To euthanize or not to euthanize

Sorry for the long post and thank you to those who take the time to read to the end.

I have a cat who is almost 11 years old and has had a variety of health issues in her lifespan

I adopted her as a kitten from an SPCA satellite adoption centre. A number of cats in the centre had contracted a cold or something at the time I adopted her, but she seemed to be fine. At the time of adoption she was suffering from ear mites which was easily rectified.

Her most long-running health issues is congestion/sneezing/excess mucous
This is an issue that she has had ever since she was a kitten and continues to get worse and worse as she ages.
She is now almost constantly congested - wheezing and having a difficult time breathing, often breathes with her mouth open. She sneezes almost constantly (big sneezing fits several times a day) and releases copious amounts of mucous when doing so, but the sneezing almost never seems to give her any relief of the congestion.
She quite often gags on and pukes up mucous as well.
Her congestion does sometimes abate for small periods of time - as she ages, the periods of relief are short and few and far between
We've taken her to several vets, none of whom have been able to diagnose what the congestion issue is.
We've tried steam and eucalyptus oil, decongestants, antihistamines, antibiotics, changing foods, changing litter. Its not location related as she has lived in a number of homes in a number of cities over the years, and it is also not seasonal as the problem is year round. Nothing has ever helped.

4 years ago she was also diagnosed as being in the beginning stages of chronic renal failure which I understand is quite odd for a cat of only 6-7 years old.
She had suddenly become quite ill, stopped eating/drinking and was vomitting upwards of 20 times a day and vomitting a lot of blood so we brought her to our vet who ran a full blood panel on her and discovered the renal failure (nothing else arose to explain the congestion issue)
We have worked with different foods and tried to keep her hydrated by feeding her water from a syringe when she isn't interested in drinking on her own.
She has had a few episodes in the four years since diagnosis where she became quite ill again but always recovered within a couple of days.

She also has a skin issue, which appeared at the same time as the renal failure so I am not sure if they are related or not.
She is quite itchy and has literally torn almost all the skin from her face by scratching constantly...she is very scabby. She also chews and scratches at her belly and bum areas until they are raw but not as often as her face, the belly/bum thing seems to be more periodical where the face scratching is constant.
We've tried a cone (doesn't work - our place is too small for her to navigate very well and her response to the cone is to put her head down and refuse to move), various foods, de-fleaing her (she is allergic to fleas and gets very rashy when she has fleas), special shampoos/lotions all to no avail

This cat is very resisting to any methods of treatment.
She does not like needles so giving her subQ injections of fluid when needed is not an option as she freaks out. She does not like pills and when you try to give her one she has such an extreme panic reaction that she starts throwing up before the pill is even in her mouth.
Giving her liquids via syringe is tolerable at best, it makes her very unhappy and she often panics about it

In the past year especially I have noticed she has become more and more lethargic. She rarely moves from her usual sleeping spot unless its to eat or use the litter box. She is still playful at times, but much less than she used to be.
I also notice that sometimes there are days at a time that the level in her food and water bowls doesn't move (our two cats each have their own food and water dishes)

I'm at the point where I'm wondering if euthanizing her is the best option due to her health issues and some upcoming changes in our lives.
If we were looking at just one health issue (the congestion) I would certainly continue to try to seek out an option, but we also know she's been in renal failure for 4 years so the length of time she actually has left due to this health issue as well as the quality of her life is in question.

My boyfriend and I are moving from a small apartment to a big house in two months. I'm worried that the move will stress her as she doesn't respond to change well. We also have a friend moving in with us who is bringing her own cat and while my cat gets along with our other cat, she does not like other cats at all and "new" people freak her out a bit sometimes so she may be even more stressed by the addition of another cat and another person to the household.

I love this cat, she has been my child for 11 years and this is very hard. Part of the trouble is that she is such a happy cat and such a lover...if she had her way she would spend her entire day snuggled in my lap purring her face off. If she was visibly unhappy then my decision would be made.
I've never had to make the decision to euthanize a cat and am having a very difficult time with it.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Awww, hun, I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. I have never had a cat who died a natural death and I have had to make that dreaded decision four times. The most recent one was Jan. with our senior cat Speedboat.
Regarding your cat. Has any vet ever had a clue what is causing the scratching your cat does. It sounds like some kind of allergy to me. I would seek a fresh opinion on that. The other thing I would ask is has bloodwork been done recently to tell where you cat is with the renal failure now. You know your cat better than anyone and we can't tell you when to put him down. The questions you need to answer are where is the cat now in renal failure and the vet only can tell you that. What kind of life quality does your cat have. Is it in pain. Does the cat eat on its own now. Does he poop and urinate as always. Is the congestion thing causing the cat any more problems now than it ever has. I would never euthanize my cat to make room for someone elses. Even living in the house together, there are things you can do to keep your cat and keep the stress level down. I hope you can get some answers. I hope you can find peace in making a decision that is truly in the best interest for your cat. Hugs to you and prayers for your cat.

THE first thing that came to mind as I read your post was allergy. It fits with both the congestion and the scratching. I don't know if the CRF could be related. Flea allergy and food allergies are the most common types in cats, so I would look at those first. I have an inside cat who has flea allergy and her eyes run while she pulls all her fur out. By treating her regularly with Frontline both those problems have been solved.

Personally, I would never euthanise a cat until the cat itself tells me it is time - and as a long term owner, you will know when that is. It is unmistakeable when the cat has no quality of life and an expression that says clearly 'I love you but I no longer want to be here'. It may be that will come over the next few months, but I would wait till then or you may never forgive yourself.

I too believe our cats tell us when it's time to let them go. I would get a second opinion and rule out the ailments mentioned above. But if the quality of life for your baby has declined and normal things aren't being enjoyed, I would consider helping her go. It's a horrible decision to have to make. I've often waited too long and that's just as bad.

Thank you for your replies

The consideration on the new cat is just part of the combination of the whole moving/new house/new people/new cat/etc that will cause her stress and she doesn't react to stress well at all, which I'm worried will aggravate her health issues.
She doesn't even like it when we go away for a week and have someone that she actually likes come and take care of her, I can't imagine how she'll react to sharing her home with a new person and a new cat on top of the stress of having moved and being in a new home.

We've kept her de-flead regularly as I do know she is allergic to fleas. She used to get awful skin flare ups years ago when she had fleas so we've always made sure to keep both our girls de-flead (and they are indoor cats so less likely to pick up fleas).
We have thought food allergy too, which was why we've experimented with sooooo many different foods over the years and not a single one has made any sort of a different in the congestion issue
We had switched to California Naturals Herring and Sweet Potato a few years ago and for a while her skin issue improved as did her renail failure symptoms, but now all the problems are back. We've tried several foods since then and are onto yet another new food now (Kirkland), but I'm not confident it will make any difference as we have tried so many.
We've tried wet foods but she dislikes them all and is a fairly picky eater, doesn't like treats or anything

We haven't had bloodwork done recently to see how the renal failure is progressing. Symptom-wise she hasn't had any major episodes of not eating/drinking and vomitting for a while now, but she is definitely much more lethargic now and doesn't seem as happy/playful as she used to and I do notice she doesn't eat/drink as much as she did say a year ago

My main concern with her is the congestion. It is definitely getting progressively worse over the years and even more so in the past 6-12 months. She is so congested right now that I feel guilty and awful just listening to her trying to breathe.
I look at her and think that maybe she is ready to go, she just looks so pathetic lying on her post snarfling away, but then I pick her up and she starts purring in my ear and snuggling and I'm not sure all over again.
I don't want to do it too early and regret it, but I don't want to do it too late and regret that she was uncomfortable for too long because I couldn't let go.

I don't know where you live, but have you searched for a feline specialist? Or a holistic vet?

She may benefit from the right diet, perhaps accupuncture, things to help her stress like Feliway and Bach's Rescue Remedy - and are you sure she doesn't have asthma and require a low dose of prednisone or prednisolone or an inhaler or something?

Personally, just because there are stressful changes coming, I wouldn't give up on her because you're worried about what might happen. I'd continue to try to solve her health problems and SEE what happens.

There are a lot of things you can do to minimize the stress on her during the move, and in the introduction to her new home and new cat/roomate. Search or ask in the behavior and care forums. I think there are quite a few threads on moving in the care forum.

Originally Posted by LDG

I don't know where you live, but have you searched for a feline specialist? Or a holistic vet?

She may benefit from the right diet, perhaps accupuncture, things to help her stress like Feliway and Bach's Rescue Remedy - and are you sure she doesn't have asthma and require a low dose of prednisone or prednisolone or an inhaler or something?

Personally, just because there are stressful changes coming, I wouldn't give up on her because you're worried about what might happen. I'd continue to try to solve her health problems and SEE what happens.

There are a lot of things you can do to minimize the stress on her during the move, and in the introduction to her new home and new cat/roomate. Search or ask in the behavior and care forums.

I think there are quite a few threads on moving in the care forum.

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IMHO No dry is really good for a CRF cat ... why? Because DRY protein is much harder on kidneys than wet which includes wet food , homemade and raw ... Having dealt with Crf in a cat diet is essential... 7 yrs old is young but 10% of all Crf cats are about that age when diagnosed... Stress will aggravate it ....

As for when the time has come to let go ... that is something you, the kitty and the vet have to decide

This is how bad the mucous/snot is....hard to see clearly as it is sunny outside. This is her favourite spot to sit and hence the worst of the snot in my apartment...I cleaned this window 3 weeks ago and we're not even counting the snot on her post, on the floor, on the furniture, by the food dish and litter box, etc


I'd like to get wet food into her diet if for no other reason than the added water in her diet, but she is such a picky eater and refuses to eat it!

Diet-wise I think we've tried just about every available food out there short of going to a grocery store brand

The vet who has been present in her life in the most recent years is a holistic vet. He didn't mention accupunture as a possible help in the congestion problem. He suggested the steam baths, eucalyptus, and diet changes. Though he isn't a vet that likes to prescribe meds "just because", he felt that a some antitbiotics were worth a try but they didn't help
He didn't seem to think it was asthma and nothing turned up on the blood panel, and from the research I've done on my own the symptoms don't seem to fit...she's not a cougher (except when she's coughing up snot or the occassional hairball) and the wheezing is because her sinuses are so congested she can barely breathe through her nose. When she breathes through her mouth there is no wheezing, so I don't think its something coming from her lungs/airways - it all seems to be originating from the sinus area

A friend of mine who is a vet tech suggested it might be feline herpes - but again nothing in the blood panel, no other telltale signs like mouth sores, etc and she has not passed this on to any other cat she's been in contact with

We also thought it might be an allergy to cleaners? But we have switched all of our cleaners to different types and have tried green cleaners, or just using vinegar/steam to clean stuff and that didn't cause a difference

I will be taking her back to the vet for another review on monday, but have a sad feeling that it may be time to let her go

Originally Posted by LDG

I don't know where you live, but have you searched for a feline specialist? Or a holistic vet?

She may benefit from the right diet, perhaps accupuncture, things to help her stress like Feliway and Bach's Rescue Remedy - and are you sure she doesn't have asthma and require a low dose of prednisone or prednisolone or an inhaler or something?

Personally, just because there are stressful changes coming, I wouldn't give up on her because you're worried about what might happen. I'd continue to try to solve her health problems and SEE what happens.

There are a lot of things you can do to minimize the stress on her during the move, and in the introduction to her new home and new cat/roomate. Search or ask in the behavior and care forums.

I think there are quite a few threads on moving in the care forum.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by sharky

IMHO No dry is really good for a CRF cat ... why? Because DRY protein is much harder on kidneys than wet which includes wet food , homemade and raw ... Having dealt with Crf in a cat diet is essential... 7 yrs old is young but 10% of all Crf cats are about that age when diagnosed... Stress will aggravate it ....

As for when the time has come to let go ... that is something you, the kitty and the vet have to decide

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I am also with the allergies... I think it is time to try a different approach, or a specialist.
There are sooo many things to try to minimize stress - do you have Feliway in your home? You probably should have, and definitely in the new home - both the plug-in and the Spray.
Also, I give my cats daily medication... This Bag has SAVED my relationship with him - what was before a stressful task, now takes me seconds to do! My cat is no longer stressed out due to taqking medication every day, and neither am I... It is truly amazing, and I HIGHLY recommend you getting one. It has a calming effect on the kitty, and it restrains him completely. It also has different zippers in different locations, so that you can open to give Sub Q, or live it closed to give meds, open different zippers to trim claws, take temperature, blood, etc... It is awesome - get it. Reading your post, I can not recommend it enough.
As for the decision to euthanize or not... That only you can make... I personally can not make that decision... My cat would need to make it for me.

Originally Posted by melissaw

A friend of mine who is a vet tech suggested it might be feline herpes - but again nothing in the blood panel, no other telltale signs like mouth sores, etc and she has not passed this on to any other cat she's been in contact with

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Is she not on an L-Lysine supplement? Your vet never put her on? That is something that IMO she should definitely be on... 500mg daily of L-Lysine... If it is Herpes, it will help her TREMENDOUSLY. If she doesn't have herpes, it will also help her, increasing her immune system - it is like kitty's vitamin... But if she does, it will keep these episodes at bay. It can even keep all of of it at bay. Feline Herpes does not give mouth sore. It gives the symptoms of a cold - the kitty is stuffed up, snotty, runny nose and eyes, etc. So, it is very possible your cat has Herpes. It is not going to be in a blood panel either. Your vet needs to do an specific and complete URI panel. Ask him/her for that.
If you adopted her from the ASPCA, know that about 75% of the shelter cats are suspected to have the feline herpes virus. Your cat might have Chronic Herpes, if Herpes is the case.
When my cat has a flare up, I give him one gram a day, and for life he is on 500mg a day. But really, since he started on Lysine, he never again had a flare up... He also has Herpes...
Please, get your vet to give him a complete URI Panel. I have no idea why he hasn't done that...
Here is the L-Lysine I use... I would really recommend you putting her on lysine immediately... You can call your friend to discuss, or your vet, to put your mind at ease. It will not hurt her, only help.

I agree with Carolina 110%.

Your vet needs to do a PCR test to determine what is causing the URI - it will not show up in standard blood tests. They need to do a swab of the mucus and send it to a lab. And yes, I've also read 75% and some say as many as 90% of cats from shelters have been exposed to feline herpes. L-Lysine is a fantastic suggestion. Even if she doesn't have herpes, it will act as an immune booster, but if she does have herpes it will be a life saver. I'd give 500mg twice a day until you get her snot under control and then reduce the dose to 250mg twice a day. I use the same Lysine that Caroline uses, it is flavorless, and can be added to drinking water or mixed with wet or dry food and the cat has no idea. If you prefer, you can also buy it in a gel form or in new treat form that cats love, but the Now powder is the easiest and most economical, IMO. Since it's an amino acid, there's very little risk of overdosing. Lysine can take up to a month for you to start seeing the effects, but it worked much faster than that for my herpes cat.

Originally Posted by BrookeSphynx

I agree with Carolina 110%.

Your vet needs to do a PCR test to determine what is causing the URI - it will not show up in standard blood tests. They need to do a swab of the mucus and send it to a lab. And yes, I've also read 75% and some say as many as 90% of cats from shelters have been exposed to feline herpes. L-Lysine is a fantastic suggestion. Even if she doesn't have herpes, it will act as an immune booster, but if she does have herpes it will be a life saver. I'd give 500mg twice a day until you get her snot under control and then reduce the dose to 250mg twice a day. I use the same Lysine that Caroline uses, it is flavorless, and can be added to drinking water or mixed with wet or dry food and the cat has no idea. If you prefer, you can also buy it in a gel form or in new treat form that cats love, but the Now powder is the easiest and most economical, IMO. Since it's an amino acid, there's very little risk of overdosing. Lysine can take up to a month for you to start seeing the effects, but it worked much faster than that for my herpes cat.

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Even if it is not herpes lysine is a supplement that most vets agree is helpful with immune issues

I came back to this thread to mention the herpes and lysine. Glad that's already been addressed! I would start her on it immediately.

As to the allergies, you've tried diets eliminating all the usual suspects? Grains in particular - some cats are allergic to chicken.... You may want to spend some time in the nutrition forum looking into the raw diet alternative for her.

Originally Posted by LDG

I came back to this thread to mention the herpes and lysine. Glad that's already been addressed! I would start her on it immediately.

As to the allergies, you've tried diets eliminating all the usual suspects? Grains in particular - some cats are allergic to chicken.... You may want to spend some time in the nutrition forum looking into the raw diet alternative for her.

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With CRF a RAW diet is something Only to be done under a qualified( ie knowledgeable ) Vet...

Most common cat food allergies making up over 50% : Wheat( realize barley and rye have the EXACT same protein structure as wheat ) , Soy and Fish

rice, potato , pea and corn are latter on the list

Chicken and beef are in the top ten( 8 and 9 ) but make up roughly only 5% of allergies together

I have allergies. I've tested allergic to everything. I'm allergic to cats! (Severely, in fact). I have excema, and it makes me itch, though I try not to. I adjust my diet and my environment appropriate. Lots of hepa air filters around the house. Just like people, I believe cats can be tested for allergies, though elimination diets also do the trick. Asthma can be checked (is there inflammation in her brochial passageways?). I use an inhaler and advair, a steroid. There are equivalents for cats. Stress brings out my excema - I have a steroid cream for that, though I believe kitties could be given a long acting steroid shot (some cats don't react well to it), but a low dose steroid could help prevent the problem.

I am frequently congested, and my nose runs constantly. I'd ask a vet about a decongestant for cats???????????? The mess I made on my favorite window would look a LOT worse than that after three weeks if I didn't have the ability to use kleenex. I would consider cleaning the window and her favorite places to hang out more frequently.

Thank goodness my DH doesn't want to euthanize me, despite all the work and adjustments we have to make.

Of course, I believe pets are for life. I certainly wouldn't consider euthanizing a child - or putting her up for adoption - if she had difficult to manage health issues.

Originally Posted by sharky

With CRF a RAW diet is something Only to be done under a qualified( ie knowledgeable ) Vet...

Most common cat food allergies making up over 50% : Wheat , Soy and Fish

rice, potato , pea and corn are latter on the list

Chicken and beef are in the top ten( 8 and 9 ) but make up roughly only 5% of allergies together

Click to expand...

This is excellent information - but potentially worth pursuing.

My OTB cat Bogart had chronic congestion like that for his entire life (just shy of 13 years). When I saw the picture of your window, I could immediately relate. I was still finding snot spots in my house 2 years after he died. I kept scrapers handy to scrape the chunks off the walls and I can't tell you the number of times I had to repaint walls because of the damage from the snot. We had a large home and he didn't have a single spot where he liked to sit. I would have liked to have had his snot layered in a single spot.

Bogart nearly died from rhino virus as a kitten. The virus permanently damaged his sinuses and he had chronic respiratory problems his entire life. We always got him into the bathroom when we showered as the steam helped him breath better. We kept humidifiers going all winter long when the humidity would drop. He would flare up a couple times a year until he got older, then it was every few months after that. We would get him on antibiotics every time he got bad, and we switched out the type of antibiotic regularly so that he couldn't develop a resistance to them. If I had known about L-Lysine back then he would have been on it.

He contracted chronic renal failure when he was about 10 years old. I know it is difficult to get a congested cat to eat food when they can't smell it. We hit a point in his life where getting to eat anything at all was better than forcing him to eat the CRF food. He was on and off appetite stimulants to help him.

And through all of this we moved twice. He adjusted. You can only speculate how she will fair when you move her. Cats can really surprise you sometimes on how they can adjust.

I know how frustrating a life long illness can be, and there were times when I would have liked it to just go away. It was a lot of work (time and money) cleaning up after him, a lot of money spent at the vet, and a lot of anguish giving him medications (including sub-q's). But you know what? I'd do it all over again.

Bogart told us when it was his time to go. He was down to 7 pounds (normal weight of 13), stopped eating completely, and there was absolutely nothing that made him happy in life. What you are describing in your post doesn't indicate to me that it is your baby's time to go. If it were me, I would give her the chance to adjust to the new home rather than euthanizing her on the speculation that she won't.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I am sorry your beloved kitty is so ill (what's her name?)

I am really surprised that your kitty has never been put on L-lysine. I haven't read the entire thread yet so don't know what others have said, just want to state my opinion.

Quality of life is the most important thing. And only you and she can decide if she is still enjoying her life.

About the changes, I don't know. You know her best, and it does sound as though all that's coming will be very hard on her, on the other hand, if you could just designate one room in the new house as hers only (no other cats or people besides you) and allow her to adjust slowly, at her own speed, it may work out okay.

Kidney failure of course, will not get better, and without sub q fluids to help keep the kidney's flushed, will only continue getting worse, but again, it's more about quality of life, rather than what her kidneys are doing. Change causes stress, and stress is hard on the kidneys, so you will have to watch her carefully (I know you will) to see if she is feeling worse or any pain from the kidney disease

My opinion is: too soon is better than too late, but only you and she can make that decision. I have five cats and one dog waiting for me at the rainbow bridge, all have been sent there by my decision, after receiving permission from each one, I have never second guessed myself on any of the choices.

When we let them go we are giving them the Greatest Gift of Love of all, Freedom from suffering, it is those who love them that are left to suffer the pain of loss, and it hurts very badly, and can for a long time, but it's the right thing to do.

What's her name? Please keep us updated.

I don't have much advice, but if I were you I would not give up on her at this point.