My cat's 15 years old, born in our kitchen and has always been a house cat. She's suddenly gone downhill; won't eat, drinks a little water, sleeps much more than usual but still loves her hugs.

 

She has no diseases, isn't in any pain, AFAIK - she's just starting to look worn out.

 

She went to the vet yesterday and was given a number of medicines. I know, from past experience, that giving her medication is a battle. At 15 y.o., I don't want to fight her and maybe upset her in what is looking like her last days.

 

Should I fight to give her her medication - and maybe extend her life a little at the expense of our relationship - or just let her pass peacefully? My instinct is to let her go - upsetting her at the end of her time is cruel, IMO.

 

What has been your experience in these circumstances?

My instinct is to let her go - upsetting her at the end of her time is cruel, IMO.

 

Sad as it is, I too would agree to this.

IF there is any way to give the meds without a fight, that would be great.

Pets, when they get to this stage, is a heartbreaking experience.

6 minutes ago, MartinL said:

Should I fight to give her her medication - and maybe extend her life a little at the expense of our relationship - or just let her pass peacefully? My instinct is to let her go - upsetting her at the end of her time is cruel, IMO.

 

What has been your experience in these circumstances?

 

Extending life by medication is cruel IMO.

 

One of my dogs is in the same boat. Having previously forked out a small fortune in vet fees, including cancer treatment, I want him to go peacefully, under his own steam, without prolonging his life with medication.

 

let nature take its course, providing the normal care and attention that you would normally provide, is the path to follow, IMO.

As a Cat lover it was heartbreaking having to say goodbye to my Cat a few years ago but she was in Pain with a kidney and bladder problem and the Vet told me it is easier to let her go she will never recover. So i held her when the vet put her to sleep. Heartbreaking never had another Cat since.

If you feel that her quality of life has gone - it is kinder to let her go.

I have faced this situation countless times - with my own animals, but mainly with my patients.

It would be interesting to know what the diagnosis was. (I expect renal failure).

 

I am not a fan of the 'Thai way' of letting nature take its course - I think it extends the suffering in many cases.

If you can find a vet who will euthanise her, that would be preferable.

22 minutes ago, BarraMarra said:

As a Cat lover it was heartbreaking having to say goodbye to my Cat a few years ago but she was in Pain with a kidney and bladder problem and the Vet told me it is easier to let her go she will never recover. So i held her when the vet put her to sleep. Heartbreaking never had another Cat since.

Was that a vet in Thailand? I believe Thai vets are loathe to euthanize animals.

 

44 minutes ago, MartinL said:

My cat's 15 years old, born in our kitchen and has always been a house cat. She's suddenly gone downhill; won't eat, drinks a little water, sleeps much more than usual but still loves her hugs.

 

She has no diseases, isn't in any pain, AFAIK - she's just starting to look worn out.

 

If it's just old age (15 is a decent age for a cat) and there's no underlying health issue(s), which is what you say, then Nature will take its course.

 

5 minutes ago, G Rex said:

If you can find a vet who will euthanise her, that would be preferable.

 

As you say - "if". Somewhat easier these days than it used to be, but there are still those that won't do it despite an animal being in extreme pain / distress.

 

I got my favourite cat to 14 despite him having renal failure. He got an extra two years of good quality life thanks to daily subcutaneous IV of fluids. I got very good at doing the IV and the cat didn't mind at all. But after two years he went seriously downhill in a matter of days; terrible to see but had already agreed with a local vet that when the time came they'd euthanise.

 

I am in a similar situation.

Have a cat that is over 12 years old, came to us as a stray so don't know her exact age.

She has been a wonderful companion for those 12 years.

 

She was poisoned a year ago and suffered greatly but managed to pull through after a brave battle and lots of hugs and medication.

She is a shadow of herself now and obviously doesn't have long.

The vet says she has a growth now and needs surgery.

 

Deciding what to do is a heart breaker.

I wish you and your cat the best happiness that time can offer.

My last little female cat made it to 17 years but it was plain her time had come, so we let nature take its course.

 

She passed peacefully one night a few weeks back in her favorite little bed/box and she now rests down the garden in our pet cemetery overlooking the pond surrounded by flowers and ten other little cat friends who have passed before her.

 

Best way to get over it is to adopt another cat or kitten

 

Each one of our cats that has passed has a stone tile marker with their name on it.

 

This is my wife preparing her plot.  

 

Pets often become more than just pets, especially if they live a long time, they become friends and party of your family. Many people get more attached to their pets than they do to humans and it is a severe loss when they go. My personal experience with this is owning a Flemish Giant rabbit (they grow big) and they are the perfect gentle friendly rabbit... they just eat a lot but are super chilled etc. It lived a long time, but when its time came, my wife and I just decided to let nature take its course, as trying to keep it alive for our own emotional reasons seemed unfair as it might cause it pain... we haven't had another as the loss was large.

1 hour ago, MartinL said:

My cat's 15 years old, born in our kitchen and has always been a house cat. She's suddenly gone downhill; won't eat, drinks a little water, sleeps much more than usual but still loves her hugs.

 

She has no diseases, isn't in any pain, AFAIK - she's just starting to look worn out.

 

She went to the vet yesterday and was given a number of medicines. I know, from past experience, that giving her medication is a battle. At 15 y.o., I don't want to fight her and maybe upset her in what is looking like her last days.

 

Should I fight to give her her medication - and maybe extend her life a little at the expense of our relationship - or just let her pass peacefully? My instinct is to let her go - upsetting her at the end of her time is cruel, IMO.

 

What has been your experience in these circumstances?

I do not care much about vets anymore if there is nothing they can do, or just give some medication to give. I have experienced that many times with our live stock and other animals. If not parasites, or any other know illnesses that can be cured, let her be. 

 

She is old to be a Thai cat. 

54 minutes ago, G Rex said:

If you can find a vet who will euthanise her, that would be preferable.

Did the same with ours, incurable ill, didn't eat or drink anymore and had difficulty with breathing. Did spend more than 20K before that to see if he could survive (1.5 years old)

If she's not in pain or suffering, you can try and give her meds in some meat, like ground burger or chicken, especially if she likes it. Also crushing the pills or tablets and mixing with a favorite of hers, like yogurt, which most cats like. 

1 hour ago, giddyup said:

Was that a vet in Thailand? I believe Thai vets are loathe to euthanize animals.

No was in the UK giddy.

Just lost one of my cat's, she was a rat-catcher, about 8 years old, lost weight quickly over a few weeks, I do wonder if it was anything to do with eating the catch.....😬

 

Though still have my Miss.Tubby shadow.........😋

 

 

 

 

 

Troll post removed

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Pretty disgussting when members Troll a post like this.

Cats know when their life is ending and tend to crawl off and hide until death. I know it is distressing, all you can do is feed her small amounts od goats milk , keep her indoors until she dies naturally.

On 8/7/2025 at 1:52 AM, MartinL said:

won't eat,

If the cat is not eating, losing weight and hiding.  It’s best to have the cat euthanized.   This is better than letting it rot away in misery.   Cats are very good at hiding pain. 

 

 

On 8/7/2025 at 4:34 AM, transam said:

Just lost one of my cat's, she was a rat-catcher, about 8 years old, lost weight quickly over a few weeks, I do wonder if it was anything to do with eating the catch

Rat poison,. 

On 8/7/2025 at 4:47 PM, BarraMarra said:

Pretty disgussting when members Troll a post like this.

This place has tuned toxic mate.

10 hours ago, TedG said:

Rat poison,. 

I don't think so, there was a gradual loss of weight, no vomiting, just doing her normal daily thing until the end. 😔

On 8/7/2025 at 2:22 PM, Hummin said:

She is old to be a Thai cat. 

 

I'm curious about this comment. We've had two Thai cats and they were both unhealthy from the start. Is this common? Or do they die wandering on the roads or from the Soi dogs, which also seems common.

On 8/7/2025 at 12:52 PM, MartinL said:

What has been your experience in these circumstances?

 

Our one-year-old cat went through the same thing. The vet did a bunch of tests and didn't find anything, so prescribed several medications including just-in-case antibiotics. We didn't give him anything. It took about a week and he recovered.

In our case, we were using floor cleaner which is poisonous to cats and my wife had done a bunch of cleaning and it got all over his paws.

Maybe just wait it out and see what happens. 

1 minute ago, davb said:

 

I'm curious about this comment. We've had two Thai cats and they were both unhealthy from the start. Is this common? Or do they die wandering on the roads or from the Soi dogs, which also seems common.

Cat's like to do their own thing, one of their fun features. We've had quite a few cat's over the years, the best one I think was Pan(ther), as black as coal, took him to be neutered, two days after he was dead.......😪

3 minutes ago, davb said:

 

I'm curious about this comment. We've had two Thai cats and they were both unhealthy from the start. Is this common? Or do they die wandering on the roads or from the Soi dogs, which also seems common.

Many Thai cats are inbred... And the mothers are often malnourished during pregnancy and while nursing making them prone to many maladies and shorten thier lives..

7 minutes ago, davb said:

 

I'm curious about this comment. We've had two Thai cats and they were both unhealthy from the start. Is this common? Or do they die wandering on the roads or from the Soi dogs, which also seems common.

I've lost a few cats living at my country place from dogs. Dogs in Thailand for the most part aren't trained to respect, with a huge proportion running wild and will attack cats readily if they're in their territory. Cats are looked at as just another dog to them, and just like a buck deer, they will fight to death to defend that territory. Another thing is if cats are let loose. They'll get into anything they can kill and eat, and this is sometimes finding dead animals or spoiled food, even if they're fed daily. Also they'll drink dirty water and antifreeze, which can kill or make them really sick if they live. Fixing cats keeps them around, especially the males.

On 8/6/2025 at 8:38 PM, giddyup said:

Was that a vet in Thailand? I believe Thai vets are loathe to euthanize animals.

It may actually be against the law to do that, also the Buddhist thing comes into play.  I have had enough animals to know that when it's time to go from old age, they usually find a place away from everyone and just go to sleep.

9 minutes ago, BKKKevin said:

Many Thai cats are inbred... And the mothers are often malnourished during pregnancy and while nursing making them prone to many maladies and shorten thier lives..

Both these cats had malnourished mothers that had trouble with nursing, so that makes sense. Both also had congenital problems, which is inbreeding or bad breeding. My wife and I were both really naive about this.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a very common cause of death in cats, hardly surprising as their diet is mainly protein.

 

CKD affects 80% of cats aged 15 or more. It's called the silent killer, and symptoms are increased weakness and lethargy.

 

IMO best to let the cat die on its own terms.