My 18 year old cat passed last Saturday. Got him back in 2015 at a shelter after he had a pretty rough life. They said he was covered in fleas, underweight, messed up teeth, etc. But he was the most loving cat they had so I went with him. Earlier this year he had a seizure and after they ran some tests and bloodwork found he had elevated levels for hyperthyroid. He ended up having another seizure as well and it seemed to be something with his hearing, like crinkly noises is best I can describe. Anyways, after his most recent checkup they decided he should start taking medicine. He had stopped eating as much and dropped about 5lbs down to around 10lb. He was a chunker for sure and lost the weight gradually so not a big concern, but they figured it was due to the hyperthyroid.
They gave me the medicine the weekend before Thanksgiving but I was to hold off until I got back home since I would be gone a couple days. That same weekend, he pretty much gave up on eating and started drinking less, so I took him in Tuesday for checkup and to hold while I was out of town. I picked him up the weekend after and still wasn't eating much. Another day went by where he didn't touch food and noticed his breathing was heavier, so I took him back in. They did x-rays and found he had a bunch of fluid in his chest. After removing as much as they could he seemed to be getting better, ate more, etc. Took him home again and he was eating for me, although only a couple tablespoons a day, at least enough to get him his medicine. Unfortunately, he stopped eating again so I figured it was time.
Last Saturday I took him in to have him put down. On the way in he had another seizure. This time he was too weak to recover and died at the vet. That's probably the worst part about it I guess. Instead of going peacefully he had to suffer one last seizure. With the life he had prior to me getting him, who knows what other kind of issues he might have had. I can only hope that for those three years I gave him a better life.