Lovely old cat with health problems....

[SalaciousCrumb]

Hi all, my old cat, 16 years old, just taken her to vet and she has ataxia, overactive thyroid, spindle cell tumor and borderline chronic kidney disease. I caught her falling down the stairs this morning as she is very weak on the right side of her body

So difficult....vet says she will be alright for a while but may suddenly go downhill. My ds age 11 is upset as he loves her so much, she rubs his head, sleeps in his room, sits in front of him when he's on the computer and rubs his head although she won't be able to do this anymore as suddenly last night she lost full use of the right side of her body and cannot jump. Still eating using litter tray and washing herself but wagging tail and doesn't seem happy.

Sorry to talk about something so sad, just don't know if it's a good idea to delay the inevitable....we've had her since 1999 year old rescue cat

Any advice welcome.

Oh Dear, Crumb. Is her prognosis gloomy? Because if that's the case - and she's lost the use of her right side permanently - I wouldn't delay things myself.

Hi cozie, vet said she may have weeks or maybe of months left, doesn't know when she will go downhill further. My ds come in from school; she perked up and rubbed his head.

If she was mine I'd keep her going as long as she's eating and litter traying ok and attempting to interact with you. As soon as any of this declines then consider PTS.

Oh, and obv not in any pain.

She's got herself upstairs but unable to get downstairs....(managed to catch her before she tumbled down the stairs this morning), settled down on her cat bed by radiator in ds's room. I think she'll be OK for a while.

Thanks

gobbin your cats are gorgeous!

Sorry to hear about your old girl

I have had the "quality of life" talk a few times recently with the vet

He said - and it sounded reasonable to me - if the cat is eating/drinking, able to use litter tray and is able to potter around and/or get pleasure from being stroked, it's probably still got a reasonable quality of life and that needs to be borne in mind when making any big decisions about PTS

I have a very old blind cat who has had surgery for overactive thyroid & now has high blood pressure - but he's still doing everything on the vet's "quality of life" list, is very affectionate & seems quite content so we are happy to leave him be for now. My other old cat was put to sleep a few months ago after she started to go downhill quite rapidly, she wasn't eating or drinking & had started to withdraw from us & hide herself away, in readiness for dying I thought. So it was definitely the right time for her, although a very hard decision for me to make.

My cat had vestibular disorder when younger, and now has spinal arthritis. I usually carry her downstairs - she waits at the top for me or miows. This began when she had vestibular disorder, I stopped when she got better, and started again after her arthritis diagnosis. You could try carrying her downstairs, and see if she catches on that you will help. I also lift her on/off the windowsill.