the vets I think DH will do it ,

I got the vet to come out to me when I had my cat PTS. He was much more relaxed and I'm glad I did it.