When is it time to let go?

Hi everyone, I'm new here. A bit of background, my cat Atticus is 13 years old and I've had him since he was 7 weeks old. He is the most amazing cat ever. We also have a 9 year old cat as well.

Atticus has kidney failure. He lost 50% of his body weight in about 4 months. He sleeps all the time now. He drinks water when he isn't sleeping. He still looks great (fur) and we are not doing subQ's.

His whole life, he has occasionally pooped (rarely peed) outside the box. In the past 6 months this has increased. I've done everything they say online (more boxes, changes location, changed litter etc) but now it's rare that he goes in his box. Our entire lower floor is carpeted and our children's playroom. I'm down there every.single.day with the wet vac. My kids can't playdown there anymore and it stinks so much. He is also puking almost everyday.

Am I prolonging his agony? Our own? When does my heart know it's time to let him go?? I think I'm waiting for him to start talking, so he can tell me.

It's just so hard, I love him so very much and we had a stillbirth in March and I'm so sick of death and my children being sad.

Sarah, I'm so sorry for your loss as well as what you are going through.

When to let go, is such a personal choice.

IMO, it does sound like his quality of life is suffering.... and if you've done all you can do (diet changes, subq fluids, etc.) the only suggestion I would have is to try pain meds and see if that improves his quality of life.

What does your vet say? Have you exhausted all possible options? Anti-nausea meds, and pain meds are my first thought....

Is he able to move well enough to get to the litter box? If so, I'd question why he isn't going in the box.

But the not eating, and vomitting would have me concerned.

If it were me in your shoes, I would be taking him into a vet and asking if there were any other measures you could take.

Sorry I'm not much help..... it really truly is a personal choice. If he's suffering, and there's nothing else that could be done, as hard as it is, I would let him go before he is in alot of pain and discomfort.

My best advice?

Talk to your vet - see if there's anything else to try. (I mean, perhaps the going out of the box is being caused by a UTI, not the kidney issues?) If not - your vet can offer advice on whether or not it may be time to help him over the Rainbow Bridge.

This happened to me about 5 years ago with my beloved Razz. His health was deteriorating and I kept prolonging the enevidable until one day I came home from school and found him collapsed on the floor in the basement, unable to make it back up the stairs. We rushed him to the vet but it was too late, we euthanized him right then and there we had no other options. Personally deep down inside I knew I should have let him go sooner, and to this day I still get teary eye thinking of what I put him through.

Talk to you vet, listen to him, and you heart. You'll know when it's time.

I have a 17 year oldcat with CRF also and she had bladder problems.
Can you have him tested and see if he has a infection.
My cat has to be on antibiotics forever now or teh infection comes back.
What else is he getting besides the fluids?
There are a lot of treatments for CRF.
The barfing is from the CRF.
You cn get Pepcid for that.
Talk to the vet though.
I had a nother cat with CRF and I let her go as far as I could.
She had a stroke at the end and had to be pts.

Thanks everyone. He had a mild uti a month ago and was treated (which gave him the runs, now finally getting firmer). We've spent so much money on him in the past 2 months are don't really have $1000 to spend if he is only going to live a couple months yk? Just to euthanize him costs $200. I can't stand vet prices, but that's a whole other story. They only seem to care about the bottom dollar around here.

My vet couldn't believe he has been pooping/peeing/puking all over and we were tolerating it with small kids. She said he is not going to get any better and didn't recommend letting him go, but didn't steer us away from it. Said it was our decision...

Well you can keep him on antibiotics all the time.
That might stop the peeing.
You need to think hard before you decide what to do.

I saw you are not doing SubQ's... I thought that was an essential part of CRF treatment?
Also - are you cleaning the spots with an enzyme cleaner?

any luck with kidney failure. IMO it is the beginning of the end. At least it was for my little guys. Looking back, I think I always knew what the answer was, as much as I tried to push it to the back of my mind. I went through SQ fluids twice with one of them. But IMO it was just a bandage and maybe prolonged their lives a bit and made them more comforatable. You have had so many years with your kitty. I know how hard it is having them from babies to this point. God bless you for being such a good mom. Just think of what your kittys life would have been without you. They sure do break our hearts, but it is tempered with the happiness they have given us and the love we have given them. God speed.

Originally Posted by railNtrailcwgrl

This happened to me about 5 years ago with my beloved Razz. His health was deteriorating and I kept prolonging the enevidable until one day I came home from school and found him collapsed on the floor in the basement, unable to make it back up the stairs. We rushed him to the vet but it was too late, we euthanized him right then and there we had no other options. Personally deep down inside I knew I should have let him go sooner, and to this day I still get teary eye thinking of what I put him through.

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Nearly the exact same thing happened with one of my cat's, except that he had liver problems (not sure exactly what kind). I had been considering euthanizing him but wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. I kept asking him to give me a sign one way or the other but he gave me nothing. I asked the vet I was using at the time about the prognosis and whether he was in pain. The vet just gave me the runaround and I left with no idea what to do. Then one day the cat just collapsed and I took him to the vet. I knew what had to be done and it was then that the vet said he should be euthanized. But I realized that day that even though he had been suffering, that he had not been ready to go because of me. The look in his eyes told me he felt guilty like he was hurting me. He's the only cat I've ever come across (out of 30+ cats) that was so in tune with people's feelings. In fact, all the other cats I've ever come across have been oblivious to peoples feelings. I'm glad things happened the way they did though. I think it made it easier on everyone including the poor cat.