Cat in heart failure, don't know what to do

[Handholdcatmightbedying]

Hi everyone, not sure what I'm after, probably just a hand hold.
I took my 18 year old cat to the vet this morning as he has lost his appetite, and breathing has become very laboured over the last couple of days. He's being kept in for investigations, the likely diagnosis is heart failure. The vet said that he can be given medication for it, but the prognosis is months, not years. I honestly don't know what to do, I always thought I would do anything to keep him with us for as long as possible, but if his remaining time is going to be uncomfortable, it's not fair on him. I will probably have to make a decision later today. I really thought he'd ben one of those cats who lives well into their 20s, he's always been so spritely, and this illness is very sudden. I haven't stopped crying since I left him at the vet.

What would you do in my situation?

Gently, I would PTS if that is the diagnosis. It sounds like he's had a great life, 18 years is a brilliant age, and this decline has been sudden. I wouldn't want him to linger on for my sake.

OP, I feel for you. There have been times when we’ve had to make that final decision. I’ll be honest, I’ve regretted the keeping them going too long ones more than the letting them go ones. As previous poster said, do it for the cat, not for you.

If you have a good rapport with your vet, try to read them. I know some people will tell you they want to keep animals alive because it’s an income stream for them but a good vet won’t do that.

I think we were the most relieved when our vet once said to us ‘This is ‘cat’s name’s last visit isn’t it ?’

Sending best thoughts to you and your loved feline.

Oh my, I say this with kindness but it’s time I think. 18 years is amazing, what a lucky cat. I do feel your upset, confusion and the thoughts that must be going through your head though. Today is one year exactly since I said goodbye to my lovely ginger girl. Oh and our lovely vet said ‘it’s better a day or three early than a week too late, cats can suffer very quietly’.

My girl was eight when she was diagnosed. She had medication and did really well for nine months until her kidneys also failed. But she was completely asymptomatic when she was diagnosed, as it was picked up as an incidental finding. She wasn’t unwell at all until the last couple of days.

Sorry I see your cat is 18, not 8. I’m that case I would PTS. She’s had a lovely life with you and it sounds like it’s time.

I’ve had a dog with heart failure, she was younger and I went down the route of medication scans tests etc. This only buys you a bit of time, the outcome is unfortunately the same. It’s is a horrible thing heart failure and not a nice ending, I would take it slow, spend some quality time. Now with hindsight it is much better to put a poorly pet down a day to soon than a day to late. X

It would depend what his quality of life would be like for those months on medication. Did you vet mention that? If he could have a few good months using medication I would do it but obviously not if he would be in pain or suffering, not enjoying food etc.

We had a cat with a different medical issue at 18, and on our vets advice, we went ahead with treatment and he lived for another 8 months. He had a lovely 8 months with us though so I’m glad we went ahead. I’d never have gone ahead if he’d have suffered though.

I’m sorry you’re facing this.

I would be kind and pts, my beautiful boy had a heart attack in front of me and it was so so horrible to see how scared he looked, I wish I had him pts sooner it was almost 4 years ago now and it still plays on my mind xx

My cat is middle aged, so his seniority isn't a factor, but nearly 2 years ago was diagnosed with heart failure after struggling to breathe too.

He's still here and in fantastic condition. Luckily we can get medication in him twice a day and he's outlived his prognosis by 18 months. You'd never know there was a problem!

If you can medicate your cat without causing it too much stress then that is what I'd do. Then just see how it goes, one day at a time.

Growing up we had a senior cat with heart problems, can't remember what exactly, who lived to 21 with daily medication

Thank you everyone for your kind words. I think I know what the right thing to do is. I just always imagined that when the time came, we would have a vet come to our house so he could be PTS in his own home. The vet said that his quality of life wouldn't be great, although medication would make him a little more comfortable. When the vet calls me later to update me, I may ask if I can bring him home so we can have one more night with him, then have him PTS tomorrow. I can't stop crying, this cat has been with us for so long and through so many major life events, I just can't imagine him not being here anymore.

My cat was 17 when she was diagnosed, she went blind all of a sudden and was breathing fast and it seemed laboured, so I took her in convinced it was to pts.

It turned out her blood pressure was so high that’s what caused the blindness but they did a scan on her heart and she was in heart failure. They gave me amlodopene meds and her breathing rate went right down.

I had two very good years with her, she got her eyesight back within days. The meds worked well but her breathing rate went up again and was laboured so I knew then I wasn’t going to keep on trying, had the vet to come to my house to pts.
If you have the funds it might be worth asking if she can be helped. If not I wouldn’t wait as it could be her lungs filling up with water.
Sorry you’re going through this it’s horrible, your vet and intuition will help you decide.

This is a good idea. It may well be the vet can come to you. If not, then something that ‘helped’ me last year was when we went to the vet for our final time was we made sure our cat was snuggled in her favourite blanket from our bed (wouldn’t normally take that one), I just wanted her to go to sleep surrounded by her favourite smells.

This is a really good idea, thank you.

I would pts sooner than later. Our cat was 13 and over a matter of weeks she deteriorated, not eating, hiding, getting lost outside, urinating indoors. Vet eventually suspected a brain tumour, and we were going to PTS the next week. But that night she started having fits over and over, and we had to contact the emergency vet and go out at midnight with a v confused cat to pts.

The vet just called. His kidney function has deteriorated drastically, he has a lot of fluid around his heart, and his heart muscle is quite enlarged. She said that if his kidneys were okay then she'd suggest referring to a cardiologist, but given his very poor kidney function she wouldn't. I asked if we could bring him home tonight but she said he is very unstable. There is a room at the vet where we can have some time with him before he is PTS. So unfortunately we are going to do that rather than bring him home because I can't imagine we could find a vet to come to the house today, and also because the car ride would be very distressing for him. I am going to collect my daughter from school so she can have one last cuddle.

I think you are right to be lead by the vet and well done her for helping you make decision.

My heart goes out to you 😥

I'm so sorry

I’m so sorry

Thanks everyone. It was less than a week ago that he was running around and jumping up on the table. I can't believe how quickly he went downhill, it was in the space of a couple of days. He was sleeping in bed with us last night. The vet said she didn't think he'd make it through tonight, so I'm glad we could have him PTS before he got to the end, that would have been very distressing for him.

❤️