The end was today.
What made the decision difficult (and is such a tragedy to see in older humans as well) was that cognitively, Lynx was the same cat. He had the same personality, mannerisms, and attitude as when he was healthy. Unfortunately, as was detailed in this thread, his body was failing due to a disease that remains unknown. The final sign that helped us with the decision was his losing control and having difficulty with bowel movements. He would alternate between hard and loose stools. Because of his very weak muscles, he could not keep the loose stool in and couldn't get the harder stool out. A large stool was stuck through the night last night and he started bleeding around that area, leaving red splotches all over the floor. We removed the stool which made him feel much better, but we decided that this was probably the time. He was not suffering in pain for the last few months (just tired and probably feeling kind-of ill most of the time), but the writing was on the wall that he would probably suffer more in the future.
C60oo was of course a shot in the dark, but we figured, why not take a chance. At some point in the last month or so I started feeding our oldest cat Conan (14 years) C60oo and I think I will continue that supplementation.
Like with any person or pet, my thoughts immediately wander to - why don't we have the medicine or technology yet - why don't we have any cures? I hate that feeling of helplessness, but it helps motivate me to contribute here at LongeCity and raise money for research. I implore everyone to save a couple dollars to contribute to LongeCity research later this year!
I have attached some pictures of Lynx as a younger more vibrant feline.
RIP Lynx.