Very sick elderly cat, what to do for the best

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I’ve a 14 year old British Shorthair, Fennel, 15 next month. She’s had arthritis for about five years and is on Solensia to keep her relatively stable, though by now she’s got quite a lot of muscle wastage so she isn’t a cat in good condition for her age.

She wasn’t herself last week, a bout of diarrhoea, drinking a lot and a little bit quiet in herself. She seemed to perk up after a couple of days, but Saturday she refused to eat. Yesterday she still wasn’t eating and had started to look actually poorly/depressed. We took her to the emergency vet who examined her and could feel a mass in her abdomen, on weighing her she’d lost 0.5kg in the three weeks since she was last weighed for her Solensia, now weighing 3.5kg. The vet suspected renal lymphoma, but booked her in to the hospital and for an ultrasound today. Her bloods were all enormously raised and added pancreatitis and kidney failure to the possibilities of what’s going on for her.

Shes been on a drip for 24 hours now with meds and there’s no improvement in her general condition. The scan was inconclusive and the vet says they’ll need to get a specialist to scan her, but the specialist isn’t in work until Friday. if it’s lymphoma, she’ll be put to sleep immediately as there’s no prospect of recovery. Meanwhile she’s still in hospital and they’re going to need to fit a feeding tube.

I am really concerned that she’s an elderly, already quite doddery cat who finds the vet incredibly stressful and there doesn’t seem to be much of a plan for her other than to medicate her and wait until Friday at which point if cancer is confirmed she will be put to sleep. On the other hand if it’s not cancer, we should be giving her a chance to recover.

I honestly don’t know what to do, I feel that it’s too long to wait until Friday not knowing what we’re dealing with but I feel like we are out of options…

What would you do?

photo for cat tax

What a beauty.
Honestly I would have her PTS.
I say this as someone who had her 14 yr old PTS in lockdown.. as she had cancer.
Nothing worse than prolonging the agony.Im sorry.It is difficult.

She is a gorgeous poppet! 😍 But I agree with the pp. Time to let her go over the Rainbow Bridge.

It's about her quality of life. What would you want for you, in the same circumstances?

I am sorry you are having a difficult time.

I think I would feel terrible if we made the call now but it turned out not to be cancer. On the other hand, there’s the weight loss, the terrible bloods and no improvement after medicating and the fact she’s almost on borrowed time anyway with her age and arthritis. I wonder if she will really get better even if it’s not cancer.

i think if it was me I wouldn’t want to hang on and on in a strange scary place on the off chance. I just feel a bit off that we don’t have concrete answers about what’s going on.

I’d ask the vet what is the best case scenario. Even if not cancer she is clearly quite poorly.

It sounds like it is time though, if not quite yet then very soon.

I would also say it’s time to seriously consider letting her go. It’s so hard to know what to do though and vets are understandably reluctant to tell you what to do. But in the circumstances having her PTS would be completely reasonable and might be kindest thing to do.
Maybe have another chat with vet, be honest about your feelings, and ask them some more questions - I’d want to know what the best case scenario is and how likely that is?

Honestly I'm a vet nurse and I'd let her go now. If they find anything on the scan it won't be good news. If they find nothing, then she is still unwell. If her blo9d results are bad and they mention kidneys then that could well be the cause of her anorexia. The fluids will help flush the kidneys out and she may feel better, but it's temporary and she will be back to square one soon enough. If they can feel a lump then it's not good need l news no matter what it is. She's elderly say a loving goodbye. I honestly feel like some vets will keep going and going to get answers , but even without definitive answers the outcome isn't going to change

Thank you all. I think I’ll ask about best case scenario. I’m conscious that she’s still not eating which would mean an invasive feeding tube and I’m honestly not thinking that’s in her best interests, hard though it is and wanting to give her every chance.

Poor darling, I think it might be time to say goodnight to her

I really think that it is time to let her go. Friday is a very long way away. Whatever the mass turns out to be, it is not going to be something benign, or easily fixed. Do you want to put her through surgery? Multiple anaesthetics? Best case scenario, she is a very elderly cat with poor mobility. Any long term illness is going to quickly waste her muscles and the loss of strength will worsen her mobility. So sorry 😞

Fennel is her name? Gorgeous name for a beautiful cat.

I'm so sorry, but if she was mine I'd let her go now. Better a week too early than a day too late.

Bless her, she's 15, she's not going to get better. Her quality of life isn't great and she must be uncomfortable if not actually in pain yet.

I know I'm being tough on you, I know how hard it is, but it's time to let go for her sake. It's the last loving thing we can do for them.

She would already be at rest if she was mine.

Bless her, she's gorgeous.

Sadly I think the best thing to do would be to say goodbye 😢

Unless the vet thinks there's a good chance that she could make a full recovery if it's not cancerous, and from what you've said, that doesn't seem that likely, you'll just be delaying the inevitable.

Gentle hugs, it's absolutely heartbreaking when you have to make the final call for them. But better a week too soon than a day too late.

I know comparisons are odious op, but our old half BSH boy went over the rainbow bridge 18 months ago. He was 15 too but quite well apart from a bit of arthritis. We told him off for bouncing about the bed at 6am the morning he died and put him out of the bedroom. At 9am DH found him dead next to the cat flap. We aren't sure why, the vet thought heart or stroke.

The point I'm trying to make is that you have time to say goodbye and hold her gently in your arms, knowing she is lived.

I'm sorry OP. No advice here but wanted to say I'm thinking of you and Fennel. You sound like a wonderful cat mum and Fennel is adorable.

My old boy was losing weight and had urine issues
There was no great sort of end... I just realised one day it was time. It was possibly too early but i have never regretted it as it wasn't a rushed emergency or him in pain
There is never enough time and it was like saying goodbye to a 90yo human as opposed to 95 - his best years were gone and it wasn't going to improve

Was I heartbroken? Absolutely. I howled myself to sleep for ages but my comfort was knowing I let him go before it got bad

She's gorgeous. I would also put her to sleep now as well.

I've got a slightly different view, though I totally understand the other side as well. I have a cat the same age.

Definitely ask for the best case scenario, and if there is a viable plan if the scan comes back clear.

The other thing to enquire about is if there is somewhere else she can go for the scan sooner, as Friday is still quite far away.

Also, can they keep her medicated so she isn't in pain in the intervening time?

But, whilst she's old, she's not absolutely ancient, and not old enough that I'd personally rule out surgery if its something curable. The feeding tube temporarily wouldn't be an issue to me, but I had a toddler on one, and it was fine, so I don't think of them as too tricky or invasive. I've also tube fed a cat, again it was fine.

It may well be that it's time to day goodbye very soon, but like you, I think I'd want to be sure there isnt anything fixable first, if possible.

I don't think you'd be bad in any way to make the call now, but I think it's ok to seek some further investigations as well, providing they can be done quickly.

I had the same dilemma with my cat last month. Wasn't sure what was wrong with her. The vet thought it was a tumour, we could have done investigations but she was just too poorly to travel to the referral vet. So I let her go. I still second guess myself. But it was the right thing to do. It would have been easier with a definite diagnosis, but it wasn't right to persue one.

You have to do what is in her best interests, and her quality of life. Talk to the vet, and see what they say.

It's hard, I know.

I agree with asking about best case scenario. For me personally, a feeding tube would be too invasive for my older cat and I’d rather PTS. We had a cat when I was a teenager and put it off too long. Since then I’ve been firmly on the side of “better too early than too late”.

Ah she’s a lovely cat. Being at the vets till Friday might be upsetting her

my old lady only had to wait a day before the bad diagnosis but I was told she was stressed out being there. The vets were being lovely to her and giving her loads of love but she wasn’t having any of it.

I'm another one that says wait and see what the best scenario could be, like PP said 15 is old but it's not ancient. Id give it a few days to see if she perks up, if she deteriorates then the vet would advise PTS but id be one for giving her a chance to at least see what the scan shows

15 is quite ancient for a BSH. Their span is not quite as long as a moggy.

I would let her go now x