Hi all

Am new to this forum so please be gentle .

I have kept cats for over 22 years. We are down to one very elderly female spayed who is still going although I'm not sure for how much longer...

The problem I'm having with her is that although she's eating and drinking normally (been a very healthy cat throughout her life), she is now refusing to use the catflap so needs to be put outside. She also refuses to use the numerous litter trays in the house and just toilets wherever - I've just mopped up for the umpteenth time underneath my dining table (used biological powder)!! The long curtains in there need washing again, as the urine has soaked into them from the floor.

When we kept a puppy from the litter we bred last year initially, she stayed upstairs as the stairgate gave her some space from the pup. Well, we've just had to replace the bathroom floor as it was beginning to stink (cork tiles). Now I've blocked the bit she squeezes through to go up there, and our downstairs loo floor has now ended up with the same fate (absolutley stinking and lino tiles curling up at the edges). I have wooden flooring in my hall and lounge, and her urine has ruined the floor behind one of the sofas.

I'm at my wits end with this, my house is beginning to smell like a urinal and every day is like a hunt for the wee/poo!!

My husband has told me she needs to go to the vet to be pts, but I just can't bear the thought, which is why she's still here to be honest. She's just the loveliest little thing, but getting quite frail and wobbly.

I'm just wondering why she won't use the cat litter tray? Is she getting senile? I see her heading into the lounge and straight behind the sofa, so she gets hoiked out and put outside. Trouble is, with all the rain we've had lately, I came home yesterday to find her huddling under a bush in the front garden all wet!! I'm wondering if she can actually get back through the cat flap at all, she is finding it difficult to jump up and down, and I would hear her falling off the beds when she spent her time upstairs.

Is it time to let my little girl go? I really don't know what to do for the best as apart from her poor mobility and toilet problems she seems happy enough.
(Just wanted to add, my puppy is now 11 months and loves her, doesn't chase, and both are very happy in each other's company).

Any advice would be welcome & sorry for the essay...