When do you know when kitty's quality of life is not good.

I have a 20 year old female cat, who had a stroke a year ago, but she was nursed back to health. We had to buy a large dog cage furnished with bed and potty, because she can't control her urinating. Poor baby can't hear, walks with a limp, and must be bathed frequently (urine). I don't think the brain is functioning as well as it should either. Yet, she eats and functions. We've had her so long, it's hard to see her failing. Is this any kind of a life for her? When do you know it's time?

Ganienka said:

 
I have a 20 year old female cat, who had a stroke a year ago, but she was nursed back to health. We had to buy a large dog cage furnished with bed and potty, because she can't control her urinating. Poor baby can't hear, walks with a limp, and must be bathed frequently (urine). I don't think the brain is functioning as well as it should either. Yet, she eats and functions. We've had her so long, it's hard to see her failing. Is this any kind of a life for her? When do you know it's time?

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You might search the site for a quality of life evaluation. Sometimes our hearts tell us one thing but our brain would see things in a much more logical way.

This may be hard to do but try to get yourself to sit down and make a list of the things you cat enjoys doing.  Write everything down and see what your cat is still able to do that she enjoys.  Sometimes just putting things down in writing and being able to see them will help you see what is left of your baby's quality of life.  I understand this is very hard to do but my husband and I did this when my 15 year old had a stroke and it really helped us to clearly see where he was at.  We made the decision to end his suffering.  I will say your girl is in better condition than my boy was.  Claude could not walk and would not eat.  I tried to syringe feed him and it made him puke.  

I found this in another thread maybe this would be helpful to you.

http://www.allpetsmacomb.com/qualityoflife.html

It's good that you are questioning HER quality of life ...that shows how much you love her, and that you are willing to let your heart be broken to let her go, if that's what is needed. 

That quality of life chart provided above is a really good way to try to determine if it's time.  Really, only YOU (and others in the household if there are any) can fill out that chart as best you can to try to make this difficult decision.   I struggle with this too, as I have a 16 year old cat with chronic kidney disease.  She'll never get any better, and some days are bad days  .   Just know you are not alone.  Most of us here have been through this, some of us many times  .  We will be here to comfort you are best as we can, to tell you you did the right thing when you start having doubts (either way), etc.  

I'm so sorry.  I don't have an answer for you, I think about this sometimes too.  Good luck.  

Thank you.

I'm sorry you are being faced with this decision; no matter which way you go, it will be rough.  But you have to follow your heart.

I just want to point out the obvious.  There are things you can do, and should do to make your pet comfortable.  Euthanasia is a socially and legally acceptable choice; but natural death is too.

If you are comfortable with euthanasia, then only you and your pet will know when the time is right.  If you are NOT comfortable with euthanasia, then it probably is not the right choice for you.  When we were faced with this decision, our cat clearly let us know she did not want to die.  She wanted to remain with us for as long as she possibly could.  Our situation was such that one of us was always home with her, and we were able to provide comfort measures for a year or so including subq fluids, and a special diet that she found appealing and digestable.  She was able to keep up with her toileting until the very last days.  During the last year of her life, she did loose weight, and faced an overall slow decline until the last days, she was looking pretty rough and we kept asking ourselves how we let it get that bad.  But we both knew the answer.  Alex wanted to live.  And when she wanted to live, we kept her alive.  When she quit eating, we knew she was ready to go... she knew it was her time to go... and she just wanted us by her until the end.  And thats what we gave her.  I think pets are like people though in that some want to be taken out in a field and shot rather than be put in a nursing home, and others want to be pampered until the bitter end. I think at the end of our lives most of us want someone who loves us enough to put us out of our misery, but don't we all really hope that person thinks the time will never be right to let us go?