We have a cat who will be 20 in September. She's lost a lot of bodyweight in the last couple of months, and is not really eating or drinking at the moment, and is dehydrated. The vet has done blood tests today, and reckons that her kidney function is better than it was earlier this year, and apart from dehydration he can find nothing in particular wrong. (Would this stop her eating?)

He suggests putting her on a drip for 48 hours to re-hydrate her. He wants £500 for the privilege - I nearly fell off my chair. Does anyone have any view on whether this is highway robbery, and indeed whether it's likely to make much difference and/or how often it might need to happen?

Bah - we really expected the blood tests to indicate that her kidneys were failing and had resigned ourselves to letting her go peacefully tomorrow. Gut instinct tells me that being skin and bone, arthritic and not having an appetite, it would be kinder to let her go, but with such a shocking quote and no defined problem, it kind of feels like we're making a financial decision and doesn't sit well.

Any thoughts, please?

M.

It's a Toughy for sure BUT she is not likely to last much longer now anyway regardless what you do.   The fact she is not eating for me is her telling her something is not right.   I don't want to say don't do it but I can 100% support you in letting the lovely old soul pass over peacefully rather than let her fad away through not eating etc.

A terrible situation for you ..

Have you tried adding glucose to her drinking water? You can get in from the chemist.  It probably won't encourage her to eat/drink but the sugars will help perk/ease her.  20 years old is a very very respectable age and yes I think £500 to put her on a drip for 48 hrs is highway robbery.  The sedation/anaesthetic would be far too risky for an old girl - then he'd still give you a bill if she were to pass on during the procedure.

It's hard, letting our oldies go ......personally, at the age of 20, I think she deserves some comfort and dignity and peace in her final days ...to have her in the vet's, with unfamiliar sounds and smells around her, and the discomfort of a drip would not, imo, contribute to her peace.

I would let her go gently - better a day too early than a day too late .......sadly I think you have a greedy vet :(

You said it better than I did Margot :-)  I didn't what Margot has said .

I think you sum up just what I feel, Margot - I think it's just the shock of the amount that has been quoted that is making me question myself really and I just wanted to get some other opinions on it.

Fundamentally, 'just' being dehydrated isn't going to be what's made her drop all the weight or stopped her eating, is it? I think we need to stick to our guns. These vets drive me mad sometimes.

M.

Nothing to do with the money Lily Mc (although I do think it's obscene!), I wouldn't want a poor frail old lady to be given to strangers and pulled around.  She's just worn out - pain free and comfortable is out motto when they get old, then drift off to sleep. And ALWAYS a week too early rather than a day too late.  :)

You're right, of course, all of you - and it's just the fact that it feels like money has entered into the equation that is making me wobble.

Does focus my mind on the subject of insurance though. Smudge was my husband's cat, has never been insured and has always been registered at his original vet. However, the vets I use for the dogs are also ridiculously expensive, but I have always wondered if this was because the dogs are insured and the vet bill climbs as soon as that magic word is mentioned. This seems to indicate that this is not entirely the case, and I have always been right in my assumption that I can't afford NOT to insure. :-(

(Just for clarity, if I thought it was the right thing to do, ANY vet bill would be paid without question.)

M.

Just for clarity, if I thought it was the right thing to do, ANY vet bill would be paid without question.

No doubt. :) :)

You say the cat isn't really eating, is she eating at all or at certain times of the day?
I only ask as its been really hot recently and our cats have not touched their food until it has got cooler.
Both our cats have got similar problems to yours, one also has a tumor but until the day i feel that either one of them has lead its life and is not enjoying it then they will continue to live providing no pain is felt by them being alive.

Only you know in your heart of hearts if now is the right time to go and the hot weather just hasn't got to her..
I agree with the others, £500 for a 48hr drip is a huge expense and way more than i would expect to pay for something like that. Our dog was on a drip for more than 48hrs last year for another reason and the bill didn't come to much more than that with other testings as well.
How will this affect your cat if this is given to her, will it make a huge difference to her life as it stands right now?

The not eating is not just around the hot weather Sue, it's been over a good month or two that she's needed to be really tempted. This weather could stop anyone eating, I agree.

>How will this affect your cat if this is given to her, will it make a huge difference to her life as it stands right now?

To be honest, I wish I knew!

M.

Have you tried her with Whiskas cat milk, my 2 can guzzle a bowl down in 5 minutes flat.  It was very usefull for my boy when he had crystals and I had to dilute his pee.

I think sometimes vet's want to find what the problem is at any cost but at her age is it really worth putting her through the stress.  Even if they do find 'something' is she going to be up to the treatment. 

Old animals, like old people, can just lose their appetite as they get older.  When my first cat got to this age she was the same, I'm afraid I rather spoiled her with her favourite foods like cheese and ice-cream just to keep her weight up, this kept her healthy until she was ready to go.

Is it me, or is this ridiculous?

Yes, totally ridiculous - day light robbery would be more appropriate, why is it costing £500 to hydrate her? Is he also doing a lot of blood works on her to try and find out if she has liver or kidney problems?

We know that dehydration can kill, but in this case aged 20 and also off her food there is probably something more to it. So hydration alone will not cure her (IMO) as already pointed out and I am in total agreement that it will probably run her down and make her totally miserable. I would very gently syringe a little water into her mouth every hour or so if you can and just keep an eye on her, try your best to hand feed her too, weight loss generally indicates a larger problem, but as to whether it can be cured is another thing and whether trying to find that problem will cause her much more stress is also to be taken into account.

i would rather have had poor old puss abbot put to sleep than have him suffer as he did the other day..
if i had your decision to make i would let them go with dignity
whatever decision you make i send big hugs x

I think that not eating at her great age is natures way of fading out an animals life.I'd keep her tongue moist and mix the water with a little glucose and a tiny amount of salt,and be with her.
I'm not going to say what i think of that quote,you may be able to guess!

The price is ridiculous for sure. Such a simple procedure! Just to add, problems with the kidneys will ONLY show up in a blood tests once as much as 75-80% of the kidney function is already gone, so blood tests for kidney function are very unreliable unfortunately. Why not try Fortekor tablets? Ask the vet. Excellent for most (not all) cats with kidney problems and it can give them an increased lease of life, as it will increase the blood flow to the kidneys they work better, the cat doesn't feel nauseous, and therefore will start eating again. I'd say that is worth a try. In the US, and sometimes here as well now, cat owners give sub cutaneous fluids at home twice a day to kidney cats -personally I think that is wrong and not in the best interest of the cat -I'm just mentioning this because if you Google, it's bound to come up.

When my cat had to be on a drip for 2 days the vet only charged for the liquids and drip itself - they didn't have a clue what was wrong with her so couldn't treat her (very long story ;) )

The charge for the drip and liquids?   £6

Admittedly about 6 years ago, but I'm sure inflation isn't that high yet ;)

Don't for a second think you are being mean questioning the price of a drip for 2 days when it's that much ;)  It's clear you love the cat and only want what's best for her.

Could you see what your other vets would charge for this, if it means moving vets and a possibility then how about taking her there, even a second opinion may make things clearer for you.. Just a thought.
Call you the other vets and get them to request your cats notes and they will be faxed over. It doesn't mean you are changing vets by doing this.

Two years ago I was in the same situation, my cat was 21 years old. She had the same symptoms and we considered keeping her going as advised by the young vet at the practice. I went back and talked it over with my regular vet who told me that even though we could try she would probably die soon anyway. I got home and later that day the cat did die my vet told me she had died of heart failure due to her age, After speaking to my vet I had arranged to take her in to be put to sleep, later that day. It would seem that had I followed the first vets advice I would have wasted my money.

I agree sometimes in old animals it is better to let them go rather than stress them with treatment that may not work.

Hard for you but best for them and £500 sounds OTT to me

Ouch M, taking the biscuit surely.

My ol' boy (passed over for 3 yrs now) my vets were really good, they gave him a long acting jab and some tablets (can't quite remember what they were)
He too had lost lots of weight etc we were just managing his age related deteoriating condition - the vet suggested kitten food as he'd only need to eat such
small amounts to make a difference, he did start to put weight on.
Plus the tinned kitten food does have a high water content.

I don't think you are making a financial decision and althou we want to feel that we have tried everything sometimes it is kinder to accept that we are just prolonging the inevitable and know when it's best to stop and allow them their dignity.

Has the vet given you any other options to try first?

That said in humans my Nan was pretty poorly refusing to go into hospital etc - was virtually at death's door (had a chest complaint and didn't have much oxygen in her system) - Dad took over and called the ambulance etc.
Dr's thought she woudn't survive 24 hours etc....after lots of tlc, rehydration etc and she's still with us aged 91 be 92 this year!!

So it is possible that the same can happen with our companions but how long the benefit could last who knows.
Oh how often I wish we could have a crystal ball to see if these treatments worked and were worth the gamble.

Really feel for you and your OH M,

K

Hi K,

As to other options, we really only have two options - she has to go in to be re-hydrated today, or she has to be PTS.

We just forgot the money bit of it last night, as to be honest it is immaterial, and talked about what we thought it would achieve and we're both of the opinion that the de-hydration is only a symptom ... and whatever is the cause is not fixable, from anything that the vet has told us over the last couple of years. So, she will slip away peacefully today.

Many thanks for all your input,

M.

{{{{hugs}}}} you are making a brave decision for her good

{{{hugs}}}

She'll soon be at peace, snoozing in the sun at the Rainbow Bridge

Margot

Hard though it is, I think you're making the right decision. Apart from the fact that the vet's charging an outrageous price for two days hospitalisation and drips I think it's soo much stress to make an old lady undergo, and is palliative treatment, not a cure. So letting her slip away without stress is the last great kindness you can do for her. I'll be thinking of you. {{{{{{hugs}}}}}}

Sending a hug :-) She will be peaceful.

I so understand the position you are in right now , we had to make that decision for similar health problems with my 16 yrs old puss just weeks ago , I had decided before the vet visit that if her organs were failing which I knew in my heart from past experiences with older that they were and that this is what was causing her not to eat or drink then I would let her go peacfully without another day of pain and no quality of life.....SO yes you are doing the best for your pussy cat as hard as it is.

So Sorry ...

Roni

Thinking of you today, I was in the same position 2 years ago with my 181/2 year old Burmese.

You have made the hardest decision, but it is the last kindness we can do for our animals.

Dill

Don't no really what to say even tho I have been there 3 times all ready this year and maybe a 4th coming up soon- These times are never easy (((hugs))) to you-