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Cat trouble, thoughts ?


AZURES3
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My trusty friend and cat who is now 16 has become a bit of a nightmare over the last few years. She drinks about 3 bowls of water a day, urinates like a race horse and sleeps by her food bowls most of the day. She has now got to the stage where she isnt cleaning herself very well and smells bad in addition with a young child we are worried about the hygiene issues, with her walking around the house etc. A few times she has missed the cat litter tray and made a mess on the kitchen floor. We have just moved in to a lovely new build house and the problem seems to be worse most likely as we are trying to keep the shiny new things clean,

I would feel terrible putting her down but I am concerned that with a small child the risk to health is greater in addition to the cleaning up.:(

Any advice from cat owners would be appreciated. +++

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Sorry, I'm not a cat owner, in fact I hate cats (always been a dog person), but feel for you completely.

Sounds like she's getting on a bit :( Does she seem to be in pain at all? I'd be inclined to take her to the vet and see if there's anything that can be done for her in case this is a sickness or kidney issue that can be helped with some drugs. They'll also be able to give you some advice on whether she's in pain and what would be best for both of you.

Hope things get better +++

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Our nine year old neutered Tom had real kidney issues - drank like mad and although he seemed fine, he suddenly lost his appetite, having lasted about a year of being so so.

I took him to the Vet in early May this year and an easy blood test proved acute renal failure. He was not going to last much longer, we were told.

On balance, his quality of life would have deteriorated very quickly and I decided there and then to put him out of his misery (as per the Vet's suggestion) and say goodbye.

Heart breaking for any animal loving family to put down a Pet but my suggestion is head to the Vet and take their advice.

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The first thing to establish is, I think, if your cat is in any pain or discomfort and on the brink of death - if so then probably being put to sleep is no doubt the kindest, and most pragmatic, option really for her.

On the other hand she could just be old, and her eyesight is going and less mobile - just like an elderly person - but arguably is still enjoying a pretty good quality of life. You then need to make a decision about how much you can tolerate. You said she has missed the litter tray "a few times" - is this genuinely a handful of times of is it a regular thing? If it is something that is an occasional thing then I would say that should be manageable and if you and your wife are vigilant then the risk to your young child shouldn't be much worse than any cat that uses a litter tray indoors. Particularly if you can keep the cat food, cat litter and cat's sleeping location in an area away from the child using a child gate or similar.

As for the new house aspect of it, most pets are messy and dirty in reality, and having a young child don't expect anything to remain pristine any any length of time!

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We lost our cat earlier this year - very similar problem. He had kidney failure, so was drinking for England. We started him on some high protein food that the vet recommended, which worked, but he really wasn't enjoying his life, so sadly we had him put to sleep. The cat, that is, not the vet.

It's a tough call to make, esp if you've got young kids, but you've got to make the call.

He's had 16 years, which is a long time.

I would do the difficult, but best thing.

HTH

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We have 3 kids - 6yrs, 4yrs and 15 months. We also had two cats. The eldest was like yours. Maybe a little worse. She had bad ears and would spend ages rummaging around inside them, then shake her head flinging wax and blood all over the walls, sofa, us. She also had a habit of eating her food too fast and then puking it up. She was old. We weren't sure how old as she was a rescue cat, but in her mid to late teens.

We now only have one cat.

It was surprisingly easy, technically speaking, to have her put down. I was expecting more of a battle with the vet to get his 'permission'. But apparently he was all for it.

We'd talked about it for several months prior to the event, but always chickened out. She was our first cat. We got her before kids, before house, before marriage, when we moved in together in our little basement flat. She was part of the family and the kids loved her. But it was getting too much and one day my wife took her to the vet to discuss her ears (we knew there was nothing he could do. She was just getting old) and came back empty handed. :eek:

We felt really guilty for weeks and the kids were distraught for a day or two; but, as they say, life goes on.

Every now and again our eldest remembers her and sheds a tear. In fact, he asked just the other day if Father Christmas could bring her back. :eek:

If you decide to do it, it'll be hard, but to be honest I think it'll be for the best.

Best thing was, my wife worked for the vet a year or two ago and he still remembers her, so she got a discount on the termination/disposal. :cool:

Edited by Sponge
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Worse thing you can do is leave it too long IMHO. Find out how bad the cat is, then make a judgement call. My wife's first cat was very poorly and in hindsight we kept her going when she should have been put down. Our other cat had started to make the water meter overheat and had actually started to go loopy. He'd go outside and howl endlessly then come in p1ss everywhere and then jump in the bath! The vet said he was losing weight fast and that his kidneys were packing up. We made the decision to have him put to sleep as we felt it was the right thing to do. Be careful with the vets though. Some are brilliant and give great advise but some will try and flog you every thing going to make a few quid, be it food, vitamins, medicine. All for their benefit, not the cats or yours.

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