That’s a decision only you have to make...your vet should help you make that choice.
I’m so sorry. I’ve been through this many times with my diabetic cat.. She’d stop eating, sit in sphinx mode looking miserable, and she’d lose weight rapidly, almost right before my eyes.
There’s a stomach pill the vet can prescribe, believe it’s ranitidine. It’s small, but you break it into quarter pieces. It’s bitter and is tough to get down. They might also give an appetite stimulant, but I don’t like them unless absolutely necessary because my cat would become wired and couldn’t rest.
The main thing is to get calories into her somehow to reverse the weight loss...heavy cream is good...also boil chicken and mash together the broth with boiled rice. You can get syringes from the pharmacy, wrap kitty in a towel and squeeze small amounts into the side of her mouth, never straight in.
You can find info by looking up YouTube videos on how to feed a sick cat.
You’re in a tough situation.
Drinking lots of water is also a symptom of urinary tract infection. The immediate cure is doses of anti-biotic delivered via eye-dropper. (I’m not a vet doctor. Just relating what I’ve done.)
The key is to get the cat to eat. If a cat doesn’t eat, the cat’s entire system shuts down and the cat dies. Try feeding your cat raw meat - like chicken livers - and see if she eats. The other possibility is frying up bacon. Let it cool and feed her the bacon plus the grease. You can also try bits of sliced turkey.
Good luck, EinNYC.
I’m so sorry for you. I lost my favorite kitty a few months ago. I cried a lot. I paid one thousands dollars to rip off vets and they never identified the problem but wanted more money for more testing. Turds.
But she could not eat and was weak and suffering so we put her down. I miss her so.
My beloved 19-year-old tuxedo cat, Putzie, had to be put down last week, so I am right there with you still crying over the loss seeing his little face everywhere and looking for him to jump into my lap where he always resided.
He finally had a similar symptom (high white cell count) leading the vet to suspect leukemia but also wouldn’t eat in addition to his, chronic antibiotic resistant sinus infection so he couldn’t smell his food resulting in bloody snots all over the place despite antibiotic injections every 6 weeks...that and progressive late stage kidney failure.
So after 19 years and taking him in at least 3 times to be put down and having the vet show me that we could save him with quality of life with a new medication for thyroid or kidney diet or antibiotic injection his way past 9 lives were finally up. I sure loved having him every moment for all those extra years!
Maybe your vet can save your kitty one more time, too, but if not, I will be offering a prayer for you and your kitty.
I understand. It is so hard to lose them, especially when
you have built such a close bond with them.
Every cat we had to put down was a heart-wrenching, difficult
experience. We have had all of our cats cremated, and their
little cedar boxes are on display in the sun room with cards
of condolence from the vets and pictures of each cat.
We haven’t lost a cat for two years now, but we still miss
and mourn the truly wonderful and intelligent cats who live/
lived here with us, some for much longer than others.
We have four cats, two black short hairs and a big, shaggy
Maine Coon named Midnight, plus a tiny tortie tiger striped
kitty who is quite lovable.
God Bless you and Kefira (what a beautiful name), and may she
gain a surcease of pain, and if she must be put to sleep, may
she sleep comfortably in the Arms of God. All pets’ spirits go
to Heaven, where they return to the Creator. Let that be of
great comfort to you. Prayers up for your beloved Kefira.
Prayers for your cat.
I am very sorry to hear this.
My all time best cat buddy, his legs stopped working. He wasn’t even really very old.
I took a box and cut 4 holes in it, so he could be upright enough to eat. Instead of eating, he gave this long, mournful cry. It was ‘let me go Home’.
That was decades ago. It’s still hard now to think of it.
I am so sorry to hear about your kitty. I can’t really say when the time is right to say good bye; however, I can tell you from experience that the option of putting her to sleep is far better than having her suffer. A wise freeper told me this.. “Think of the last visit to the vet as a final gift to your pet. You are eliminating her pain and suffering. To wait until they are in agony is selfish on our part because WE aren’t ready to part from them. It is our final act of love”. I won’t say the freeper’s name but she knows who she is (she helped me through saying good bye to 3 dogs in 3 months). God Bless her and God Bless you during this difficult time. (((Hugs))) Mom
I am so sorry. I’ve been through this several times. You, as God’s representative for your kitty, have to make the compassionate choice. Prayers up.
I’m so sorry for you and your little kitty, and have been through this myself with two kitties who had cancer. I’ve read some of the posts and seen good advice offered. In case no one else mentions. a high white cell count also indicates infection, and sometimes we do need a second opinion from another vet clinic or hospital, just as for ourselves.
I would never put a kitty through chemo, but that’s me. It would poison her little body so badly. My older cat, who had a squamas (?) cell sarcoma, did well until she was nearly 20, while also battling kidney disease and hypertention. We were so in tune, I relied on her to let me know when she didn’t want to go on, and she did, unmistakeably. But my younger kitty, my last baby, had a brain tumor - long time to diagnose, as she was 18 and I wouldn’t put her through anesthesia for diagnostic, surgery, or anything else. She went blind before she was 19 but lived another year, also to almost 20. Close as we were, she wouldn’t tell me she wanted to go (and by the way, there is nothing really safe for pain for cats, except morphine - strange! - which vets won’t prescribe as a rule.) My baby clung to me and just refused to give up. But then one day she had a terrible seizure, and I took her to be put to sleep that very day. I waited too long, and her quality of life had deteriorated badly, but because she wouldn’t give up, neither would I. I know now that was a mistake and I had needed to give up for her - so don’t let that happen, but be guided by your concern for her above all, if you can. It’s very hard. God bless you both.