My senior cat is sick, not eating. Should I put him down or investigate?

These signs are probably not due to old age alone and there is likely something going on with Shadoe. Unfortunately, without a full physical exam and diagnostic testing, it is not possible to determine what could be causing these signs. However, lethargy and eating and drinking very little along with weight loss are very concerning signs that warrant a visit to the veterinarian. Here are some resources that will hopefully help you afford a vet for Shadoe: 1) You can see if your vet accepts payment plans. 2) Look for a low cost clinic in your area 3) Try to apply for Care Credit online (www.carecredit.com) 4) There is an organization called Red Rover that give grants for treatment of sick animals, and you can see if you qualify for one of their grants (redrover.org) 5) Best Friends also has a list of resources that offer financial assistance on their website (bestfriends.org)

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Willow did not have her blood tested when she was in for her exam I would highly recommend having the vet pull a blood sample and check to see if she has any abnormal values. Kidney disease is something we quite commonly see in older cats and this certainly could be the cause of the vomiting / decreased appetite. The sooner her blood is tested the better and the faster you will know what is going on with her. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Poor Larry! It sounds like it’s time to move onto further diagnostics. Obviously something is wrong and it just hasn’t been discovered yet. I recommend to discuss an abdominal ultrasound with your veterinarian and possibly checking a fructosamine level to see if the blood sugars have been elevated over the past month. This will help to figure out if diabetes, pancreatitis, cancer or inflammatory bowel disease is present. I hope this gets figured out quickly. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Poor guy. It is tough when you are in these situations where you are deciding on continued care (which isn’t 100% guarantees to work) or Humane euthanasia. Unfortunately we don’t have enough information about your cats particular case to help you decide things here. Perhaps a consultation would be best to comb through all of the details such as lab work findings (even seeing the normals is quite helpful), medications tried so far, and his physical exam findings would also be helpful. But generally speaking if your pet is ill from liver disease, which can be any condition such as hepatitis, hepatic lipidosis (carries a poorer prognosis unless aggressive treatment is implemented including a feeding tube in most situations), liver cancer or even gallbladder disease can cause elevated liver enzymes, then it’s best fo an abdominal ultrasound to determine what specific liver condition is present. The prognosis of your pet should be determined by your vet and then carefully considered when determining if continued care should be done or if Humane euthanasia is the better option. I hope this helps and best wishes moving forward with a good decision regarding Elmo’s care.

Having him euthanized is a valid option if his quality of life is not good. If he cannot control his bowels and is not able to eat, that is not a happy life for him. Older cats can have liver, kidney disease and diabetes that can cause illness. You may want to have a vet examine him to see what the treatment options maybe before making that difficult decision. They can tell you want to expect long term to see what his quality of life will be like if he starts on a treatment. You know him better than anyone, so you will be able to know best how happy he currently is.

I'm sorry to hear that your kitty isn't doing well. Before considering euthanasia, I would recommend taking him to the vet for an exam and some basic lab work to find out what is causing these issues. Some problems, such as hyperthyroidism, are very treatable with medication once a diagnosis is made.

I am so sorry to hear about Sunny. I know how difficult this decision is. It sounds like Sunny may have chronic rhinitis - which is notoriously difficult to treat. He also has some other “old kitty” problems like kidney disease. When I discuss quality of life with my clients, I remind them that no one knows their pet better and therefore you are the only person qualified to make that decision. We talk about “measuring” quality of life with markers such as: is he still eating and drinking? Is he comfortable? Is he pain free? Can he walk? Does he interact with his humans? Or, we use the good day/bad day system. When Sunny is having more bad days than good, it is time to think seriously about humane euthanasia. Finally, it is never wrong to seek a “quality of life” exam with your vet to talk about any end of life treatments meant to buy comfort and the best quality time you can have with Sunny. I hope that you can find peace and clarity for yourself and Sunny. I wish you all the best in the time ahead- no matter what you choose.