u/am710

Hi all. I don't see a lot of posts in here seeking pet advice, but why not? My cat (Muffin, age 15) was diagnosed with Stage II Kidney Disease back in February. She started eating prescription food, but things have continued to progress and by April, she was at Stage III. It seems to be progressing quickly.

She also has cognitive decline and arthritis, but she takes meds to manage those and has been stable with those issues for several years now. She still seems to enjoy her life. She usually has a great appetite, she loves attention, she seeks out cuddles from my husband, myself, our four other cats, and three dogs. She still tries to sneak outside. She still begs for human food. I'd say her good days outnumber her bad days, but her bad days are becoming more frequent. She has frequent accidents outside of the litterbox, she has periods of confusion, and she is sometimes very restless. However, I truly don't believe that she's miserable or unhappy.

Our vet has told us that she will support whatever decision we make for Muffin. We've had to put two other pets down, but those decisions were made after devastating, sudden diagnoses. Neither of those pets acted sick until they were practically dead.

I don't want to make that final decision until I know for sure that it's time. I've had this cat for fourteen years. I love her. We've been through a lot together. She's one of the strangest and funniest cats I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and she's been such a constant in my life that I can't imagine her not being here.

I've visited the CKD subs, senior cat subs, etc. I've talked to my vet. I've read the brochures. I've done the quality of life assessments. I don't know how to make this choice. I'm scared that I'll do it too early when she still has several good months left, and I'm scared that I'll wait too long and her last day will wind up being her worst day. It's an impossible decision.

Has anyone else been there? How did you decide? How did you cope with the loss after? How did you help your other pets cope? My other cats are almost all seniors too--17, 15, and 12, and then the youngest is 3. Muffin and the 17-year old are very bonded, and I'm scared that he'll give up if he loses his bestie.