Should I have my cat put to sleep?

Question
Hello Norman,

My Persian cat (nearly 14.5 years old) has been on a high dosage of predisolone (5 to 10 mgs per day) for over a year now. She started drooling and had bad breath. The vet removed several teeth but this did not solve the problem. Lately, her quality of life seems to have deteriorated. She still drools (despite the medication), has bad breath and is unable to clean herself. Because of this she smells and looks uncared for. I now have to bath her once a month in order to maintain a reasonable level of cleanliness and hygiene. I cleaned around her mouth recently to remove dried deposits from her drooling and she started to bleed from her mouth. It did stop but I found it most upsetting. She looks so pathetic and I am thinking it might be kinder to have her put to sleep. She has had a long life for a Persian and has had so much love and good food. Whenever I take her to the vet I bathe her so that she appears to look well cared for. If I took her like she is right now, I know they would give me that look which says "you are not caring for this cat properly". I am told her dosage of predisolone is very high and it is clear she is never going to recover. I know she carries FIP and her mother and a sister died at the ages of 6 years from liver failure. Furthermore, she now only has one eye as we had to have one removed due to blindness and suspected viral infection. Do I carry on or do I have her put to sleep?


Graham

Answer
Graham,

This is always a difficult question.  Our measure is that when the cat's quality of life deteriorates so much that it can no longer do the self cleaning and litter pan duties properly, it may be time to think about euthanasia.

At 14.5, your Persian has had a long life and may be getting to the end.

BTW, I would not worry about FIP as, it appears, it is not a disease that is carried, per se.  Unfortunately, it is much more complicated.

Only you can make the decision about euthanizing your cat!!!!!

Best regards... Norm.