The term “quality of life” is used a lot in veterinary medicine This refers to whether a pet is living a life worth living; a balance between positive and negative life experiences. Quality of life becomes particularly important when we’re discussing a particularly unwell animal, or an animal in the end part of its life. As an owner, knowing when to choose euthanasia on behalf of their pet can bring a lot of anguish and distress. A unique experience as this is never something we need to experience with human beings. This article will discuss how to assess quality of life in geriatric cats; a species particularly difficult to assess due to their tendency to mask pain. Think of quality of life as a see-saw, a fine balance between positive life experiences and the negatives.

Table of contents

Assessing positive life experiences

Starting with the basic needs of a cat, positive life experiences start with their ability to find food and feel full, access to water, a warm and safe place to sleep and freedom from pain. For most pet cats these basic needs will be a given. So positive life experiences also branch out to cats “enjoying life”, feeling relaxed and comfortable; as well as positive social interactions with other cats and humans and time to play and explore.

The positive parts of a cat’s life need to be noted and discussed with all people involved with taking care of the cat, and if it can be improved, then doing so. For example, if your cat is having lots of positive life experiences but they don’t get the chance to play, then making a note to make time to do this more often will improve the overall positive life experiences your cat is having and will therefore improve their quality of life.

Assessing negative life experiences

Pain and sickness are the first considerations when assessing negative life experiences. Guidance from your vet can help to assess this accurately; where the level of pain needs to be considered, how it can be treated or managed medically or surgically; as well as the expectancy for a life without suffering in the future. Negative life experiences also include hunger, thirst and feeling either too hot or too cold. Again this is less applicable to pet cats but this needs to be considered with stray animals. 

Cats are also very clean animals. Therefore anything that impedes their hygiene, such as their environment or their ability to clean themselves, has a real impact on their quality of life. Mental wellbeing for cats is often overlooked but needs to be considered equally as physical health when weighing up quality of life. Cats can have poor mental wellbeing and seem depressed. This is shown by a lack of interest in toys, socialising and generally being “shut down”. There are many causes for this, such as extended periods of confinement. 

Medical requirements and expectations

Cats, like other animals, have no concept of the future, they live in the moment; so it is important when assessing their quality of life to remember this. An example of this could be something like dental disease. The cat is experiencing a negative emotion of pain when they eat. The expectation of this is that if the cat has dental work, which will include increased stress for a few days and increased pain temporarily after the treatment, they will then feel comfortable eating again and this will become a positive experience rather than a negative one. Although it will temporarily lower quality of life it will actually increase quality of life in the long run. This becomes more difficult in more complex illnesses when the outcome is less well known.

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Can things be changed? Discuss, take action and reassess.

After the positive and the negative life experiences are assessed and noted (it is recommended that this is done by all caretakers of the cat), the next steps are to discuss and take action to reduce the negative and increase the positives as much as possible. This may be starting long term pain relief for a cat with osteoarthritis while also increasing the number of cosy beds to sleep in at home. 

Both assessing and managing quality of life is a fine balancing act and can vary day to day. But generally the positives should outweigh the negatives. This assessment should be done often enough to be able to see a trend and to recognise when the negatives are outweighing the positives. When all interventions have been unable to correct this balance is when quality of life is compromised, and a difficult decision needs to be taken. Your veterinary surgeon will be able to take the time to listen to your concerns, and help you know when is the right time to say goodbye to your pet.

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