Is it time?

[loopsaloo]

Dcat is 15, we've had him three years from a rescue. For about six weeks now he has been off his food, losing weight and more withdrawn.
In all this time he has had blood tests, two hospital stays for fluids, painkillers and mirtazapine - which worked well once but no effect the second time. Vets say "maybe" pancreatitis, but no real diagnosis. This morning I've got mirtazapjne gel to put on his ear for 14 days to stimulate his appetite, to try and gain some weight back.
Our vets referred to us to their other branch about 40 minutes away for an advanced ultrasound of his tummy, where he will need sedation, the vet phoned this morning, he is an imaging specialist. He suggested feline leukaemia, amongst other things, which will require more blood tests etc.
I just don't know if I want to put him through it all. He hates going in the travel box, gets very scared at the vet.
I'm at a loss. We all love him and just want what's best.
I would really appreciate any advice or experiences of cat owners who have been in a similar situation. Xx

Bump

Imo your poor dcat has visited the vet enough.. My dm's dcat was 19..she spent 1k on tests.. The poor boy was hardly home his last weeks. Pts was their advice eventually.. And charged her another 200 bloody quid.

I'm going through this now and posted a few days ago. I had some very reassuring responses.
My DCat has lost a lot of weight and is weak. The Mirtazapine seems to be helping (as long as it's cooked chicken). I'm hoping she'll pull through - she's still got her old spark - so I don't think it's time for the final visit to the vet yet.
But the gaps between these episodes are getting smaller. It's heartbreaking.

@Willowkins has your cat had a diagnosis?

I recently had to PTS a cat. She was 16 years old and perfectly fine the previous day. Then she was very withdrawn and I took her to my vet.
Even though my vet was fully booked and had an emergency just in before I came in, she did take me and Bonnie in - it is a practice with multiple vets.
I ended up staying there for 3 hours. We did a blood profile which showed that Bonnie was so anemic that according to my vet, she should already be dead. We then did a very thorough ultrasound examination which showed liquid in Bonnie#‘s abdomen.
The vet then tried multiple times to get a sample of the liquid via a puncture but couldn‘t get anything out. The blood sample then got tested again for problems with the pancreas and we did an x-ray.
In the end, Bonnie was put to sleep since she either had FIP or a tumor and was so anemic that she wouldn‘t survive until the next day. But because of all of these examinations, I knew that it was the right decision. I only felt sorry that Bonnie had to go through the lengthy ultrasound examination and the punctures. But I am sure that without these examinations, I would always have thought that maybe the euthanasia had been unnecessary when in fact it was not.

@loopsaloo the working theory is that it's late stage hyperthyroidism. We've upped her meds and hoping that helps her turn a corner.

@Willowkins I really don't want to take him for an ultrasound. He would be sedated and manhandled, and then if they find the source of the illness they might suggest he is PTS anyway.
It's so hard 😢

I get it. I think there comes a point where it's best to let them go. But I'd only ever PTS if they're in distress. Otherwise, I can't help thinking that they're better off slipping away at home. Mine is 18+ though so I might be feeling more at peace with that.

@Willowkins he doesn't appear to be in pain but as I'm sure you know, cats are masters at hiding pain. He's been out of his bed a few times to eat and sit with us. I'll carry on with the mirtazapine tomorrow and see how it goes.
I've contacted a lovely vet that comes to the house for gentle euthanasia.

Slightly different perspective here but our lovely girl was only ten when we had her pts in April. We’d had her back and forth to the vet with bouts of vomiting over about nine months, and they were never concerned because she was otherwise absolutely fine. I pushed for further tests when it became more frequent, and £3k later, oh, it was a massive intestinal lymphoma, not hairballs. We let her go straight off (a week after diagnosis) rather than go through steroids, chemo etc as even with treatment the prognosis was 12 months.

I would absolutely not have wanted her to pass at home, or to potentially deteriorate and become distressed meaning an emergency trip to OOH and a strange vet. It was awful because even on her last day she was eating well, racing around the garden and completely “herself”, but I feel like it was the right thing for her and for us - we took the pain so she didn’t have to.

It’s the worst thing, thinking of you.

So sorry for your loss. Sending love