How far should I let vet go with drips/tests for my 19 year old cat?

bargainhunterkid

Hello just come back from the vets with my 19 year old cat who has not been eating since Monday. She's sleeping most of the time now but still purring and drinking a lot. Seems to have trouble walking to her tray (not sure if that's cos she's sat so long or now her back legs giving out.

Took her to vet yesterday and they gave her a vitamin shot and something (not sure what) to get her appetite started along with special high protein diet but none of that's got her eating. She just moves away from any food offered.

Clearly am not a vet but can't help thinking that at 19 it's her body shutting down. Did let vet take bloods as they wanted to rule out kidney disease but they suggested putting her on a rehydration drip for 24 hours but can't promise it's going to be miracle cure. I would do anything for her but couldn't bear her last days to be spent in vets being hooked up to drip and wonder if that would really be best for her? Surely being at home on her favourite bed would be best if her time has come? Realise nobody can decide for me but if anyone's been through a similar situation would be good to know what they decided? Thank you.

Prothet_of_Doom

19 years you say. To coin a metaphor : That's a very long time at the crease. Perhaps you should declare the innings gracefully. Humanely.

farfromhome

I went through something very similar about 2 years ago. My rescue cat was about 19 years old (estimated to be about 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 years old when rescued and we had her for 16 years), may have been slightly older. The same happened as with your cat but I thought I should give her every chance of getting better. I now wished I hadn't, she died at the vet's.

I wished I had done what you are thinking of - let her stay at home and when you think it's time, then call the vet to your home if you can. That's what I wished I had done with hindsight.

krlyr

Bloods come back very quickly through the vets (think of it like private healthcare) so I'd have thought you'd cetainly have the results of that before the weekend, if not later today. My dog has regular blood tests for her thyroid condition and it takes about 24 hours to get the results back.

19 is a good age - cats have lived longer, but the average seems to be a bit less. I would probably agree with you that she's better at home, at least for now. Hopefully those results will make it clearer on where to proceed from here.

SailorSam

I was listening to Paul O'Grady yesterday on the radio. He's just had a £8000 vets bill. They were talking about when the time comes to call it a day.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2583022/Ive-spent-8-000-cancer-treatment-dog-says-OGrady-Chat-host-reveals-terrier-chemotherapy-surgery-success-far.html

Katiehound

I'm voting for "let your cat go." It comes down to quality of life. If your cat currently has a good quality of life that's fine but if you are keeping your cat alive for you then that's a different scenario. Sadly sometimes I think the vet has a £ sign in their mind and maybe not what is best for the pet.
That's a good age for a cat, bring the cat home and see what happens.
In my book better a day, a week, a month or two too early rather than even a day too late. We are able to prevent our pets suffering, that's what makes us good pet owners. Sadly my old dog was pts 2 weeks ago- been there, done it, bought the tee shirt more times than I care to remember.
Take care. I know it's a hard decision.........

teddysmum

We had this situation two years ago, with my 14 year old cavalier, Monty.


He had advanced MVD, but had stopped eating was very thin and I think suffering more from kidney failure (a side effect of the long term heart drugs).


I steeled myself and went with my husband, on what I had decided was a last vet visit, but the vet said that possibly a vitamin jab would make him start eating.


I didn't want to go this way as I had a gut feeling that if it succeeded we would be back again very soon, due to Monty's obvious lack of strength, but my husband said we owed him a chance.


It didn't work (except for his accepting a few cubes of cheese) , so he was pts the next morning. It gave my husband the comfort of knowing he'd had the best possible, but it just extended my agony, as I knew what was to come.


Personally, I prefer to let them go too soon, rather than too late, as I have known people regret doing the latter. It's very difficult, but it's the kindest thing we can offer our pets,which we can't do for our fellow humans.

jackieblack

Had exactly this situation with my 19 year old cat 13 months ago.
They give you a 'look' when they've had enough, and you just know.

I think sometimes the vet give you an option, such as rehydration, that will give you a few days to come to terms with situation. With hindsight, I'm sure that's what ours did, although ours didn't suggest a drip but did inject some fluid into him to try and rehydrate him. He perked up for a few hours but then went downhill again. By the end of the next day, we knew what we had to do.

I'm sorry you're going through this, I still miss my old boy dreadfully.

Gold_Dust_2

I would wait for the results and would in the meantime go for the drip, reason being that I've seen a drip turn many a dire situation around, and it would mean that something was being done to make the cat feel better while I waited for the results. When the blood results came, that's when I'd decide. If it was something that could only be managed and would be degenerative in the long run (like kidney disease) then I might make that hard decision, and even then I'd base it on how kitty looked after having had the drip.

The bloods and the rehydration would be my minimum.

rising_from_the_ashes

Katiehound wrote: »

In my book better a day, a week, a month or two too early rather than even a day too late. We are able to prevent our pets suffering, that's what makes us good pet owners. Sadly my old dog was pts 2 weeks ago- been there, done it, bought the tee shirt more times than I care to remember.

Absolutely agree with Katiehound - I know so many people who've gone for loads of tests / surgeries etc and the pet has maybe rallied for a few weeks or a couple of months more BUT with hindsight they've deeply regretted it and - at the end of the day, has those extra weeks really added anything to the pets lives

I'm so sorry you're having to face this as it really is the most absolutely horrid thing

I would wait for the results of the tests and go from there - if it's something minor easily controlled that will make her comfortable that's one thing .... extensive treatment ..... that would be another thing in my books

good luck - and 19 really is a great age - I so hope mine will get there

mrsscattercushion

We had this with our 20 yr old boy in November, he was losing strength, very lethargic and was having problems with his bowels. We could have gone down the blood tests etc to see what the problem was, but decided that it wouldn't be fair on him, he didn't enjoy the vets and quality of life was going downhill fast...we couldn't bear to see him in discomfort and not enjoying life, just because we hadn't the strength to let him go...it was never about the money, we'd spent thousands on his regular hyperthyroid treatment, dentals etc and would have spent that if I thought he would have been well again for a length of time...


Good luck for the results and I'm sure you'll "know" what the best course of action will be..


it is very hard and we still miss the old boy every day, although now have a 14yr old rescue boy who does help