Sunday I had to put my 14 year old cat down. I was hoping she would go naturally or that I could improve her quality of life, but I was unable to. She was a diabetic cat diagnosed almost two years ago. The first year she was fine. A shot when I fed her was no big deal. Later, however, she started to show signs of muscle wasting. She was not in pain and was still playing and purring and generally a happy cat, but she was thinner and fragile. I had hoped she would make it a while longer and have a slow crawl until she was at the point she was no longer happy, but then suddenly, she stopped eating.

I did what I could to get her to eat. I tried fancier foods. I tried barbecue chicken, tuna, anything to get her to eat but she wouldn't. I even tried to force feed her but she wouldn't swallow the food.

Saturday night she was still fine. Purring, playing, but not so happy. She was still jumping on my bed and hanging out. Sunday though, she could no longer walk. She would lay there, try to get up, walk a few feet then have to rest. She was showing signs of being in pain. That's when I made the decision of having her euthanized.

She could have lasted a few more days absolutely miserable and unable to move. I would never put her through that.