Elderly cat

Sorry to ask the obvious, but has she seen a vet? I would be guided by him or her.

Awww. Poor old thing. Sadly we once gradually became accustomed to an old cat of ours doing the same thing. One day it was too much and the vet (nicely) told us we'd left it far too long. Our old boy had just worn out. He was kindly put to sleep. We felt guilty.

Oh dear I'm sorry for both of you. I lost my 17 year old cat last year and I'd made the promise of not letting her suffer like her brother did. The last thing she did was to drag her little body to the litter tray and do a wee. It was so obvious it was time. The vet came and she was at peace so gently and importantly out of any more pain.
Please think about getting your vet involved. Cats are such clean animals and she will be distressed at not being able to care for herself,it's the last kind thing you can do for her.
Let us know how things go

If she is drinking more water than usual it can be a sign of kidney problems or diabetes. I am another who would recommend an early vet appointment.
I shall be thinking of you at this distressing time for you and the cat. Her comfort must be the first concern.

We had a Birman once. A great character. Unfortunately she got some sort of really nasty inner ear problem and literally couldn't stop going round and round. It was extremely distressing for her (and us). She had to be put to sleep. Only 10 years old. I'd like another Birman but don't think Baz would be happy about it.

Like PPs I'd vote for a vet's help. It might be kinder for your cat and less stressful for you to have a home visit. Although it sounds as though your girl might be near the end there might be an issue that can be treated medically that would mean she can enjoy life for a while longer.

Nancypansy- the kindest thing we can do for our beloved pets is to know when to let go. If you can afford it- get the vet to come to your home, and let her go to sleep in her favourite bed or in your arms- rather than a stressful visit to the vet's. Courage x

I echo notnecessarilywiser’s post above. There are many conditions that affect older cats that are treatable, but only a vet can tell if this is the case. Please get her seen by a vet so that you can make an informed decision about where to go from here. It’s so hard to see them getting older.

I can only echo what’s been said. I felt very guilty about not taking my elderly cats to the vet soon enough. I still feel bad about it, many years later.

Thank you everyone for your advice and comments. I did take my darling Jezzie to the vet and she said she had a lot of issues going on and that if I wanted her to, she could investigate further, but of course I wasn’t going to put her through anything like that at her age, so I said goodbye and thanked her for 18 years of pleasure. I’m feeling very sad and tearful, almost guilty, but in my heart of hearts, I know I made the right decision. Now I just have my redpoint Birman boy to comfort me. It’s a long time since I only had one cat.

Nannypansy

Oops! Haven't got my specs on. Can't actually see what your name is properly.

Nansypansy you must not feel guilty- your gorgeous cat has given you years of pleasure and you in return loved her. It is a very difficult thing to do but I think that you did the best thing for your girl. I am glad that you have another cat to comfort you but he will also be feeling the loss of a friend.

Awww. Such a sad day for you. I'm glad you have another one to console you. We've only got one cat now and I'd say that he is much happier than when we had our other one. On thinking about it we realised that they weren't friends at all. It was us who thought they needed feline company but a vet explained that cats are solitary in the wild apart from lions who hunt as a pack.
Enjoy your boy's company and remember what a character Jezzie was.
I actually wrote a story about our wee Birman. It was extremely therapeutic to do so. Maybe you could do that too?

I really like cats and my lovely Rosie, a grey tabby rescue cat, had the most wonderful temperament. She was put to sleep about 6 years ago at age 9 and I've not had another one since.

There's a website like TripAdvisor for cats. People photograph and give points to cats they meet randomly in the street. It always cheers me up reading the reviews. It's daft but fun for cat lovers. Just a thought.

Oops it's called @thecatreviewer BTW

So sorry Nansypansy, you know when it's time to say goodbye to your beloved pets, you did the kindest thing

Sad for you- but you know that the time had come - this is real love. So glad you have Birman boy with you x

Nansypansy , I am so very sorry, grieve yes but please don't take guilt on board. I have had to make the decision for my dogs eleven times, last week I didn't have the decision to make and this may sound odd but losing the twelfth was harder because it left the question - did I miss something, with my other darlings i knew it was their time to leave

I send you a hug x