Should I put my cat down?

I need help and I have no one in my life that understands this difficult decision.

It all started over a week ago.  On friday, Duchess (16 yr old short hair) stopped eating. Started losing weight. We thought she was just getting old. Then I saw how jaundice she was we took her to the vet and her galbladder and liver were off the charts. The vet said it's the highest levels she's ever seen. 

Duchess has been getting fluids everyday, along with 5 other medications (2 antibiotics, 1 hunger stimulent, 1 anti-nausea, and another one I don't know).  She is being force fed a can of a/d food daily (..if we're lucky) and she also gets potassium and a B12 shot daily.

After a week, the vet said her liver enzymes went down 6 points, which is great, it's improvement.  However, I am worried about how much this is stressing her and if it's worth it for her and the money.  We've spent thousands by now.  I'm so worried she doesn't want to do any of this, and would rather be euthanized.  My mom says no, since she's already improved.  But it's incredibly stressful seeing her the way she is..along with giving her meds 3x a day and food 4x+ a day  

We're seeing a homeopath on Thursday (along with continuing all her other medication).

If you were in my situation..would you make her suffer through the next few weeks, potentially months to get her to live longer? Or would you end her misery? She's obviously so nauseous all the time and sleeps a lot I'm scared this isn't fair to her...but my mom really wants to try.  What do you guys think?

Thank you for your help

If your Mom is willing to try and you can afford it then I would give it a go.   Alot depends on what the prognosis is.  

Nobody knows your cat like you and your mom.  You will have to make the decision about whether the time has come.  Perhaps, though, since you have an appointment set up on Thursday with a new vet, it would be a good idea to see what he/she has to say before making a decision.

I feel for you--it's an awful decision to have to make.  

aww...I'm so sorry. That has to be so rough. I myself chose not to put my kitty through a road of difficult treatments knowing on the other end of it... she still may not have beat her condition. She was only 10 and wasn't suffering at the time we put her down... she had to have her chest drained 2X which was not painful physically for her, but it definitely wore on her and she was ready for a 3rd draining a week later.... next step was opened chest surgery..chances were 80% to fix the problem... but the surgery itself was very invasive.. just couldn't see dragging her through it..would have felt horrible if she died after all of that. Such a difficult decision and yes everyone is correct, it is your decision, but it's heartbreaking to allow them to suffer and force them through grueling treatments in my opinion.

I went through similar earlier this year. You have to be honest with yourself and get the fact from the vet. Ask him/her how much longer she has as is, what the treatment options are & the likelihood of it getting better with those treatments or the likelihood of it coming back. For my baby, she had jaw cancer & although there is a surgery to remove the cancerous jaw, the likelihood of the cancer coming back a few months later was extremely high & I didn't think it was right to put her through that just to last a few more months. 

Everyone says this, but it's true: you'll know. There's something in their eyes that I can't put in words, but just tells you that its time. In my opinion, I'd rather let her pass too soon, than wait too long & cause her to suffer more. I hope your pumpkin feels better soon & pulls out of it. 

We did a lot to help our Cynthia not only stay alive but have a good quality of life.  As long as she was doing a lot of the things she always did, we would not have considered doing away with her.  The last few days of her life when it became evident we had gone as far as humanly possible, we got pain medicine and allowed her to pass away peacefully on the bed lying on her favorite blanket.  It was hard to watch her decline, but I have no regrets that I didn't plan out her death at a place where she was always so scared to go.  I did not plan out my mother's death when she was dying of cancer and obviously suffering, and I would not do it for a beloved pet either.  That's a personal choice, everyone has to make the decision they can live with.

snowball92 said:

 
Duchess has been getting fluids everyday, along with 5 other medications (2 antibiotics, 1 hunger stimulent, 1 anti-nausea, and another one I don't know).  She is being force fed a can of a/d food daily (..if we're lucky) and she also gets potassium and a B12 shot daily.

After a week, the vet said her liver enzymes went down 6 points, which is great, it's improvement.  However, I am worried about how much this is stressing her and if it's worth it for her and the money.  We've spent thousands by now.  I'm so worried she doesn't want to do any of this, and would rather be euthanized. 

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We put our cat Zimmie through this kind of thing before she died in April. It was a complete waste of money and only made her life miserable at the end (especially the force-feeding). IMO, the vets don't care. We paid $1,000 for Zimmie to be at the vet for the same treatment your cat has had. The vet pumped her full of God knows what and she died shortly after she came home. I will never put any of our cats through that again. Admittedly, Zimmie died at home so our situation was different than yours. I loved her so much, I honestly do not know if I could have euthanized her. 

Zimmie was only 7 years old when she died. Your cat is 16 years old - that is a wonderfully long life for a cat to have. If I were you, I would let her die peacefully now.