Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Should we continue with treatment or PTS?

12 replies

deedeemegadoodoo · 31/07/2021 21:36

My cat is 16. Around a year or so ago, she started to be hungry all the time and losing weight. We took her to the vets after she appeared to have some kind of seizure. She has a hormonal imbalance and is on medication she has with food twice a day (3 types of medication). The condition could eventually cause her kidneys to fail, but the treatment means she will have high blood pressure and continue to lose weight, so it has been the lesser of two evils.

She’s had periods where her back end has been sore, and we put this down to age. In the last two weeks, she started to hide behind a chair out of the way. She didn’t improve, so vet saw her a few days ago and gave her an anti inflammatory injection,but cannot prescribe an ongoing one due to her other condition. She has started with hemp oil instead.

For the first day, she was much brighter and went out into the garden, slept on the bed etc, however, for several days since she has started hiding again and her back legs are very wobbly when she is trying to move around. The wobbly, collapsing back legs is a new thing she didn’t have before.

What are your opinions on this? For extra context, I have never had an issue with our vet (he saved my dogs life) but I know there have been complaints on social media about him prescribing or diagnosing inappropriately, and my mum’s cat had ongoing treatment and then had to be PTS within a few days of an (expensive) appointment.

Is my cat at the point where we need to PTS or is it worth continuing with the medication? I have no issue with paying for her meds, but I would hate to think the meds are just prolonging the inevitable and she is actually suffering.

OP posts:
Pashazade · 31/07/2021 21:50

We had this with one of our previous cats. She would go in have a steroid injection be right back up for a few days and then descend into not quite right, not eating properly and not her usual self. We were due to go away and knew we could not leave her in that state with our lodger and also knew that really we were keeping her going for us at that stage. If she is hiding and her back legs were giving out I would be having a long hard think about PTS. I'm so sorry it is the hardest decision to make. But you need to weigh up her quality of life right now vs your desire to keep her here. Is she happy. Is she eating and drinking still or is she not...

Pashazade · 31/07/2021 21:52

I should add we currently have a geriatric cat who wobbles around and practically rattles with the number of drugs she's on but....she is happy in herself, eats and drinks well, finds patches of sun to lie in and is very demanding when it comes to lap time. Were any of those factors to change we would think long and hard, but right now she is comfortable and quality of life is good.

Fluffycloudland77 · 31/07/2021 21:52

Hiding and going off her legs aren’t a good sign.

If people are complaining about inappropriate treatment though I’d get a second opinion. I don’t like the sound of it.

deedeemegadoodoo · 31/07/2021 22:08

Up until this last few days, she has been a happy cat with a good quality of life, give or take one or two off days. She is still eating and drinking, and taking a treat, and is purring when stroked, but is spending an increasing amount of time on her own.

We are supposed to be going camping for two weeks in a couple of weeks and she goes to my sisters usually. I don’t think it would be fair on her to leave her with my sister.

I will have a good talk with my husband. She was his cat originally before he met me, so will be very upset. I know he has been thinking about it being near to the end.

OP posts:
Want2beme · 01/08/2021 00:16

I think only your vet can guide you. If you're having doubts, ask another vet for their opinion. She sounds ok to a degree, but hiding away isn't good and I'd be worried that she might be in pain.

Elmo311 · 01/08/2021 00:45

So she has Hyperthyroidism, is she on medication for that and her high blood pressure?

If her back is sore there are other medications that the vet can prescribe to make her more comfortable for sure. Are her kidneys bad? If not maybe reconsider the anti inflammatory. At her age i would take quality of life over quantity for sure.

urbanbuddha · 01/08/2021 00:50

It sounds like it would be much kinder to PTS. Otherwise I think you are just prolonging the inevitable for no discernible benefit. Perhaps you could arrange for the vet to come to you so she is on familiar territory.

deedeemegadoodoo · 01/08/2021 09:49

@Elmo311

So she has Hyperthyroidism, is she on medication for that and her high blood pressure?

If her back is sore there are other medications that the vet can prescribe to make her more comfortable for sure. Are her kidneys bad? If not maybe reconsider the anti inflammatory. At her age i would take quality of life over quantity for sure.

Yes - she is on tablets that we crush into her food and a liquid as she also recently started to vomit a lot. Her weight fluctuates but she is very small. If you didn’t know she is 16, you would think she is an older kitten.

We will see how she is today.

OP posts:
CrotchetyQuaver · 01/08/2021 12:20

Doesn't sound good to me, I think you need to prepare for the worst Sad

Stickytreacle · 01/08/2021 12:26

I struggled with a rescue hyperthyroid cat that eventually needed surgery, he died shortly after the op. I feel incredible guilt at prolonging things and not giving him the dignified end he deserved. At 16 I would euthanise. Flowers

longtompot · 01/08/2021 19:00

My 19 year old cat has hyperthyroidism which we've been giving him pills for for the past 6 or so years. Your cat may need more than one pill a day. Mine has 2 Vidalta a day plus a beta blocker as his blood pressure went to high and he almost went blind. He has been in kidney failure apparently for the past 2 or so years and occasionally goes off his food and loses weight. The heat doesn't help.
I'd see if his meds can be tweaked and if he is ok and your sister is happy to give him his meds then he might be ok. See your vet, as others have said their cats haven't responded to treatment.

deedeemegadoodoo · 02/08/2021 18:13

I’m actually on holiday at the moment - my husband is at home with the cat. She has spent the last few days underneath the sofa, but is eating food and has come out once or twice. She’s also slept on the bed near his head last night.

He is going to video and send to the vets if he can get one of her being unsteady in her feet. I am trying to prepare him for it, but he thinks I am jumping the gun a bit.

I have had cats all my life (at least 10) and there’s a couple of times I let treatment go on for too long, and with hindsight, should have let them cats go sooner as they suffered at the end. It’s difficult to strike the balance.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page