Older Cat, is it time for Rainbow Bridge?

[Sasha08]

Hello, my name is Sasha and I currently have two cats. One is called Mumbles, six years of age and then the two pictures attached are of my older boy Sparky.

I'm sorry if this is long winded but here it goes . . .

A little background on Sparky - when I was living at my mum's back in 2009/2010 he would visit the house, hungry, cold and generally unwell. He looked about 4/5 not much older. So before we took any further action I printed leaflets and went around locally to see if anyone was his owner. Upon this we quickly figured out he did have an owner but they clearly didn't care about him so against my better judgement . . we started to look after him. Feeding him, making sure he had somewhere warm in the winter, just general love so he knew that at least someone cared about him, a family cared about him. Anyway this went on for a few years and in May 2017 he came to the front door with a very bad mark on his nose and eye, bleeding heavily - I messaged my mum and she said that when she got home she would take him to an emergency foster that we knew that could look after him. I took it upon myself to go and knock on his owners door and said that he was in a bad way and they didn't care so I said look he's our cat now - they just said ok, whatever and shut the door in our face. Once in the emergency foster care we got his wound cleaned up, neutered, flead, microchipped - everything and then he came back home, to us. Since then we let him slowly get used to the house and the bad winter we had he spent it inside for the first time!!! He still enjoyed being ourdoorsy but knew he was welcome in the house any time. Our four other cats and dog were already used to him so he just became even more part of the family. I took him to the vets and he pretty much became my second furr baby.

Then in October 2018 I had to move out and I took Mumbles, but felt guilty as hell for leaving Sparky behind. My mum felt guilty for having to keep letting him out and she was struggling to look after him as her health was deteriorating. So in November, he came to live with me and Mumbles and he has pretty much let himself be a housecat (as you can see by the picture of him snoozing on his favourite yellow blanket). Since moving in with me I've noticed an increase in appetite and he his being sick. I took him to the vets and they put it down to stress of moving, but last week he was still being sick and so I went back to the vet where he had a blood test. I only thought he was about 12/13 but the vets told me he was actually 17!!! His blood test came back that he had an inflamed kidney and high protein levels, he has to give them a urine sample and then go from there. Other than that they said he is doing well for a 17 year old boy.

My big question is, because i'm really in a pickle, do i risk the urine sample for it to come back and having to add up costs to try and help his deteriorating kidney or do I put him out of his misery now? He doesn't seem to be in pain but you never know with cats.

I don't want to put such an old boy down as I've got a lot of love and care for him but at the same time do I want to be selfish and save costs and put him out of his misery. I can justify it by saying he's had three nearly four months of being in a warm house with lots of love and care with a younger brother who adores him and think he's had a nice last few months. I just, I can't bare the thought he might be in pain and seeing him slowly die around me would hurt me so much more.

Can anyone help? I know it's only me that can make the decision in the end so i'm just looking for advice, please.

And once again, apologises about the long winded post!!

[Ruth B]

Welcome to the forum and don't worry about long winded posts, we all love talking about our cats and the more information we have the better we can offer advise.

Firstly, thank you to you and your Mum for looking after him when his previous owner obviously didn't care. As for his condition and what to do, it is always the hardest decision we have to make.

Now, depending on just how tight money is, I would say go for the urine test if you can, they are fairly simple and can give a far better idea of just what state his kidneys are in. Normally the vets can provide a bag of non absorbent kitty litter, which, if you can get him to use it, can easily provide a sample, alternatively, if he is a cat that refuses to use a litter tray a long needle can be used to take a sample directly from the bladder (it isn't as bad as it sounds, one of my parents cats used to have it done that way). Once the results are in from the urine sample you will be better able to make a decision.

Some reduction in kidney function is expected in an older cat it really depends on just how far gone they are. If he is in the early stages then making sure he has plenty of water and the right type of food could be enough to make sure he is fine for another few years. The special diets can be expensive and some cats won't eat them, but you can find them a lot cheaper on line than from the vets or even changing to a different normal food can make a difference, others on here have had experience with kidney problems and have a better knowledge of what foods are best for them. Make sure there is plenty of fresh water available for him to drink, several bowls dotted around the house or mixed in with his wet food can also make a big difference.

Seventeen is a good age and it sounds like he has bad a rough life. If it does turn out to be late stage kidney problems then sending him over the bridge might be the kindest option, but he could still have a few good years in him and you are giving him the life he should always have had.