Reply #9: I'm facing a similar situation with my 17.5 year old cat

[virgdem]

He has IBD (Intestinal Bowel Disease) and regularly poops outside the litter box due to his inability to make it to the box in time. He has bad diarrhea and will just stand in the middle of the room and poop where he is sometimes. We have been dealing with the disease for quite some time, but it has gotten progressively worse over the last year. He was real sick over the summer with URI and was at the vets for two days in June. When we got him home again, he wasn't the same. His quality of life has declined to the point where he no longer grooms himself and only eats and sleeps. This past Monday, I made the sad decision to put him to sleep tomorrow and I will tell you that this decision has not been easy. My Vet suggested in July that I should consider putting him down due to the sanitary issues with his disease, but I wanted to give him a chance to recover and to see how he would do. I can't tell you what to do, but I will tell you to assess the situation, assess your dog's quality of life, and do what is in your heart. My criteria has always been quality of life and if it is no longer there, then the final, painful decision must be made. I wish you all the best as you make this difficult decision.