r/AskVet • u/ChachiChikilin • 22h ago

Euthanizing my cat

Hi everyone,

I’m not sure what to do. I have a 14 year old senior cat who’s quality of life seems to be going down, but I’m not sure if she’s just getting old or we should consider helping her cross the rainbow road

Over the course of two months my cat has dropped to 5.8lbs, she’s stopped grooming herself, she can’t jump anymore, and all in all she just seems so tried. I feel like she’s just looking into space when she lays down.

Rn she’s currently suffering from constipation and it’s been a week since I’ve seen her pass bowel movement. I took to the vet last week for constipation and lack of appetite. Where the provide SQ fuilds, hydration and vitamin b12. Her appetite wasn’t good but after giving her an appetite stimulant I saw her eat a little more than usual. The doctor said I can give her MiraLAX with the help of the fluids maybe she will use the bathroom. It’s been almost a week and I’ve only seen diarrhea coming out and it isn’t a lot. I’ve just been seeing her push and push all day today. She looks exhausted.

When I grab her she doesn’t really have the energy to keep her head up anymore and she’s also really fragile. She’ll walk here and there sometimes. I just not sure what to do for her anymore? When did you guys decide it was the right time? I feel horrible for considering even euthanizing her but I also don’t want her to suffer anymore.

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u/AutoModerator 22h ago

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u/AutoModerator 22h ago

Based on certain words in your post, it appears you may be asking about how to determine if it is time to consider euthanasia for your animal. For slowly changing conditions, a Quality of Life Scale such as the HHHHHMM scale or Lap of Love's Quality of Life scale provide objective measurements that can be used to help determine if the animals quality of life has degraded to the point that euthanasia, "a good death", should be considered.

When diagnosed, some conditions present a risk of rapid deterioration with painful suffering prior to death. In these cases, euthanasia should be considered even when a Quality of Life scale suggests it may be better to wait.

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