older cat with dementia or stroke

Our cat is a 15 year old male. The vet diagnosed him as having a stroke 3 months ago. I've read his symptoms on websites and I'm not sure it was a stroke, but maybe he has dementia. His initial symptoms were circling with his head tilted to one side, constant pacing and standing and looking at the wall. Now he circles, walks the house all the time, gets stuck in corners and can't figure out how to get out, his back feet are splayed out when he walks, he sways when he is standing still (I'm sure his legs are weak) uses the bathroom on the carpet. He still eats, but it is a 20-30 minute job. When we first put the dish down, he steps in it, so I wonder how well he can still see. We have to keep taking a spoon and raking it in the middle of the dish for him and eventually he eats it all. He will not or has forgotten how to drink. We put water in his food and syringe him water. He has gone from 10 pounds to 7.5 pounds. I know he's slowly getting worse, but I'm at the point I don't know what to do about it. We can't afford any expensive tests, and I feel guilty about that. My husband is talking euthanasia, and I don't know what to do. I know he doesn't have much of a life anymore, but I'm still holding out. Any thoughts?older 

to TCS!

I'm sorry to hear about your cat. Oddly enough, we're asking ourselves the same question about our "half cat". She's not displaying loss of motor skills like yours is, but her eating habits have changed drastically, she's avoiding our backyard and doesn't seem to recognize us. She's been examined several times by two different vets who can't find anything physically wrong with her other than the usual old age ailments like arthritis, and they suspect senility. The onset was sudden and coincided with the death of our other cat, so we initially figured it was a reaction to his loss. Now we suspect she may have had a small stroke. We don't plan on subjecting her to any more tests which would simply distress her, because ultimately there's not much of anything that can be done.

What it really comes down to is quality of life and deciding what is best for your cat, not you. We went through it with our RB cat, Jamie, three months ago when his heart failed (again). This post has been very helpful to our members who've been faced with making the awful decision: When the moment comes...

Many

This happened to my furbaby Gizmo 2 years ago. The vet misdiagnosed him saying cats do not have strokes. He did get worse even with me feeding him and watering him with a syringe. He eventually had another stroke losing the use of his hind legs. I took him to another vet who advised me yes cats have strokes and it was Gizmos time. It was hard but know it was for the best. They think was caused by a undiagnosed thyroid problem. praying your furbaby gets better.