Magic is a very handsome kitty.

I'm going through this right now with my kitty. Timmy is 16 1/2 and was just diagnosed with lymphoma. I haven't had the consult with the vet yet as to treatment options, but I've already decided that I'm not going to put him through any chemo-type treatments. For lymphoma, surgery isn't an option, but at his age I wouldn't put him through that either. I think I'm going to give him whatever medications are available, as long as there aren't any detrimental side effects. He's lived a long, happy life. To prolong it with medicines with bad side effects would be doing it for me, not him.

Kittiemom, only you can make the decision for your dear Magic. However, I have to admit I'm "leaning" with you to keep him comfy and content until that doesn't work anymore. (We kept our beloved cat too long in spite of the vet's recommendation, and it isn't a happy memory.)

Your handsome boy has lived a very long life. Did you get him as a kitten? It's difficult to let a long-time pet go; they've seen us through thick and thin over the years. So sorry for your distress and struggle.

To both of you, & your kitties, I'm so sorry.

I think sephia is absolutely right; sometimes we do things for ourselves, pretending to ourselves that we're doing it for some other reason, which is fine as long as nobody gets hurt.

When a beloved pet is uncomfortable, sick, and/or hurting, though, when there's no happy outcome, the responsible thing to do is the kind thing.

Bless them & let them go.

I'm dealing with health issues with my almost 15 year old cat. Everything is normal with her except her voracious appetite. She will be going to the vet for tests this week, and if I'd get a cancer diagnose at this age, I'd not opt for chemo or surgery. I would try to make her last days comfy and good , and not full of chaos. You have a beautiful cat, and I know how hard this is. I had to euthanize my 21 year old cat in July.

A vet once told us that our pets know nothing about the quantity of life, they only know about the quality of life. We put our 14 year old cat through four months of pilling and finger feeding in the hope of getting him (us) another year of life. He only lived those few months and I've always regretted making his last months traumatic ones with vet visits, etc.

I think you're on the right track, Kittiemom. My family has included many animals, and the end-of-life decision is by far the hardest part of that relationship. In hindsight, I may have let one go a little too soon. But the ones I regret are the ones I didn't let go soon enough.

I'm sorry you and the beautiful Magic have to deal with this.

Socks, yes, we've had him a long time. He came to our house at only five weeks old. We don't have kids, so Magic is like a child to us, especially me. He is a Mommy's boy for sure. He's been my almost constant companion since he first came home. If Mommy's doing it, he wants to be involved. He "helps" me in the craft room from his perch on his condo, sits in the bathroom while I get ready for work, goes on walks with me (in his stroller), sleeps with me and runs to greet me when I get home. The thought of not having him here is devastating, but I must make the best decision for him. This is a fatal diagnosis and trying to prolong the inevitable isn't good for him, nor for DH and me.

My cousin advised me against the chemo. She did it for one of her older dogs and stopped treatments because of side effects and she regrets doing it at all.

Magic has already defied the odds with his PKD. The vet advised five years ago that given the number of cysts he had then and the normal progression of the disease that he likely wouldn't live another year. It did not progress as expected, though. It has worsened some since his checkup in July and he is now at the end of Stage 2 renal failure. So we've already had several more years with him than we expected.

Magic is on steroids which seem to be helping. He is definitely better than he was, though the vet warned us that this is short term only.

He hates going to the vet and is frightened by it. The vet said to expect 1-2 weeks recovery time for the surgery. Then there would be the stress of going for the chemo. Perhaps if Magic was younger and otherwise completely healthy and if this was a highly treatable cancer with a good chance of surviving quite a while afterward we might more seriously consider it. Actually my first reaction when we got the diagnosis was to immediately set up and appt. with an oncologist and say yes to the chemo. But as I've had a little time to absorb the news, think, and do some more research I'm beginning to feel differently.

bungalowmo, I've been there before - where I said I wasn't strong enough to be there at the end. I've regretted that too. One thing I've known for a long time with Magic is that I have to be there. I'm very frightened about that because I'm afraid that will dominate my memories of him and I don't want that. But he loves his Mommy so much and I love him so much that I know I have to be strong enough because he will be depending on me.

I was face to face with my Nellie as they euthanized her. I spent weeks hand feeding her too and then stopped. I thought I was doing it more for me than her. It's the last kind thing you can give your pet. That's the downsize of having pets, you usually outlive them. Nellie looked in my eyes as I told her I loved her and she purred and purred, and then stopped. She's buried in my yard (along with all the rest) with a stone monument on her grave.

It's a sad situation to be in and you have to be guided by your heart. If it were me I would give him quality of life over quantity...Why subject a 15 year old cat to chemo and surgery for a few months....Doesn't seem right to me.

Our 15 yr old boy Smudge was recently diagnosed with hyper-thyroid. He gets 3 pills/day, one twice/day for his thyroid and prednisone once/day. He's getting better and better at taking the pills and he's improved greatly over the month. He was always hungry, because his body wasn't absorbing any nutrients and has gained weight back, and is eating normally.

If his sickness was cancer, there's no way I'd put him through chemo. Giving him a couple of pills is nothing compared to cancer treatments. If he can live a couple more years with the meds that's great. But I love him too much to put him through chemo intravenous, extensive surgeries etc.

lily, voracious appetite sometimes is caused by hyper-thyroid disease, & it's not rare in elderly cats. It can be treated!

I went through this with my kitty Monkey earlier this year. We did radiation and chemo and it only bought him 3 months. If I had known the treatment would only give him a few more months, I wouldn't have done it but we were hopeful we would get a few more years. It's so hard to decide because in the back of your mind, you wonder if they would be one of the lucky ones who responds well to treatment. He was 10 too so that factored in.

Part of me feels really guilty for putting him through all of that because I know his last few months were likely not pleasant. I hope wherever he is, he knows we were just trying to help him because we love him so much.

I'm so sorry you have to go through this.

One of our kitties had a similar diagnosis, undifferentiated adenocarcinoma. On the vet's advice we decided on surgical excision, but the tumor was intertwined with the small intestine and resection wasn't an option. He was put on prednisone and came home for hospice care, with a 2 - 3 month life expectancy. Since we had nothing to lose I put him on a raw meat diet, as much grass fed beef and free range chicken as he wanted to eat, plus fish oil. Also tried to give him a supplement called c-caps for cats to rev up his immune system, but he refused to eat that. However, he thrived on the raw diet and after being on it for a few weeks, his weight stabilized and he was with us for another 15 months, with a good quality of life until his last couple of days.

Our previous cat, Mischief, was diagnosed with mast cell cancer when she was 17. She had been quite sprightly up to this point. The specialist vet said that there isn't a lot of research done yet on this cancer in cats. For some weird reason when dogs get it, they just get benign skin lumps that are easily removed, but with cats it attacks their internal organs.

She said Missy's best chance was to have her spleen removed, and some chemotherapy. There was no guarantee if this would give us a few months or a few years. My DH didn't want to put Missy through the trauma of an operation and chemo if it wasn't going to have a good result, but after discussion with the vet and some serious thought we decided to go ahead.

Missy was always a prickly cat but we loved her dearly. She did well after her operation and while the chemo was not fun for her she only ended up needing two or three sessions before her blood had barely detectable levels of cancer cells, so we left it at that. In the end we had almost three more years with her and all but the last couple of weeks we pretty good ones.

It's a personal choice, of course, but probably not something I would do. I believe that easing a pet's last days is more important than our feelings of dread about losing them. I guess if I had plenty of money and didn't think it would prolong suffering......well, no...I am sure I wouldn't do it. I am having one of my horses put down today (most likely) so I do understand the heartbreak of losing a beloved animal, but I look at it like this (my case only) and that is I am glad I am able to provide this for my horse so she won't suffer. Animals suffer stoically for the most part. It may be hard for us to know the depth of their suffering. I can't leave it to chance or second guess it.

I wish I'd let him go sooner. I was very selfish. I know it now. I hope he forgives me!

My wonderful cat, Titania, was diagnosed with systemic lymphoma several years ago. She had reached a good age of 15. I took her to the vet (which is when they diagnosed her), and she perked up while at the vet. They recommended chemo but could promise no more than six months of life.

I took her home - hey she'd perked up; even the vet commented.

As soon as she got home, she let down her guard (for that was what that "perkiness" was about -- many animals protect themselves from predators by being as "normal-acting" as possible -- and slumped back down to her sickness.

I called the vets up and made the appointment for the next day. I made her last night as comfortable as possible -- set up a warm spot on the living room window ledge where she could look out, played Vivaldi quietly for her, and kept the other cats away - one of them seemed empathetic to her, but her long-term buddy was scared and hissed a fair bit. The next morning I spent as much time with her as possible -- she would drink but not eat. I put the cat carrier in the car, and went back inside for her, walking her around the house outside (for many years she'd been an indoor-outdoor cat, and only got relegated entirely inside once ticks became endemic - she always fought any grooming). At the car she chose to go into the carrier. Something she never chose before, ever.

The sad part of what I'd hoped would have been a peaceful passing was that the vet didn't see us for half an hour. The waiting room was filled with loud and nosy kids (who wanted to see my cat), loud and nosy dogs, and just plain a situation I'd not wanted her to experience.

TRY to arrange with your vet a private space to wait. (After, my vet apologized, but of course too late to help.)

Best of luck on whatever choice you make. Keep attuned to your fur-child's needs.

Your "Magic" is certainly a regal appearing fellow. The decision you are faced with is a tough one, but you do have a prognosis of a short life left even if the cancer is arrested. There is not absolute right decision available. All I can offer is my thoughts about what I'd do. I would not prolong the animal's suffering. My view is to make the animal as comfortable as possible during his waning days, and then have him 'put down' as gently as possible when the time comes. Sometimes, nature takes matters in its hands and put the animal down without any intervention on any one's part.

Thanks for your responses everyone. I'm sorry so many of you have also had to deal with this. I guess that's the hard part of being a pet owner.

The vet had been playing phone tag with the oncologist and they spoke yesterday. Our vet had told us Friday that surgery and chemo were potential options but she'd need to speak with the oncologist. Magic isn't a great candidate for surgery given the location of the tumor (vet had mentioned this as a possibility). The oncologist says it would be a difficult surgery. Chemo could cause a problem with his already compromised kidneys. We don't feel that the potential outcome is worth the additional suffering he would endure. There is no possibility of a cure, just MAYBE a few extra months.

He is on steroids now and seems to be feeling ok. He seems tired but otherwise not bad. He is loving spending so much time in Mommy's lap. He's always spent a good amount of time there, but I've put basically everything else, including housework, aside. It'll be there later. He wants to sit in my lap so that's what he'll get. We are watching him very closely and will let him go when the time comes.