Is it time? Signs to watch for in cats
Cats are experts at hiding illness — a survival instinct that means by the time a cat looks sick, they usually feel much worse than they show. Here's what vets watch for, and a checklist tuned to feline habits.
Updated August 2026
The signs that carry the most weight
Grooming is the feline tell. A cat who stops washing — coat going greasy, dandruffy, matted along the spine — is telling you something is wrong, because grooming is among the first things pain takes away.
Hiding comes next. Retreating under beds and into wardrobes, sitting facing the wall, choosing cold hard floors over favourite warm spots — these are classic feline pain behaviours, not moods.
The litter tray is data. Going beside the tray rather than in it often means climbing in hurts. Very large urine clumps can signal kidney disease or diabetes; days without stool matter too.
Posture and movement: a hunched, tucked-up crouch; landing heavily instead of lightly; no longer jumping to the windowsill that was theirs for a decade. Cats don't limp dramatically — they just quietly stop doing things.
Common conditions, common patterns
Chronic kidney disease is the great feline slow fade — months or years of gradual thinning and drinking more, then a downturn where nausea wins over appetite and treatment stops holding. Vets often frame the question as: is she still having genuinely good days, or only quiet ones? With hyperthyroidism, weight loss despite ravenous eating eventually gives way to frailty. With cancer, as with dogs, deciding in advance what "enough" looks like spares 2 am decisions.
A gentle quality-of-life check
Tick anything that's true most days. Nothing is recorded — this is just for you.
Tick anything that sounds familiar — there are no right answers.
Why home matters more for cats
For many cats the carrier and the car are the most stressful things in their world — which is why a final clinic trip sits so badly with so many owners. At home, a cat can be on their own windowsill or lap, unaware anything unusual is happening. See home euthanasia for cats for how vets keep the visit calm, including for cats who hide from strangers.
Common questions
She purrs when I pat her. Doesn't that mean she's comfortable?
Not necessarily — cats also purr to self-soothe when in pain, the way humans might hum through discomfort. Purring alongside hiding, poor grooming and weight loss is not reassurance.
My cat is old and thin but still seems content. Is that enough?
It can be. Thin and slow is not the same as suffering — some 20-year-old cats still have warm, sunny, engaged days. The checklist above is about pain and withdrawal, not age or weight alone.
How do I even get a sick cat assessed if she hates the vet?
This is exactly what home-visit vets are for. A quality-of-life consult on your couch, with the cat free to sit where she chooses, is usually calmer and more honest than anything a clinic room can show.
When you want a professional eye
A home visit lets a vet assess your cat where she's actually herself. Ask a local vet to call you back — even just to talk through what you're seeing.