End-of-life decisions for cats require careful quality of life assessment, understanding of disease prognosis and honest conversations between owners and veterinarians.
End-of-life decision making is one of the most significant welfare responsibilities of companion animal ownership. The ability to end suffering through euthanasia is a profound welfare advantage - human medicine cannot always provide the same mercy. However this responsibility requires owners to act in the animal's welfare interest rather than delaying out of grief or hope. Quality of life assessment tools provide more objective frameworks than intuition alone. Veterinary guidance on prognosis, pain assessment and the signs of terminal decline helps owners make timely welfare-appropriate decisions. The goal is a peaceful death before suffering becomes severe, not a peaceful death after suffering has peaked.