NBR decision to make about my fur baby

kosbo06

Warning! Long post!!

I have a 16 year old cat. Got her as a kitten when I was 9. She has been through everything with me.... Every move, every tear, all the fights with my parents divorce, all my break ups, etc. She is my number 1, even though I have 3 other cats and a dog now.
For a while she has been struggling to walk. Most cats walk on the tip ends of their paws. My baby can't, she walks with her paws completely flat and kinda clamps around. Because of her struggle to walk, we have her using special newspaper litter. She has also gotten very thin, you can feel her spine and see her hips. All in all, she seems very old and unfortunately ill looking. Last night I noticed that she is missing most of her teeth on her bottom right side of her mouth... You're probably asking by now "why haven't you taken her to the vet?!?" She gets very angry and worked up if we try to take her to the vet. She won't really let anyone touch her. And I'm worried if they try to sedate her, she won't come out of it.

All in all, I'm just looking for support. My DH and I really don't have the money to do a bunch of tests on her. But it would break by heart to put her down, especially if she may still have a fighting chance. I'm at a loss, heart broken and sitting here bawling... Help??

kaydee_2008

I'm so sorry. I had to have my cat put to sleep two years ago, I'd had her for 20 years and it was awful. It took me a while to decide what to do and finally it came to her quality of life was none I had her still for me. I would take yours to the vet and tell them you don't want to put her through a ton of tests or anything unless it is a simple fix. hugs I know it sucks

HereWeGo2014

I agree with PP - take her in and talk to your vet.  If she is incredibly sick and miserable, then its not necessarily fair to keep her like that.  I'm coming to a very similar point with my cat - she's 18 and i can tell her health has been going downhill.  Take time to enjoy her now, but as a pet owner, there also comes a point where you have to do whats best for the cat.  Having the vet's input on her condition might make the decision of what to do that much easier.  (((hugs)))

Amymarie13

(( i agree with pp.  and also, if she seems happy don't worry about the signs of aging you see. but if she seems miserable.... i'm so sorry, it is so hard

hopeful808

I agree with the PPs. I wanted to add that if you currently are feeding her dry cat food you might see a difference in her weight if you switched to wet food. But, that will probably only help if she isn't eating enough due to her teeth. 

cnctf

This breaks my heart! Im sorry that you and your fur baby is going thru this. Years ago my dog who lived with my mom in Vegas lost a bunch of weight, throwing up constantly and just was restless. My mom took him to the vet and they ran tests and kept him there for a couple days on IV. I dont remember what was wrong with our doggy anymore but the vet didnt seem very hopeful without medical treatment and to run more and more tests but because we really couldnt afford it, my mom decided to take him home and spend all the time she could with him..He actually lived for another 2 years and got better. I know our stories are different but Im just praying that your kitty will get a miracle! 

Jen4033

so sorry.. this can be very painful. When my childhood cat reached about that same age, she had all the same things going on. She often didn't make it to the litterbox, had troubles eating, was very skinny, & struggled to walk.  16 really is old for a cat, so when I was thinging about what kind of chance she would have, it really was only postponing the inevitable by months probably.. not years.

We made the hard decision that it was better to take her out of her misery & put her down at the local humane society. Saying good-bye to any pet is hard, esp one that has been through so much with you in your life.

Whatever you choose, I hope you find peace.

gingerbabe

I'm so sorry your cat is so I'll. I know you are not asking for advice, but in my opinion sometimes pet owners not putting their pets down when sick or old and miserable can be selfish. I hope that doesn't sound harsh! I know it's so painful to see pets you love in pain. 

ashleywiz

=(  Pet dilemmas, especially while we're extra sensitive and need them more than ever, are so tough!  However, you don't want her to be suffering...better that she's at peace than not even letting anyone go near her.  Ugh- I'm so sorry to hear! Just follow your instincts with that one, and even if it's the hard choice, the right one isn't always easy. BIG HUGS! Fur babies are as close to our hearts as any other family member, that is for sure!!!

angiek1

I am so sorry to hear this! Making this decision about a pet is hard. The bottom line is what will her quality of life be if she gets the tests? Will she be that much better off? You have to make the best decision for your cat's comfort. 

I just had to make this decision about my dog. She was 13.... technically she was my mom's dog, but they got her when I was younger. My parents were out of town and i was house sitting;  the dog started seizing.  I had to make the call on how to proceed. I was a hot mess for days.

Good luck!