Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 8/13/2010

Question
My cat Pussy is 19 years old and just recently she has lost so much weight she's fur and bones. She has been rather healthy and has been about 8 and half pounds and is now down to about 4 and half. The same thing happened last year about this time, except her weight loss wasn't so bad. I give her food and water but she'll only drink the water. Could it be from the heat or could it be something worse. I would really like to know since I've had her all my life. I really don't want her to die. I'm very afraid of that.

Answer
Alison,
I understand your fears here, and to be honest they are very real at this point. A 19 yr old losing this much weight is a very bad sign. When an animal this old loses weight they do so for a few reasons:
they have cancer or they have kidney disease, or she is losing weight because she is dying.

I know you don't want to read that, see that or believe it, but you have to face the truth that she might not recover from this. The very fact that she isn't eating tells me that she is telling you that she is at the end.

Have you taken her to the vet to see if there is something going on that might be treatable? If not, you really need to take her in to see a vet as soon as you can, like tomorrow morning. Most vets are open on Saturdays now.

In all reality you are going to have some painful decisions to make regarding her quality of life and care. If she isn't eating, is retreating and not very social then she is letting go of life. She is very, very old Alison. I lost a 19 yr old cat as well so I do know how painful this is for you. But I know that you don't want her to suffer either. So take her to the vets and let them tell you what is going on.

You can always take her home and let her go there. It's your choice. She will probably die in her sleep if this is the case. It's an emotional time so if the vet tells you she needs to be put to sleep listen to him then tell him/her that you need a minute to think and that you might want to take her home to die. It's your cat, your choice.

But if she is going to suffer it is kinder to put her down and you be with her when they do. You are giving her a gift Alison, just remember that. A gift of ending suffering. So don't feel like you did wrong or guilty, which a lot of us feel when we put our beloved pets to sleep. I know all too well the feeling, but I realized when I put Floyd, my 19 yr old cat to sleep that I was giving him a gift because he was suffering. I was able to sleep much better knowing he was no longer in pain.

Yes I cried and yes I missed him terribly- I still do. But I know I did the right thing. I just put my 15 yr old cat Crouton down as well, so the pain is still there.

This is very hard decision and I hope that you have some family nearby to help you with it.

But start by getting her into the vets and go from there.
Bless you both. My thoughts will be with you.