This might be a difficult question, but if you have the time and are able, I'd really appreciate your perspective! My family cat is getting older. Right now she's okay--she seems happy, and if she's unhappy she loudly alerts us to the situation (such as: no wet food in her bowl despite her wanting it, being disturbed in her sleep even though she graciously shares her bed with humans). She has a good quality of life. But she's starting to show some signs. She's had some kidney problems that were fixed with special diets. She can't jump like she used to, and her walk is starting to seem difficult. So my question is, will the vet tell us when he thinks her quality of life is at risk? Is there a tactful way to express that we want to know when it's maybe time to talk about putting her to sleep? I don't want to seem like my family doesn't love our pet. We do. We've had her for almost her whole life, and she's this tiny weird who sleeps on my dad's bathrobe, glowers at new babies, and purrs like a Harley. It's hard to think about losing her. But I don't want her to suffer, either.
A couple things that kind of stand out:
First, will the vet tell you: most likely, yes. But you can also always schedule a quality of life exam if you are starting to get worried.
Second, if the 'kidney problems' were crystals in her urine, then yes a diet will 'fix' that. But if it was chronic renal insufficiency or renal failure, diet doesn't fix that. It can help slow down further damage to the kidneys, but chronic kidney disease is progressive.
Third - not jumping and difficulty walking is definitely something to bring up with the vet now. If it turns out to be something like arthritis there's an injection that lasts for a month that can help with that significantly.
