This is pretty much where my cat at 15 is now. Deaf, slow, tired, and nothing but skin and bones. I actually did take him to the vet yesterday and got a preliminary diagnosis and some medication, but I’m due back to the vet in a week for a follow-up, and if he hasn’t changed in that time, that’s probably going to be a one-way trip. I have problems with imposing the indignities of medication and surgery on an old cat who just deserves peace one way or another.
Jolly Roger, please take 'Stache to the vet. I’d explain it to your wife like this: ignoring the issue won’t make it go away, but it might make life more difficult for your precious kitty. Let’s make sure she’s well, or at least comfortable. 'Stache has taken care of you when you needed it, and now it’s time for you to care for her. Care does not equal Death.
My husband & I lost our precious Blue earlier this year. I adopted her, a Russian Blue mix, not long after we’d married. Hubby was completely against pets in general, but she quickly got him wrapped around her little paw. She got regular vet care, but went downhill very quickly, and we made the decision to not prolong her suffering. Best damn cat ever. I will miss her forever. But I know we did the right thing by monitoring her condition and knowing when it was the right time to let her go. {sniff.}
Damn. Snap out of it, Kath. The lesson here is to go into this knowingly. Let a trained vet help. If 'Stache is well, you’re good to go. If she needs additional care, the vet can give advice. If her health takes a turn for the worse, a vet is likely to see the signs before you do. 'Stache is worth it.
The longest lived cat I ever met was 22 and still in good health; he was owned by a friend of my grandmother. I have no idea at what age he passed away.
What interests me about your thread is the notion that a cat might be in extreme suffering for a significant period before death due to illness. My parents late cat, Lynx, died on the 18th of this month, 45 minutes before her appointment to be put down at age 13. We had been aware that Lynx had feline diabetes for approximately three years. Feline diabetes is a treatable condition, but my parents decided that medical treatment was too expensive for the perceived benefits due to previous experience with a diabetic cat. I cannot fault them for their decision.
Although Lynx began to get very thin in the past two years and developed moderate mobility problems in addition to her lack of appetite, she seemed quite content until the final weeks of her life. She still wanted to go outside (my parents wouldn’t allow it, however, due to the winter cold), she would purr when receiving human attention and she would continue to play - even “fight” - with her healthy feline companion. My mother made the appointment to the vet when Lynx began to lose control of her bowels. In her last days, she also lost the use of her hind legs.
The point of sharing this with you is that I do not believe a cat with a chronic illness must be suffering to the extent that euthanasia is more humane than letting the cat live, even if veterinary treatment is not an option for you financially. Obviously, every creature has a survival instinct comparable to our human instinct and perhaps that instinct exceeds ours. Although I do not know for certain, I think a pet’s suffering is harder on good owners than it is on the pet; from that perspective, I think a responsible caregiver is more than able to determine when a pet’s suffering is more than the pet should have to bear. Until such a degree of suffering is obvious to her owner, I advocate that nature be allowed to take its course (regular visits to the veterinarian are still a good thing, of course).
For the record, I do wish Lynx had been peacefully put to sleep before expiring naturally. At least she had my mother with her when she passed.
I had to put my Tosha to sleep a couple of months ago at 16 (possibly 17). Like your cat, last February she’d lost a bunch of weight, so I took her in. My vet ran tests, and indicated that she was hyperthyroid (pretty common in cats). We had her treated, and thing seemed to get better.
Until she didn’t really put on any more weight, and started a cycle of “puke daily for a week, then maybe once or twice, then all better for about a week,” rinse and repeat. She also started not using the litter box well (she’s always been great, even when I wasn’t so good about cleaning it), and eventually left two bloody urine spots on the hardwood floor, which couldn’t be a good sign.
We took her back to the vet, who then diagnosed kidney problems. (These are often masked in older kitties by the thyroid, so I guess it’s not surprising that they showed up after we fixed that.) He stressed getting her to drink more, gave us some meds to give her daily for a week (and then taper), and even gave her a fluids shot. That shot made a huge difference - for the rest of that day she was positively kittenish.
We gave her the pills faithfully, and she seemed to do well. We were just about to start the tapering off when she started up the puking cycle again.
It’s sad, how slowly the decline happens so that you don’t really notice it. However, that fluid shot showed us how alert and happy she used to be, and from the research I was doing, I’m fairly certain that she was in the beginning/mid stages of kidney failure. While we could’ve continued with the meds and such, we decided not to - to us, it was clear that she didn’t feel good, and that it was time.
It sucked, a lot, but I think we did the right thing. One thing’s clear for you, though - take your cat to the vet, even if the news isn’t something you want to hear. You owe it to your baby.
Two of my Siamese lived almost 21 years.
The “new old age” for kitties is now something like 15-20 years (24 seems to be a particularly popular year for shuffling off the mortal coil, for some reason). The oldest cat on record, Baby, died a year or so back at age thirty-eight. Yep, that’s almost four decades. Must have been the name.
As others have said, cats are very stoic. It’s entirely possible for them to have some serious discomfort and not say anything about it. For example, they can have dental problems and you’d never know it, but there’s an infection in there that is really hurting. Our vet found a bad tooth in the mouth of one of our cats at his recent checkup, bad to the point it had to be extracted. I felt awful that he probably had a toothache for months.
Take him to the vet once a year for general checkups. You can help keep minor issues from becoming major ones, and let your kitty be as happy as possible for as long as possible.
I had two indoor cats that lived to about 18-20ish. Also had a completely healthy, happy appearing cat suddenly die for no apparent reason at what I estimate to be the 8-10 year zone.
Oldest cat I’ve ever been around was our last black cat, Captain Long John Silver the Fortylebbenth (long story). He died at age 22.
My cat is 17.5. I’ve had her for her entire life. She has developed kidney issues in the past few years, but her blood values are very good with nothing more than prescription food. It’s not cheap - $18 for a four-pound bag, but she doesn’t eat more than 1/2 cup a day, so it lasts a long time. She had to have three of her canines removed last fall, but is otherwise fine. She certainly has slowed down considerably this year. She used to inspect the house on a regular basis, but now she prefers our room, only venturing out to eat, drink, and use the litterbox. She seems content, and is still “herself”, so we’ll keep on keepin’ on as long as she will.
Is there any reason you can’t take her to the vet? If you work long/odd hours, some office will allow you to drop the cat off in the morning and pick up in the evening.
It’s important that your cat get regular checkups as she gets older. A lot age related diseases (kidneys, etc.) can be easily treated when caught early. Your wife needs to stop worring and be proactive!
FWIW, a friend had a grossly overweight Persian that lived until he was 22. Persians usually have health issues (my SIL spent well over $5K in medical expenses on one she inherited from her mother until she finally had to have him put down this past year. IIRC, he was 12ish.) but this cat would not quit. We used to joke about finding decapitated kitty bodies around the yard and called him Highlander Cat…
Even if your cat starts going downhill at 15, she could still have years left. We had a fat indolent pig at 14 who was a scrawny, arthritic wraith at 22, all without any serious vet interventions. He slept virtually all day and when you put him on your lap, he’d be too arthritic to lay down comfortably, and he’d happily sleep standing up. He was too senile to remember where his food dish was, and he’d howl pitifully until you took him to it. But the vet told us that he wasn’t in pain, so we kept him until he was in serious pain, at 22 or so. House cats can live a damned long time, and since an old cat isn’t as pitiful as an old dog, it’s just not as noticeable.
None of our cats go outside. That makes me sad in a way, but I think its better for them to be indoors.
'Stache and Jet Jaguar are the only ones that have “lived” outside at all. 'Stache was a “barn cat”…meaning she was born in a barn owned by a friend. She was at leasr 4 months old when we got her, so she had at that point lived outside of a house.
Jet Jaguar was abandoned by some people that lived down the street. I took him in because he always came to the house looking for food and I felt sorry for him. Jet Jaguar got outside a few years ago and was lost in Oberammergua, Germany for about two weeks. When he did make his way back it was no challenge to see that he preferred living indoors after that.
Banshee was practically a newborn when we got her. (right after 'Stache…Jet was actually the 3rd cat) She’s NEVER lived outside. She hates it. I’ve taken her into the yards we’ve had in the past 14 or so years. She freezes up and finds a hiding place. She seriously doesn’t like it outside. Since I fed her with a bottle when she was a kitten she thinks I’m her mother. Banshee is the one cat in the house that I know loves me to death. She follows me everywhere and curls up to me at night to sleep. I really love that cat.
Patches is new. We’ve only had her a year. She was a “guest”…we were babysitting her for a friend, that couldn’t keep her when they got back from a mission. (an army friend, someone I have known for years…she took “Patches” in originally because no one else wnated her. She was the only kitten left in a box of “Free Kittens”)
But since we took Patches in she’s asserted herself. She hasn’t been fixed yet. She loves sitting by the patio door and watching the bids and squirells. She plays with Jet Jaguar a lot which is good, since 'Stache and Banshee are a bit wary of him. I couldn’t imagine letting her out of the house. What if she got hurt? Or lost and couldn’t get home? If we lived on a farm I could see it, but here in suburbia, and wayyyhy to close to Ft. Bragg, traffic alone could kill her.
One of our cats live to 17 the other 19. Its not unusual for cats to live to 20.
I think a good thing you could do would be to just not push it with your wife, and take this on yourself to deal with as far as seeing the vet goes. She will learn eventually what it is to deal with grief, and you’ll be there to help her through it, but forcing her to face it every day until the pet is gone won’t help. She’s adult; she knows what will happen. And so do you; but for this job, you’re better equipped than she is to handle it, so…just handle it, take the kitty to the vet, do what you can to head off future problems, and enjoy the cat’s days while they last. They may last quite a while.
I’m not ‘broadly’ experienced with older cats, but second-hand experience over the years has led me to believe that, generally, it’s the last six months that really hurt. Worry about when to ‘let her go’ then. Until then, just take care of her and enjoy her.
Oreo lived 17 years, and he is tremendously missed. He was an indoor/ outdoor cat, with a cat-flap type door that allowed him to come and go as he pleased. Free to go anytime he chose.
He was awesome. I laughed when he would follow me five or six houses away while I visited neighbors.
My Dad did they right thing by putting him down when he did. I am glad Oreo was around the family for all those years. Jolly, mercy is a good thing.
Just to clarify: I don’t think 'Stache is dying, I’m just concerned for her health. She’s old enough now that we can’t pretend she’s still got the energy she used to. However, when shes well rested she does go into her old self. My wife works at night and I usually get up around 0500 to get ready for PT formation. "Stache is used to me feeding her around the time I get up. Well, its New Years Eve. I don’t have to be anywhere until 0900 so I didn’t bother getting up until 0700. As soon as I woke up, there was 'Stache sitting on the pillow by my head. As soon as my eyes opened she loudly said “MEEEEOW!” which in 'Stache-talk means “Where the hell is my breakfast?” She then followed me to the bathroom where she repeated her demands and if I translate her correctly added “Just two shakes, then get with the 9 lives, buddy…you’re taking my valuable nap time!”
Thats the 'Stache I know…the demanding and loud one. Its good to see her like that.