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I am about to throw up my hands (Cat related -long)
You all may remember me talking about my sick cat - synopsis:
-About 7 or 8 years ago, he got a urinary tract blockage that almost killed him and required him to be on a special diet. Around that same time he caught worms from some kittens I baby sat for a weekend. I can't remember which happened first.
-Ever since he caught the worms, he's had diarrhea despite treatment. The vet said to feed him pumpkin, so that's what I did.
-Around my third trimester, he became VERY vocal and started begging for people food all the time and we couldn't leave anything out without him getting into it. He was never like this before, and he was about 11 at the time. It was driving MH and I nuts and sometimes drive us to yell "SHUT UP!!!" at him (I know, not good). I called my vet and she said he probably senses there's something going on with me and was stressed. She didn't really have any other advice. MH and I also assumed a neighbor must have been giving him people food (he's an indoor/outdoor cat).
-Lily arrived. He started losing weight. Still extremely vocal and driving me freaking insane, but I also felt really bad because I couldn't give him much attention. I assumed the weight loss was because of the baby.
-Come home from Christmas - holy cow he is skinny. I make an appointment with the vet for monday. Over the weekend, he becomes so weak that he can't even jump on the couch. I rush him to the ER. He has a horrendous UTI and needs IV fluids. We spend $600 to treat the UTI and test him for kidney disease (negative).
-ER closes, I take him to the vet. They test him for hyperthyroidism (negative) and cancer (negative). I turns out he has inflammatory bowel disease. $600 later I take him home with some antibiotics and a new diet.
-He doesn't like the new diet. I do some research and decide to try Wellness, which is costing me $30 a week. But he gains weight so I am happy.
-In the meantime, I have to take him to the vet once a week for a vitamin B-12 injection. The vet is all the way across town and, between Lily's nap schedules and their availability, I have to deal with rush-hour traffic and it takes about 2 hours round trip to do this. I wonder WTH I would do if I had a job. I can't take him to a closer vet because everyone near me costs about $20 more per injection.
-Also in the meantime, Greg is NOT satisfied with how much this is costing. I have to take money out of the budget for me to attend my cousin's wedding (who is like a 2nd sister) to pay for it. And the cat has decided to start pooping on the floor of the garage.
-The vet finally decides I can learn how to do the injections myself, so it will cost about $1/injection instead of $15. And he is doing great on Wellness and stopped pooping outside of the litter box. And no more diarrhea. Yay! We've turned a corner!
-AAAANNNDDD - Wellness has a recall and stops selling their food. I try three different cat foods and he barely eats any of them. He loses weight, starts pooping outside of the litter box, and has diarrhea again.
WTF Am I supposed to do? I want to cry. I am seriously starting to think we may have to put him down. I feel awful, but we can't afford to keep spending $500 a month on a cat. It makes me feel ill to say that. I am soo frustrated and feeling like yelling "IF YOU WOULD JUST EAT YOU FEEL BETTER!!!" 
Re: I am about to throw up my hands (Cat related -long)
That is how I am starting to think - and he's 13 now, which, according to my vet, is the typical lifespan of a cat. If he were younger it might be different, but I feel like we are nearing the point of spending a ton of $$ to prolong his life a few months.
I really hate to say it, but I agree with Megan. It's so hard, but an animal that refuses to eat is not a well animal.
My only alternate solution: try raw-feeding him yourself. It would probably be cheaper than specialty food, and it would satisfy his desire for "people" food perhaps? My former boss raw-fed all of her animals and swore by it, both economically and health-wise. Maybe you can even mimic whatever he liked about Wellness.
I agree with Megan. His happiness is most important and I don't think he would be doing the things he is doing if he were happy. Also, maybe you could think of this as a hospice type situation, where yes, you could keep him alive be doing all kinds of things, but maybe it is his time to move on and maybe it is your job to keep him comfortable and happy without all the medications and procedures.
I know that I am going to be in your shoes one day and that scares the crap out of me. Feel free to cry, vent, rage all you need to! We are here! HUGS!
I agree with the others. If he were TRULY just hungry, he would eat food that didn't taste well-- because eventually, he would just be too hungry not to. If he is unhappy eating and unhappy not eating, what more can you do?
As someone who works in Hospice, I think we treat our animals better than our people, sometimes. Not eating is a very uncomfortable way to go. I would not recommend it to anyone for people or for animals.
I had to put my rabbit down years ago because of renal failure-- this was after $600 of lab tests, $800 of subcutaneous fluids (yes, I did this for 3 days for a rabbit!), and then another $125 for the euthanasia (which, by then, I had to pay in chunks because I was broke; it was also why I couldn't pay for them to cremate her). True story-- the vet wasn't going to let me in because rabbits struggle and fight against the drug (unlike cats and dogs) and it can be traumatic, but I insisted, and Sif struggled until I started petting her head and talking to her and I she just calmed down, looked up at me (I swear she said thank you with her eyes) and then just passed. The vet couldn't believe it-- she said it was the first time in 25 years that she had seen a rabbit go peacefully.
I hope this helps you feel more comfortable with the idea. Ultimately, the decision is up to you. I would encourage you, though, to remember that your cat has had 11-13 years of a really good life in which he was loved, cared for, and safe. Not a lot of animals can claim that.
Good luck with your decision...
Very well put. It's an agonizing decision but I think kclouts is right. I'm sorry you're going through this.
Thanks so much everyone for the advice. He is still eating, just not as well as he was on Wellness. He eats a little bit of his food and then meows incessantly, begging for Wellness. I have a few cans left that I'd been rationing. Luckily I noticed that Petco now has some online, so hopefully I can pick some up at the store this weekend.
I know part of my problems is that I feel like "I've done so much for you and you can't even do your part and eat the food that is available!" But I also understand he is a cat and those feelings are irrational. But, I agree, if things really go downhill again soon, I may have to make a hard choice. Poor guy
I am so sorry you have to go through this; even with older pets, the hard decisions are still really difficult.
One of our friends had some problems with her older cat and they switched her to Tiki Cat food and have seen remarkable improvement.