PTS decision 16 year old cat

[Oldladycat]

Our cat is 16.5 years old.

She had had surgery previously for hyper throidism. She is now on medication daily as the issue has returned and being 16, we won't put her through more surgery now (plus we don't have insurance for her anymore as they won't help with hyper thyroidism again).

She also has issues with her ears, not ear mites, but they bother her constantly. She scratches her neck and cheeks and has had 2 nasty wounds in the last couple of months. She has regular steroid injections to try and perk her up, plus antibiotics when needed for her wounds.

She's eating and drinking and will still come to sit with us. She had a blood test a few months ago and all came back clear. However, she seems pretty quiet in the day and mainly sleeps (not unusual for cats but she doesn't roam and play like she used to).

So that's the overall picture.

We spoke to the vet yesterday as I am worried her quality of life has deteriorated. I feel we could keep her going for a while but to what avail? This is as good as it's going to get for her now. She has 2 cattery stays planned, one in October and one at Christmas. I am worried how she will cope (she's a bengal so pretty highly strung).

I've had plenty of cats in my.life and they've all made it to a grand old age and it's been absolutely obvious when the end was nigh. This is different. I feel it might be kinder to her to do it now after 16 happy years but also it feels wrong?

Any advice much appreciated.

Forgot to say -- the vet thought it might be kinder to do it sooner rather than later.

It is always a hard decision, even when it's obvious.
You sound like a kind and caring owner.
I've had to make the decision 4 times over the last 40 odd years and it has been obvious each time.
Saying that if your vet thinks the time is right, I would be inclined to take their advice.
I've always based my decision on are they still enjoying life, doing normal things eating etc.
Good luck whatever you decide.💐🐾

This is very sad, but if your vet is suggesting it would be better sooner then it really is the kinder thing to do.

You don't want to let her suffer unnecessarily

I'd do it before a strssful cattery stay, they are stressful places for a well cat, but must be awful for an unwell one.
Vets don't recommend euthanasia lightly, so I would consider it necessary.

My cat is 18 and has hyperthyroidism. She has medicine twice daily, which bizarrely she enjoys and comes to beg us for it when it's time.

She also spends much of her day asleep and doesn't play as much but she does very much enjoy attention and strokes still. I've thought about when the time comes, mostly because she is very stiff and clearly her joints are hurting her but I don't think it's yet time because she still enjoys attention so much.

I've always known when the time was right before as well and so at the moment, I don't think it is for my situation. I can see why the cattery situation would potentially be stressful and it's definitely a factor. Do you think you could have someone come round to look after her instead so she doesn't have to be out of her home environment?Even if they are popping in for feeding and strokes rather than living in?

We lost our lovely 18 year old girl on Monday night. She too had hyperthyroidism and she had really visibly slowed down these last few weeks. We ended up at a rushed late night appointment with an emergency vet and they'd put her to sleep before we'd even had time to process what was going on. We didn't get to stay with her. I could tell she was on borrowed time, her sparkle had diminished and she was sleeping all of the time. My biggest regret is that we didn't take her last week to our own vets where it was familiar and we could have stayed with her. I'm so upset about how it all ended, I can't stop thinking about it and I wish I'd had more control of the situation. In your position if you think the cattery stays are going to distress her, the kindest thing would be to let her go before then so you can be with her and it happen in a calm and peaceful manner, instead of leaving it until you absolutely have to and it be rushed and traumatic. I'm sorry you're facing this tough decision. It's so difficult x

Thank you all and I'm so sorry to hear about your cats who have passed away too.

I've always known when it's right but this time I'm just not sure. The vet and I had a long chat, he said he is different to other vets as he believes that when a cat is old and quality of life is declining it can be kinder to put to sleep. But he said many other vets would keep her going for as long as possible.

Our parents help us pay for her treatment and if we didn't have that help, it wouldn't be a question as we couldn't afford the treatments we give her now. Which does make me think, why are we doing this? She's 16, had a lovely life and is clearly declining.

@delphi13 we don't live near any friends of family and I'm not keen on using a company to do this. I'd rather her be at the cattery where they know her and can keep an eye on her and she's not on her own. Thank you for the suggestion though.