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You had me at “recently acquired 23 year old, 3 legged cat”! ❤️
As a person who worked in veterinary medicine for over 20 years, as long as he seems OK (eating, drinking, not hiding, no excessive vomiting or diarrhea, etc. ) I would just keep him fed, clean, comfortable and loved in his remaining time.

Our old man Meowth showed up 5 years ago and we're not sure how old he is. He's got a messed up eye and has lost most of his teeth. I've taught him how to do some tricks (sit, wave, turn around and lie down) but he's starting to show signs of age and problems. Vet said he looks pretty good and he's on antibiotics for his skin but I've been wondering what to do as time goes on.
May be an image of cat.

It’s an individual decision. My cat is 20 and we made the decision to not spend money searching for issues that may come. My cat is happy and comfortable, and my goal is to keep her that way. She gets medicine to control her blood pressure and arthritis, but otherwise we don’t do excessive bloodwork or scans. If she gets sick with something catastrophic we already know that we won’t be poking and prodding her. Our position is that she’s lived a long happy life and we don’t want to put her through anything aggressive at this stage in the game. We are at peace with this decision.

This guy is missing teeth has cataracts and he's so old I don't even know what age. the vet just said he's ancient he showed up out of nowhere and I love him but there's only so much I can do.
Maybe a Persian cat and indoor.

Old and sick animal.

I agree. At some point you have to just let the fur babies go on with their lives.
A cat that old naturals will start to have health issues as he comes to the end of his life. If he's not in pain then I say don't worry about it. Falling apart when you're that old is just how life works. If he starts to be in pain I'd go for some pain management just to keep the old boy comfortable, but he's at the end of his life span, of course he's going to have tons of issues. If they aren't hurting him then don't worry about it. He's still happy and loved so he's all good. 

He's such a good kitty too. Found his old owners the day after he followed my husband when he got home like I am and when he opened the door Meowth ran inside.
I asked the old owner of she wanted to follow me and she good get him and she said she kicked him out cause she didn't trust him around her baby and smothering.... Told me I could keep him or kick him out, it was fine. Help. Guess we have a cat. Next day he jumped in the tub and peed blood in front of me. Only time he's ever peed anywhere other than his box. Got him all fixed up and he's been a perfect laid back cat.

 

I also have an older cat at home. He's got the cone of shame on now cause he didn't agree with a new food we got and broke out, then bit at it until he got an infection. So we're on meds to get him better again. He's taking it like a champ. Old owner got him from the animal shelter and I guess he was there for 4 years before being adopted by her and she wanted to return him 5 years later but never kept up with vaccinations so there was a fee. The owner at that time let him go instead.

Oh what a handsome old boy! He’s beautiful ❤️
Recently it was suggested that an ultrasound and other testing be done on my 13 year old diabetic and blind dog to see if there was a tumor that could be causing his blood sugar to be so high even with high doses of insulin. I asked what treatment he would be given if there was a tumor given he was old with uncontrolled diabetes. They said they wouldn’t be able to operate because of those reasons but we would know what we were dealing with and could keep him comfortable. I said I didn’t see any benefit to the dog in putting him through all of that and him having to spend even more days in a cage at the vet just so we would know. I opted to keep him comfortable without knowing what was technically going on. In another instance with my other dog he got a lump on his back that had a bit of yuk coming out. The vet put a needle into it to get a sample and said there may be a few abnormal cells but it wasn’t a good sample so she couldn’t clearly tell if it was cancer or just a pimple like cyst. She wanted to send the sample away to a laboratory at a cost of $150 and give him antibiotics in case it was just a cyst. I asked if it’s a cyst would it go away with antibiotics but remain if it’s cancer. She said yes. So I opted to give the antibiotics and if they didn’t work book him in to have whatever it was removed and then tested with an excellent sample available. The antibiotics fixed the issue.

If the cat is 23 and still comfortable, I would not spend the money because she is like 150 in cat years. Just keep her comfortable until she's not and then let her go. That's what I would do.

I'd keep the cat comfortable and put him down when he isn't comfortable anymore.
This is what I want for my self, when the time comes.
Palliative care.
I've worked in nursing facilities and seen (really, really) older folks cry because they don't want any more tests or therapy... just to be comfortable and enjoy the sun and a warm blanket until they are gone (so dad stories).

The fact that a cat is even remotely in the same category as a person is ridiculous.
Even if you say that the fact that many humans think that we are the most or only important species is also some how ridiculous. 
In my personal opinion a particular home pet is dependent on you, people shouldn’t have a pet if they aren’t willing to spend the money to give it the best care. For many people pets are part of the family and they would do anything to make sure they are in good health. That’s not ridiculous at all, it’s how it should be.

Yes, by someone else. I heard the OP is recently acquiring cats like that one, and now they are debating whether it is worth spending the money to check for illnesses. That prior comment should be aimed at the person they tagged who said it is ridiculous to think of cats being in the same category as humans.

Let’s see your ego when  It’s time to choose between your grandmother or your cat!

Who knows, but at any age cats still deserve the best care. If you got one kitty old enough like this one on the photo, a blood test will determine whether it has any medical conditions that may be causing or will come to cause it pain. Even if a condition is not curable, pain can be managed.

Yes but at this point, how many more years could it have. Meds or no meds.
Even if she said it’s not showing any signs of age or illness.
And I think someone might said "Who said anything about choosing between a grandparent or a cat?" Just don’t have pets if you don’t think it’s worth spending money to diagnose and potentially treat illness. N

Because it was mentioned the value of a cat is the same as the value of a human?
All I can say is.. Do you realize you are telling this woman. Not to spend any money on her cat. It don't matter if he is 3 or 23. If we take responsibility for an animal. Then we have to spend the money. Its like saying your mom is old. Don't take her for any care. Wait till she dies. Get your priorities straight. Okay to be frugal, but not on ones health.

If my mom were 100 and had to face invasive testing or palliative care, she’d choose not to test. And I can explain things to my mom because she speaks human. It’s not about the money, it’s about quality of life. But concerning to a pet cat, we already know that they have a short life spam shorter than humans most of the times, so, a cat normally hides the fact that they are suffering and they die unexpectedly.

Totally agree about animals can’t tell us how they feel so it is up to us to do what we can to make sure they’re OK. I wish people wouldn’t take responsibility for an animal if they’re not willing to spend the money to actually be responsible for it. I understand there is the debate of treatment vs quality of life but this question was about “should I spend the money” for a blood test to check for easily treatable medical conditions. Yes, you should.

It's so hard. At the same time, I keep hearing how vets make very little money in comparison to their education and can't afford their student loans. I'm not sure what the answer is.

Come on really???
At 23 years of age, id be doing palliative pain relief as the only medical intervention. Provided no other signs of treatable illness, and as owner says, cat seems fine. However, if the cat pee just stinks. Try a cat drinking fountain. Will encourage more drinking and that can help a lot of issues.

This is what I’d do too. It’s hard, and she’s very old and had a good life.

I don’t know how you acquired this cat but it seems like you aren’t terribly attached. Perhaps there’s someone else that wants to adopt and give him great care for his last years. Seems like a nice cat for an elderly person with more disposable income. Older people have a difficult time adopting a young animal. Some people are drawn to animals that have had a difficult time, like losing a leg.
Animals are expensive for sure.

Age does not mean death for a person or a pet.
I had this problem recently. The vet wanted nearly $2000 for the tests. He said most cats die at about 11- 12 years. Our rescue cat was 16. The family decided to buy the $40 a month pain killers he said all older animals needed. Three months later we let her go quickly and painlessly. My daughter's vet friend has since said we made the right decision as the tests were for the benefit of the vets bank account , not the cat. Still miss her even though she was only with us for just over a year

Please don’t feel guilty. Your beloved cat is 23 years old. I’m sure he’s had his best life living with you.
Do what you can to keep him comfortable and happy.
I fought so hard trying to keep one of my cats alive when he had hyperthyroidism. I spent so much money. Money I really didn’t have. It prolonged his life for aprox 1 year. But at what cost to him?
Trauma from car rides, vet visits, administering drugs, sickness, discomfort and so on. But I now believe I didn’t do the right thing by him. I did it for myself because I couldn’t let go.
Just do what you can for him. He knows he is loved.
Best wishes to you and your cat

Costs of dentals have probably gone up in part because it is now considered poor practice to perform sedated dentals or dentals without dental x-rays. The procedures also take a really long time even without extractions, and anesthesia time plus not being able to take appointments or other procedures in that timeframe make dentals more expensive. Spay/neuter is frequently cheaper if you can find a S/N nonprofit nearby - many shelters will also sterilize animals for you prior to rescues pulling them if they have a vet on staff. It sounds like you are paying private practice prices for them.

I lost a cat nearly 4 years ago. It still hurts. He was an amazing cat.
Seriously the whole veterinary profession has changed for the worse. I have spent 20 years as a rescue and was able to vet all the dogs with spay/neuter and dental. Cant do it anymore - the quotes for a dental are at $750 to $1000 without extractions plus $500 for spay/neuter. I never charge more than $300 for a dog so every dog I get adopted now costs me - personally - over $1000! I cant do it anymore. All the rescuers are experiencing the same thing. It means lost of dogs wont be rescued.

The cost for cats are the same, at one time we were able to afford the care of trapping the feral cats that came into our yard. Now to fix them and all cost a lot more, we are managing to do as we have before but only cause the number of feral cats have declined.

 The standard of care, breadth of knowledge, cost of equipment and supplies, and level of training in the veterinary profession has also increased. The prices you mention can be difficult to pay out of pocket, but they sure aren’t overpriced when considering the time, supplies, and resources it takes to conduct these surgical procedures and still be able to break even or turn enough of a profit for a veterinarian to feed their families, put a roof over their heads, and pay the minimum on their student loans. The profession has changed in many ways, some negative, but charging appropriately for services isn’t one of them. The members of the veterinary profession dying by suicide at an alarming rate that is much higher than that of any other profession, on the other hand, is one of the changes for the worst. And clients wanting everything done at low cost and turning to social media when disgruntled very much contributes to that high suicide rate. I recommend buying pet insurance and properly caring for the number of animals you’re able.

The office vet in Dekalb MS Mississippi (when I lived there) charges $85 -$100 for canines (more for females of course) he’s just a good ole country boy, point being, these high dollar Vets think WAAY too much of themselves and not enough for precious furbabas!

That description sounds like kidney failure,perhaps the vet will fix it with a charge of a thousand dollars and maybe it works, maybe  not because of the cat age. Good luck.