dog and cat trouble

ive got charlie booked in at the vets for friday as he has been shakeing his head and scratching at his ears so as molly was doing the same a couple of months ago i can assume it is ear mites ,i have another vets appointment on monday for my 11year old cat sadie she has lost weight so when i pick her up i can feel her spine and hips more and she is weeing where she sleeps not everyday but this is a new thing and she is drinking and sleeping more plus going for the other cats if they go near her , when i phoned the vet and asked if it was because of her age they wernt shaw so she is going for a check up i hope its not going to be the end for her im worried about takeing her just in case they think shes not happy and maybe putting her to sleep will be best so i dont know if i should get my mum to go as i couldnt face being there if that happens ,has anyone had a problem like that with there cat :|

I'm sorry to hear Sadie is unwell.

There are a couple of reasons she could be doing this. The fact that she is going for the other cats is a definite sign that she is not feeling well.

As she is weeing the first thing they will check for is urinary tract problems, ranging from an infection to a kidney infection to a more serious problem of crystals in the urine and urethra. Any time you see a cat wetting other places than a litter box it is urgent to get them to a vet as a mild infection can progress to something very serious, so it is good you are getting her in. She may just need some antibiotics and then perhaps a sepcial diet to reduce her likelihood of getting the same problem again.

The fact that she is losing weight as she is indicates however that whatever she has has been going on for a while and may be more serious. Feline AIDS or feline leukemia are the likely possibilities -- if your cat has lived with access to the outdoors they always runa significant chance of getting either or both of these through contact with other cats particularly unneutered males or females, who are more likely to fight or try to mate and pass these afflictions through bite or scratch wounds.

It is typical of feline AIDS for a cat to lose weight, especially very suddenly, and to get persistent urinary tract infections (UTIs) as well as other secondary infections (just like people with AIDS). If these are mild the cat can be treated and may have many more months or years; if the cat is declining, it is kinder to let the cat go before it declines further. Your vet will advise on what the best options are for her, whatever the case. BTW Feline Aids is not a danger to people and as long as the cat has been altered is generally no threat to other altered cats in a household either as they won't be fighting.

Many vets automatically pts cats with feline aids which is quite unnecessary and in my perspective, ignorant. I and many others I know have owned AIDS cats in a mixed house and they are fine; there's no behaviour amongst the cats which would have risked passing the virus to other cats unless they get in very serious fights. As with humans it is very difficult to pass the virus through superficial contact or even small scratches etc. They really need deep bite wounds or to have mated for there to be concerns.

The latter is just to say; if they believe Sadie might have feline AIDS I'd ask whether she could recuperate from what she has and still have quality time ahead and not have them automatically advise that she should be let go. When my AIDS cat Maisie declined in a similar way (rapid weight loss and persistent UTIs) I spent a lot of time taking the advice of the two cat-loving vets I like best at my vet practice and knowing they would not lightly have made their recommendation to let her go, I made the difficult decision that that was indeed the time to let her go. It is a hard decision to face but be sure to have the best range of advice you can get. :flwr:

They would likely not have you make a decision then and there but might want to put Sadie on a drip to get her strength up and give her something for pain; then you and your mum can discuss as well. If you need to let her go please do have somethone there to hold her as I think it makes all the difference but don't feel pushed into making the decision that anything needs to be done right at your appointment unless the vets feel she is extremely urgent. :flwr: