Should I put my cat down?

I have a 13 year old cat, who has been diagnosed with kidney disease. She has been going outside of her box for about a year, both peeing and pooping. It has gotten worse, and she even peed on our feet as we slept. She also vomits every day. She was put on special food, and has gained back a little weight that she lost. She sometimes acts playful, but has been hiding from us during the day. She has also started wanting more affection from us, like curling up on our laps more often, but then bites us if we pet her. She has also been meowing and waking us up around 5am to watch her eat. She has food, but just wants us to watch her eat it. I am at the end of my patience for cleaning up her accidents and vomiting, and am concerned about the sanitary conditions for my 2 small children. I am also worried that she will bite them. Is it ok to put my cat down, even though she seems to be playful?

Reply
This is a difficult question to answer. You seem to be looking for someone to give you permission to put your cat down as I assume you are feeling guilty about having this thought. Don’t worry I am not judging you etc as I know how difficult and distressing it can be having to clean up all the time after a sick cat.

My rule of thumb as always been that having a cat euthanized should be for the cats benefit only and now ours. This means that when a cat no longer wants to eat and starts to loss weight, or is no longer able to walk around meaning that they urinate on themselves etc, or if they are no longer able to groom themselves properly or are in pain then these would be reasons to help a cat pass.

However in your case, it sounds like your cat is just old and is suffering from conditions many old people would, incontinence etc. She is still eating and playing occasionally and so does not sound like she is in any real distress. So for me I would not put her to sleep.

But this is only my opinion and of course you have to make up your own mind about your cats situation. !3 is getting on a bit but my cat lived until she was 17 and she had a heart murmur and a thyroid condition for many of her last years of her life.

Have you tried a period of litter training with her again, this involves keeping her in one room for a few days to a week. This may help her to settle down a little and also allow her to get used to her litter tray again. Also having less space to have to worry about may help her calm down also as she may be anxious about not feeling so well due to her kidney problem.

I have a page about this litter training technique here

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-litter-box.html

Also you may want to consider using those calm calming sprays around the home to see if that helps her calm down and stop displaying these cat scenting behaviours. I have some information about these here

scared-cat.html

Best wishes kate

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