Putting a cat to sleep rather than expensive treatment

[outofofficeagain]

This is a hypothetical question really, but my cat is getting on in years and was discussing with DH.

A friend of ours is paying over a hundred pounds a month for her cat's treatment. Their cat is too old to be covered on insurance (or insurance was too expensive).

The cat is 13. I said to DH that if that was our cat, I'd let her go rather than prolong her life with expensive treatment, especially if her quality of life was impacted or she was in pain.

DH said we'd probably pay too.

If the £100 a month gives a good / normal quality of life any animal lover would pay it . It disgusts me all these posters who'd unnecessarily put an animal down rather than pay for treatments as on that budgeting thread the other day .

I can’t believe what I just read. 13 is not too old to be covered by insurance, and it’s not old!

My beautiful cat has monthly injections for arthritis which cost about £90. Petplan covers 80% of that, less a yearly excess of £115. If they didn’t, we’d happily pay.

He’s very happy the rest of the time and has a lovely life. He moves a bit more slowly these days, but still loves to chase his laser pointer and roll around with his catnip toys.

Just because the treatment is monthly and costs £100, doesn’t mean the cat has had it. Your friend evidently doesn’t have good insurance, but 13 is not that old for a cat!

I took the same decision for my dog. I do get that for some people, budget is an issue which makes it much harder.

I'd probably pay that for a thirteen year old cat, depending on other circumstances.
Good for you having that conversation with your partner now before you need to and it's emotionally fraught. I

If it's solensua for arthritis. And the cat is otherwise well. Then yes I would pay it. But I would keep
A very close eye on their quality of life.

As others have said, thirteen really isn't all that old for a cat. I would happily pay £100 a month to keep mine going if they were otherwise fit and happy.

If it's medication is that vet price? My cats thyroid meds would have been not far off that that though the vet - cost me about £20 a month getting private prescription and ordering online.

I appreciate that huge amounts are unaffordable for many people but I think £100 per month is a normal figure that should be budgeted for when deciding whether to own a pet. I wonder if the posters stating it would be unaffordable would replace with a new cat that they can't afford either once thier old cat died?

One thing I've noticed - not particularly on this thread btw - is many people attribute human thinking to pets. A pet can't understand why they are being "tortured" by their owner by having to go to the vets regularly, have procedures done etc. They don't understand that the visit to the vet to be PTS is any different from the previous visits.

I'm totally in agreement that treatment that will prolong good quality life should be carried out where feasible, however I'm also of the school that thinks quality of life needs to be judged on the mental as well as the physical aspects especially bearing in mind the inability to understand as I said above. A procedure that may or may not make any difference that involves an already stressed cat having to go to the vet possibly staying there a few days, followed by a restrictive and/or prolonged recovery period, would have to be thought about very carefully by me.

I wouldn't. Not age 13

Exactly this. One of my cats - a rescued stray - needs sedatives to get him to the vet every time or he's very distressed and fighty and he tends to draw blood. Whether or not he's sedated he hides, often having accidents in the house, for days after we've been. It makes him miserable. I wouldn't sign up for treatment that meant he had to do that any more regularly than he already has to, even if it was heartbreaking to me, because it wouldn't be fair on him. My other two aren't too fussed and I'd think about it differently.

£100 pm for some is a major change in their budgeting and if it was ongoing for an unguessable number of years would have an effect on the family preventing a holiday, music lessons, a school trip etc then I think it is a discussion you have to have very sad as it is. My dd has been shocked at the cost of her pet insurance renewal and any treatment always seems to be under the allowed sum. She has to budget meticulously now so a long term illness in her cat or dog (had them many years) would make her consider. Costs are rocketing for everything, you can get a cat as a kitten always intending to care for it all you can but you cannot see into the future and if 10 years later your circumstances have changed for the worse.

For me, it's about quality of life and your friend may well feel that her cat has quality of life. If my cat was enjoying life, I would happily pay £100 per month.
The issue is qhen people keep a cat alive and suffering because they can't bear to let it go.

Totally agree with @Allergictoironing. I think people can sometimes over treat pets. One of mine fights against going to the vets, and hides for a week afterwards any time one of us goes near her. She is also a nightmare to medicate - won't accept meds in food, very hard to pull or get liquid into. Even a short course of treatment is very distressing for her.

She would have a poor quality of life with daily meds and frequent vet trips in perpetuity. I say this despite having very comprehensive insurance for both cats, which in my mind is there for short term treatment and accidents.

Yep. If I took my cat to the vets every month for injections, she would shit on my bed. She wouldn't understand and I don't put human feelings on her. She would be miserable being forced to take pills. I've lost skin in the past.

It's not worth it for her.

I recently lost my dog at 17 years old, we were paying around £150 on medication (for a non life threatening condition, so unrelated) and we'd always said if he got hurt and needed surgery or got seriously ill we'd let him go peacefully.

As it happened he became so sick so quickly and nothing could be done that we knew the kindest thing was to have him put to sleep. However, and our reaction surprised us, it was so hard to voice that decision out loud even though realistically we knew it was the only decision we both said afterwards we aren't sure we could have done it if there'd been another option, no matter how expensive.

I'm glad we effectively didn't have to make a choice, it was his time, but if we'd gone in with a broken leg requiring thousands of ££ in surgery I think in that moment I'd have just handed over my debit card. Hopefully logic would have taken over not long after given his age and whatnot but at the time all I thought was I'd give and pay anything to keep my lovely boy with me.

but if we'd gone in with a broken leg requiring thousands of ££ in surgery I think in that moment I'd have just handed over my debit card.

Unfortunately despite having enough to live on & keep my cats in luxury, if I had a potential vet bill that would take me thousands over my insurance limit the money just wouldn't be there. I live pay day to pay day, and I'm sure there are many pet owners (I know a few myself) who are in a similar position. People (again, not particularly on this thread) can't say "you shouldn't get a pet if you can't afford to care for any eventuality", circumstances change and a salary that 5 years ago was very comfortable for my needs barely stretches now. If recue pets were only rehomes to people who have a large income and savings rather than "enough", they would be even more over-run than they are.

I like your DH.

QoL is absolutely key though.

I agree with you. I'm currently in the difficult situation of having my cat assessed because of some worrying symptoms. He's already been hospitalised and has had numerous scans and tests. It breaks my heart that he has no idea what's going on and he's very frightened and stressed. If he was old or very sick I wouldn't put him through this. The reason we're doing it is because he's only 6 years old, he still does have quality of life and we have every hope that he can recover. The aim is to get him healthy so he can have another few years of very good quality of life.
He has one more invasive test next week and then I've told the vet that we need to stop. He's already been through so much and if we can't find the cause next week I think we should manage his symptoms. She agrees.
I feel sick every time I take him to the vet because I know how terrified he is.

We’re lucky that we’ve been able to fund the extra costs above insurance for our cats. We have a 16yo with arthritis and diabetes who costs us about £100 a month that isn’t covered by insurance but he has the same quality of life he always has, just a bit slower and sleeping more. He’s always been a chilled, lazy boy and the difference that Solensia injection makes is huge.

Our other cat was PTS yesterday at 12 years old. He had complex medical issues and was on borrowed time in any case but, as with previous posters cats, got very stressed by vet visits (apart from yesterday which to me was a sign he was ready to go) and the only treatment options would have involved vet visits and invasive treatment. He was a wild but incredibly loving chap and his quality of life had become hugely diminished and was not going to improve. I’m absolutely heartbroken but it’s comforting to feel we were able to give him a good life until he had had enough.

Personally I never want it to be a decision based on cost so our cats are insured to the hilt on cover for life to minimise the chances of that happening.

I meant to add, that when the time comes to put him asleep I will have this done at home. Yes, it costs a few hundred pounds but it's so worth it. I don't want his final moments to be ones of terror at the vets.

Totally agree. I think when we are deciding on what to treat and how to treat our pets, we HAVE to understand they have no concept of "this is horrible but if I put up with it, it will make me feel better" All they know is things are horrible RIGHT NOW and they have no concept of things being better in the future.

We had a cat who wasn't insured. He was killed when he was nearly 19 by the next door neighbours dog who came into our garden. Obviously at the time it was horrible and traumatic, but we lived that cat so much, if he's needed expensive treatment we would have paid for it, and we would have certainly kept him alive for too long. His sister was wandering around blind and deaf, and I'm not sure she could smell much (we had to put her face next to her food for her to know it was there). I think every pet owner/pet relationship is different. I have insurance for my cat, and say I won't let things drag on too long, but who knows. We're very fond of him even though he's a dick

My cat is nearly 18 and has arthritis. She's currently in the vets as she had a reaction to her arthritis injection a couple of days ago. We are weighing up options on different medication and when she comes home, we are going to keep her as comfortable as possible. I know when the time is right in my heart to say goodbye. But the moment she's worth every penny and is still herself. Cats are prone to hypothyroidism, arthritis and kidney issues as they get older and I certainly wouldn't put any animal down straight away without trying treatments first as long as they have a good quality of life. Though I do agree I wouldn't go through chemo or anything like that, it's just not fair on them at all.

We practically did just this during the pandemic. Cat was 19 and became unwell. I took her to the vet but said upfront that I wouldn't be willing to pay for lots of expensive ongoing tests and meds. As it was, they x-rayed and said it was heart failure so the decision was out of our hands, and she was PTS. I personally wondered whether she had had Covid, as it was very early in the pandemic and I was just recovering from a long bout of it myself.

I don't think it's an unreasonable position to take with an old cat, and anyway she would never have accepted tablets from me, crushed or otherwise. I knew that from previous experience.

On the other hand, when alive she was properly looked after, and fed appropriately.