How much treatment for my 18yo cat?

An animal should never be put down because of a finanical situation. If his quality life is still good, as you say, then it's kind of up to you to stick it out.

If you feel that the vet is just trying to make money off of you, then find a new vet. My diabetic/hyperthyroid cat has been on a schedule similar to yours when his levels were off the charts. He needed to be seen to see if the meds were/weren't working and to make adjustments.

A total blood panel at my vet costs around $75. They usually don't do a full exam on him, so I don't get a full exam charge. They test the blood, ask me about any changes, send me home, and then call me the next day with the results. My Methimazole/Tapazole costs me around $30 a month, but drugstore.com has it for as little as $.35 per 5 mg pill, and $.60 for a 10 mg pill. Actually, I'm going to start using them after my next vet appointment to cut some of my costs.

When my cat is stable, they usually give me 6 months worth of meds. If your guy is unstable now, they do not have to renew the prescriptions until he gets a vet visit. It sucks, but it's the only way they can make sure that they are doing the right thing. It would be unsafe & unethical for them to let an unstable cat continue on meds without examining him regularly.

Next time you go in for 'tests' ask them to waive your exam fee. Ask them if you can go from 3 week intervals to 6 week intervals, if you promise to bring him in if you see ANYTHING 'off' about him. If they are a good clinic, they'll understand and abide by your wishes. Good luck to both of you. : )

Talk to your vet about how you are feeling. You are right, he's not going to get much better at 18 years old, but there are things you can do to slow the process of him getting worse and keep him comfortable. As long as you feel that he still has a good quality of life, I would say do what you can to make sure he's comfortable and not in pain. Talk to your vet about different options, such as giving low doses of the medication (they can't give high amounts of some meds without doing blood panels to make sure they're not making things worse) or giving him the minimum amount of treatment he needs to keep him comfortable, as long as you are able to make the decision that when he's no longer happy it will unfortunately be time to put him to sleep. I've had many pets and I always ask my vet what they would do if it was their own pet (you can add in the financial concerns) and see what they say. A good vet will tell you the truth.

My kitty died in May at the age of 20. To be honest, I never took him to the vet until he was 18 & started to have a few problems. (he died of kidney disease, as most cats who live long lives usually do) I'm sure if I had taken him to the vets regularly they would have found things wrong with him. I now have a 10 month old kitten who I take to the vet regularly, and they always say she has this or that & that i should bring her back. I've found that vets always find one thing or another that they can treat and therefore make money. My advice is if your kitty seems like himself I'd tell the vet to write a longer Rx and then only bring kitty in if he doesn't seem to feel well. Let kitty enjoy his years... you never know he could live for several more years. (We had a cat when I was younger who was an outdoor cat, never had any shots & lived to the ripe old age of 22!!) Good luck...enjoy all the time you can with your friend!

It is really up to you but if I were in the situation I would definately ask to have them not do any more blood panels and just renew the current prescriptions. The most important thing is to think about your cat. I definately thing 6 months is reasonable since you need to give the medications a chance to work and see if they are making a difference.