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[cindyanne1]

Is it more humane to euthanize a pet that is simply... old?

I have a cat that is almost eighteen years old.  He's aging... and unsurprisingly, he's having issues related to aging.  He can't clean himself like he used to, so I keep his hair trimmed and sponge-bathe him.  He can't jump on my bed to sleep, so I bought him a nice, firm pet bed that he

Comments

[twirlgrrl]

I kept my 19-year-old cat as long as she seemed like she was not in pain. When she developed an acute problem, it was blindingly obvious, and I did take her in to be put down, but I waited a couple of days first to see whether she would just slip away. Finally I took her in on Friday afternoon after talking extensively with the vet about the possibilities; I was concerned (as was he) that she might go through something really awful before she died and I didn't want to get stuck with no way to help her over the weekend.

You'll know. In the meantime, I agree that old age, stiffness, decreasing capabilities are not necessarily a reason to put a cat down.

[merlyn4401]

My cat was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago. The vet told me to watch for things like not eating, not responding to her name, and endless sleeping with no interaction with us or the other cats.

Of course, she also said it'd be a couple months and it's been over 6, so YMMV.

[amazonvera]

If your cat is still eating and not in any kind of debilitating pain, I don't see any need to put him down.

[box_of_rocks]

I definitely don't think that a pet should be put down just due to age. However, I had to put down my 17 year old cat last summer because of age-related issues - he was making a terrible wheezing sound every time he breathed, he wouldn't eat hardly anything, he was getting really skinny. He still purred a lot and it was really hard to see any evidence of being in pain, but I was told that cats hide it really well, that he could be suffering more than he was letting on. In the end, when we couldn't get him to eat even with putting wet food or baby food on his paws, we realized it was time to let go - we didn't feel it was right to wait for his time to come when obviously something was Not Right. I really hope you don't have to get to that point with your kitty :(. I would just pray that mine would silently pass away in his sleep but he kept holding on.

[mohavedatura]

I work at an animal sanctuary and we have plenty of geriatric animals there. Our rule is that we only euthanize animals when we can no longer manage their pain and/or they have lost the will to live. Sure, your kitty can't do all the things he did when he was younger. But does he still enjoy being alive? If he is still eating and coming up to you to be pet, then I'm betting he's fine.

Trust me when I say that you can definitely tell when an animal is suffering. I've seen it far too many times myself. Usually they'll refuse to eat, avoid being touched and just lay on their side and cry. Sometimes they will start hiding from you.

Don't let anyone guilt you about how you take care of your kitty. He's been yours for 18 years and you know him. They don't.