Can anyone offer any advice? Our oldest girl is around 16 and has renal failure. That is relatively well controlled now, although getting her weight up is a bit of a struggle but over the past 2 weeks, she is waking from sleep and getting only a few feet before she wees, mostly on our brand new settee. If I spot her get up, I pick her up and put her in the tray, where she wees almost as soon as her feet hit the litter (unfortunately standing up, so I try and post her in backwards, or hold her bum down swiftish). The vet has no real answers other than cutting her steroids down as they can make her thirsty and therefore wee more. She also seems to be getting up and then wandering around as though she doesn't know what she is doing. We think she is probably losing control before she gets to her tray and probably losing her marbles as well. Because she is weeing so quickly, I think bringing in extra trays probably won't help here but I am open to suggestions.
Do you think her time has come?

Is it possible that you could cover her favourite sleeping places with puppy training pads or similar, just to help her not to make too much of a mess while you decide on her future? It will at least make keeping her and your sofa clean just a little bit easier.

Unfortunately I'm not sure that there's much that can be done to improve her bladder function or her ability to get to the litter tray in time, so I would be thinking along the same lines as you. I take the dignity and quality of life of my animals as the most important thing in all of this and I always said that I would never look back on their lives and think that they had spent their last few years with a crap quality of life because I have the power to stop them from going through that poor quality.

I think that her time will come when you genuinely see that she's not enjoying life any more. My Merlin lived perfectly happily with a heart problem for a number of years before her death and was the most purry furry going, but then she suddenly started showing the symptoms of very fast advancing renal failure and she became a desperately sad, clingy and distressed cat almost overnight. I took her for her final visit to the vet the next day, and although I was very upset I also knew in my heart that it was the right thing to do because I was releasing her from her distress and pain and preventing her from having to go downhill any further.

I hope you find a way of giving her some quality of life and going on for some time.

Sending you strength.

Oh bless. I think the pupy pads are a good idea, if you were to go for this i recommed the ones sold at makro, good value too. I have also seen sites on the net that make incontenece bands for both cats and dogs, like a nappy type thing for the females and a band pad thing for the boys.

I've always wondered how people 'knew' when the time came... having never had to have a pet put to sleep before but when Smudge's time came it was clear.

There were options available to try to make her comfortable but I knew in my heart (and my head come to think of it) that she wouldn't be happy with those options.

There was not a doubt in my mind when the time came that it was the kindest thing for her and I never once felt guilty for making that decision like I thought I would.

Whereas Eddy, I've often wondered if I was keeping him for my sake not his, but only in his worst moments of senility when he's confused and upset and these are not actually happening so much anymore (I don't know why) but when he's back to his usual self again I realise it's definitely not his time, his quality of life is too good.

Only you really know your own cat and whether her quality of life is still good enough to keep her going. In my mind, if an animal's quality of life isn't good and they're not enjoying life at all anymore then that's their time but if they still have some quality of life and are still enjoying some aspects of life then perhaps not. I think you'll know when the time comes and won't really have to ask...

In the meantime, I have a bed pad that I used for Takara before she was put on medication for her incontinence if you'd like them to protect your sofa :)