It’s great that you’ve never experienced a cat or dog hiding its illness, but they definitely do it. Some breeds of dogs are well-known for not showing pain. Cats just sometimes do – not particular breeds. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/recognizing-signs-of-illness-in-cats
Yes, but by the time these animals show their sickness, you can be pretty sure it’s well advanced.
eschrodinger, thanks for the link, very helpful
I don’t have a lot to add here but to say I’m in the same situation with my cat. Kidney failure. He is nauseous a lot, but hates the cream I’m supposed to put in his ear to help with it. Very needy and affectionate. I bought him a pet heating pad to help make him comfortable.
He gets very stressed by the vet trip, so I’m skipping that until the end. If I could let him pass here in his home I would, but I have read that it will get very unpleasant for him before he dies.
Good luck
For those who would prefer an at-home euthanasia, check to see if Lap of Love is in your area. I have a friend who does hospice/euthanasia for them here in the Portland area and she came to care for my old dog when his giant liver tumor got to be too much for him. They’re not cheap but they’re amazing and you can get everything set up in advance so when the time comes you just make one phone call to schedule the time. My old dog Bear is likely the next to go and you bet I’ll have her out to be his final friend when it’s time. It’s so much less stress for the animal, especially now that nobody can go into the vet’s office.
We used Lap of Love two years ago, when our old cat (who hated being in the car) was at the end. The vet who came to the house was really wonderful, and they made it as peaceful and stress-free as it could have been. Seconding this suggestion.
I’m doing the vet manana, I suspect after the holiday I won’t get in, but I intend asking for a reference for a local mobile vet. This is killing me.
We did the opposite. When our cat was obviously dying, we put her in “kitty hospice” and stopped doing things to try to extend her life, like making her come indoors at night. (We also stopped force-feeding her, after learning her condition wasn’t treatable.) She spent a lot of her final days curled up in one of our window wells, looking down into the basement or up at the bird feeder. I think she took pleasure in watching the birdfeeder even at the end.
We spent a lot of time sitting with her, as she lay in the window well. That was nearly a year ago, and I still miss her. She was such a wonderful cat. 
She HATED car trips, and HATED going to the vet, so the vet gave us references for at-home euthanasia. But she never seemed to be in extreme pain, she just … moved less and less. It was winter, and the proximate cause of her death was likely hypothermia, which her vet endorsed as a relatively peaceful way to go. My sister has used one of the local at-home euthanasia services, though, and endorses it.
Has he gotten worse? Or are you just trying to consult with the vet.?
I’m not there with the cat; but you don’t seem to me to have been describing a cat who’s ready to go.
I don’t think he’s fat, I palpated his belly, I think bloat.
Ah. I’d see what the vet thinks.
I had to make this decision a couple years ago. Tux was about 18 years old, and I realized one day that he hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch for a couple days except to eat and use the litterbox, and when I gave him a scritchy-scratchy, I was just scratching fur and bone. I then picked him up to hold him against me, and smelled urine; at first, I thought he’d had an accident and then I realized the smell was coming out of his fur. 
The next day, I took him to the vet (poor thing weighed just 5 1/2 pounds) and within a matter of minutes, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
When the time comes, you will know.
My Gumba Biddle is gone. Heart failure. There were recommendations of possibly this treatment or that, but I couldn’t/wouldn’t put him thru that. 2020 sucks massive donkey dicks.
I’m sorry. I know it’s very hard to lose those furry family members.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
I’m so sorry.
Thanks & thanks to everyone who helped.
I’m so sorry.
I am so sorry.
He knew you loved him, and were doing your best for him.