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?
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?