Make me feel a little better about my cat

Possibly but I live in the northeast can't imagine what would be causing allergies. (also it is one eye) but I did give him an immunity supplement and his watering has reduced a lot. For the moment I am thinking this solved the issue. I have to now actively whipe the eye to see any evidence.

Glad the eye is doing better.

Well, things have gone wonky again. And last night he threw up and seemed sick. Of course when there was a storm outside. At the moment he feels a little warm so I am hoping I don't have a problem and it is just because it is warm in here. His nose is cold and wet.

I am really more and more feeling I have to put him down. He is 16 and seems to be in increasingly bad health. Not sure if I covered it all on here. I do NOT want to do it and it is really difficult I think for me to do it. But this thought pops into my head at least 2x per week these days.

I feel like what is going to happen is that I will keep putting it off and he will get really sick and I will know I waited too long and feel badly about the suffering.

I wrote up the email to my vet and have it ready to go. Now I just have to send it.

I have never had a cat last this long with me before. So it is hard to give up something that has been in my life for 16 years. Then, in the last two years of being at home all the time we have gotten really close. I might be able to pull the band aid off a little better I was gone for 12 hours a day and only saw him when I got home.

I had one cat euthanized at the vet -- did not like the experience. In the future I will try to not do it until the last moment possible.

Pachy, I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Euthanasia does not have to be a bad experience. My small animal vet is a wonderful at helping ease a person through a difficult time.

Well, I decided to fight back.. I spent a day trying to figure out what might be causing the watery eyes... and the haphazard nature of it. And I just had to come back to my cat's asthma. That has been a frequent issue when the asthma wasn't being controlled. But what was stopping me from thinking that was that *I thought* I was giving him the proper dose. Primarily because usually when I slack he has an attack, but he hasn't had one in a bit.

My theory was that maybe I had been slacking off when I have been at home. Excess fluid in his stomach from lung congestion could be upsetting his stomach... and the lung congestion could be causing a back up in the eyes.

So I went out and purchased a calendar and I have been ensuring that I have been giving two puffs per day by marking it off. I used to do this automatically when I worked because I would give a puff when I left in the morning and one when I came back, but, the pandemic has had me slacking possibly.

And a week later the eyes are currently cleared up... we will see.

But a bad effect is, before he slept about 18 hours a day... now he has a TON of energy. And is sleeping 16 or so. I can't tell if this is a good thing (because he is getting more oxygen / feeling better) or a bad thing because he has a tummy ache or something.... Last night he stunned me by actually playing like a kitten with my iphone ear phones. He also, and perhaps this is habit, wants food ... but I think he is so used to eating when he wakes up from his 18 hour sleeps that now he is just used to eating when he wakes up and that is a habit.

We will see. I am hoping this is the issue.

Well my cat gave me the answer... no.

Threw up pretty violently and that made his eyes water.

Does anyone know if it is normal to throw up more (there are hairballs) as they age? I have heard that there are more motility issues as a cat ages.

It is just these things that are making me struggle.

• To take my cat into the vet at all is a traumatising experience for my cat and will potentially damage him. He has pulled out nails the last two times and now.. given his arthrtis, I don't want a tussle with the vet to make that much worse. He fights like they are killing him. He is too old for that. Before the answer was always *well he has to do it* but he doesn't have to anymore.

• Let's assume there is something wrong with him, treatment is just really out. He can't tolerate an exam nevermind treatment and all that would go with that... check ups...x-rays, reactions to medication.

• So it seems to me there is just no good outcome from taking him in for an exam but for, the doctor tells me all is well. But still with that he may suffer some damage.

On the other hand

• I just can't believe he isn't sick with something. But his entire life I have gone to the vet at least 7 times thinking he was sick and the vet just told me he has a sensitive stomach.

• The constant worry and stress of that.. plus now that I have to go back to work.. the potential of him waking me up at night... getting sick while i am away..

• Who knows what is going to happen in the future. I didn't put him down in March 2020 and then look what happened? Covid. Maybe I should take the option when I have the chance.

• A 16 year old cat is equal to an 80 year old human. I have given him a good life.

• And on that note, when do I get my life back? At what point do I get to say, ok, I have done enough, I want to move on. I got him at 35 and I am 50 now.. maybe I have to start focusing on my health.

I think I have decided in my mind that a "check up" is out. As to me I just can't see it as necessary.

My thoughts at the moment
- I have some medications for him that I don't know if I am just not giving to him properly / enough / consistantly. I will do that and redouble my efforts.
- I will email the vet for ideas... if those don't work.
- If we reach a point where he is very sick regularly or wakes me up all the time at night...

I will make the appointment. Perhaps going back to work will help me be less worried about it in my head or disconnect more.

Honestly, I think I'd go ahead and take him to the vet. The doc won't kill take the cat without your permission, if it's deemed nothing can be done. And the doc might diagnose and treat your cat--at least make him feel better. Maybe you can call the vet beforehand and tell your cat's history with vets. Perhaps the vet can prescribe something to calm the cat down before coming. Or maybe take the cat to a different doctor's office. And if need be, they can give the cat something at the vet's office to put it in sleep state, something different than before.

Of course, it's your choice. But it sounds like both you and the cat are miserable.

I had a cat who was very difficult at the vet's office. Even the vet with an assistant's help had a hard time getting a shot into her. She finally died of diabetes because she needed two shots of insulin a day.

Glad you understand.

My vet thinks my cat has hyperthyroidism. I have made an appointment for March 2. Until that time I will try to give him raw chicken (as I understand fish has a lot of iodine)

Ultimately I am scared because hyperthyroidism can cause high blood pressure and I fear that is something my cat might have. So a knock down tussle seems bad for him and could leave me with a very messed up cat.

But my vet tells me he has to go in.

My vet will only give me gabapenten. We have tried this before and it failed. I told the doc that but she either isn't listening or there is nothing else I can give such an elderly cat. She wants me to try giving it the night before and then also the day of. It is my hope that this could make the difference. Perhaps last time it was a matter of him not being that far out of it with only giving it on the day of the appointment.

I have reserved time off from work.

If he does have hyperthyroidsim I think I will ask to put him down. The vet is dismissive and goes oh there is plenty we can do, the problem, however is monitoring the condition... which is very difficult to do with a cat that is exam resistant.

I'm glad you aren't my owner. I have hypothyroidism and take a pill every day. Thyroid issues aren't terminal. Is there anyone willing to take on an older cat like him, if you aren't able to deal with him? I'd see what the vet suggests and tell him/her your dilemma.

In the case of my diabetic cat, the vet finally had to tell me it was time to let her go.

But, of course, it's up to you. I had a friend who had her husband's cat put to sleep while he was away, basically because the cat was peeing on the floor. I think she had a lot of anger toward her husband!

So I guess you don't. It isn't just hyperthyroidism. It is his behavior issues at the vet that makes follow up and monitoring appointments and dealing with medication side effects impracticable. But that is a whole long story. He also has other issues like asthma. I don't see why we have to wait until he is in tough shape or worse he has an issue when I am not home (I will be going back to work for 12 hours a day).

I had a cat die on me once at home and it was IMHO cruel and that cat was able to be taken to the vet without problems. This one has extreme behavioral problems surrounding being seen at the vet (and being seen at home). I feel the vets have a knee jerk reaction -- don't put him down. Not only because they get money out of it but because is it a foolish industry standard. If my cat passes in March 2022 or November 2022 what does it matter, other than it might be a 8 month period of misery for my cat feeling stress and misery and my struggles to take him to the vet.

I already had a vet give me permission to put him down two years ago after she struggled getting him to submit to an exam. But I foolishly decided not to do it because he was in good shape. Now I have a new vet and this one doesn't feel the same way right now, but that is largely imho due to her ignorance. Once she sees the disaster trying to examine my cat is.. she could change her mind. The sad part is that my cat will have to go through the trauma to prove it to her.

I am hopeful I have found the problem. And it isn't hyperthyroid.

Around August of last year I ordered a cat bed for the carrier but Chewy sent me the wrong one. It was too small and not the type I would have ordered for him. But my cat claimed it immediately and likes to sleep in it. It has this kind of relatively long fur on it... but it is artifical fur. I didn't think much about it - his more frequent hairballs I did notice around October.

I have been giving my cat more clear food recently. I cut back on fish (which makes the throw up brown). And he did a hairball throw up that was gray tinged... my cat's bed is gray. That gave me the idea. I took the comb to the bed and a ton of this kind of artifical fur (peach fuzz) came off -- the bed. Not my cat's black fur.

And I realized if my cat was ingesting this either on himself or licking it, this could be the issue. In fact this did once happen to my cat with another cat bed that had a longer fur level.

So I took all the beds away, vacumed and cleaned up the place where he sleeps (and there was a lot). When he gets up to eat I clean off the seat. I have also given him more. One of his last poos before I did this, I examined and it was just chocked full of some sort of fur like substance.

I remain a little skeptical about the allegation of hyperthyroid because my cat had a urine test last year and it was utter perfection. Also, he had blood tests a year ago and those were normal too. He has lot some weight but not a ton.. he has been stable since November.

I already feel like I have a sign. He produced a poo this morning that was smaller than what I have been seeing and every other day. His normal poo schedule was very other day. It has been becoming every day... with larger poos.

Hey, it sounds like you've discovered a reason for his symptoms! Great!

I am hopeful. Today something happened that I hope is further evidence. I have noticed lately that, except for the first meal of the day, I can't get him to eat the entire can. For the second two meals he only eats about 1/2 before he turns away. Well today, not the case. He ate the entire can for the second can.

That is the first time in months. He has one more to eat. We will see.

Well as if to prove a point to me... my cat threw up last night. And for weeks now the throw ups have only been during the day.

And there were no fur balls just water. He has an appointment on 3.2 and I will just have to take him in and let the chips fall where they may.

They good news is that I don't have to go back to work until the end of March so that will give me more time in case of disaster.

Well I decided I have not yet begun to fight!

Originally all this got started because I wondered if my cat didn't have GERD... as several times I took my cat to the vet for throwing up and they told me he had acid stomach. So my vet told me to try pepcid.. so I am going to give that a shot as well.

Pepcid works for me!

Ive heard cats will chew ordinary grass to alleviate stomach distress. Altho i dont know where you would get some now.

No grass available to me but I thought maybe that is why he might be licking the artifical fur on his bed.

I am also reducing the size of his meal and seeing if I can't slow they down. That will be difficult when I go back to work but if it works at least I will know what it is.