I don't know if there IS an answer to this question, but it's really upsetting to me and I felt like I wanted to ask.
My oldest cat is dying. Right now, actually-- I'm anticipating that he won't last the night, although I said that last night, too, and he held on, so I don't know. He has cancer that started in his stomach; we haven't been able to afford the extensive vet care that I guess some people are able to have, so we don't really know exactly the extent of the disease at this point or anything. He's been living with it for almost a year, and only in the last month really started to fail.
Anyway, he's not visibly in pain, and we've decided that unless he seems to be suffering badly, we'd like him to die at home. He's living right now in a little nest I made for him in my half-bath, which I've turned over to him for his use until he's gone, because he's leaking feces sometimes and the bathroom is the easiest room to clean. He gets his towel changed every hour or so, and I swab him off when he needs it. We are all spending lots of time with him. It seems to me, watching him, that he's just waiting. He just lies still, on his side, and breathes, very slowly. He can't really get his legs under him too well, but every hour or two he drags himself over to his water dish and drinks, and then lies down again and continues to wait. He'll flick his ear a bit if I say his name, but mostly he doesn't really seem to notice us very much. He seems to enjoy being petted, although he can't purr anymore-- it sets off his gag reflex, which leads me to believe he's got some kind of tumor in his throat.
The real issue, though, is my other two cats. They are going berserk, roaming restlessly around the house and yowling at the top of their lungs, all day and all night, not sleeping at all, and getting underfoot and scratching me and yowling at me, and wetting in inappropriate places, and hanging over my poor old kitty and trying to lick him or climb on him, and generally driving everybody crazy.
I realize they're probably aware of what's happening, and having a fair amount of anxiety, but I'm wondering whether I should separate them from the dying cat-- they could live upstairs for a day or two, or in the basement. Do you think they'd settle down if they weren't around him? Or would that just make it worse, do you think?
My oldest cat is dying. Right now, actually-- I'm anticipating that he won't last the night, although I said that last night, too, and he held on, so I don't know. He has cancer that started in his stomach; we haven't been able to afford the extensive vet care that I guess some people are able to have, so we don't really know exactly the extent of the disease at this point or anything. He's been living with it for almost a year, and only in the last month really started to fail.
Anyway, he's not visibly in pain, and we've decided that unless he seems to be suffering badly, we'd like him to die at home. He's living right now in a little nest I made for him in my half-bath, which I've turned over to him for his use until he's gone, because he's leaking feces sometimes and the bathroom is the easiest room to clean. He gets his towel changed every hour or so, and I swab him off when he needs it. We are all spending lots of time with him. It seems to me, watching him, that he's just waiting. He just lies still, on his side, and breathes, very slowly. He can't really get his legs under him too well, but every hour or two he drags himself over to his water dish and drinks, and then lies down again and continues to wait. He'll flick his ear a bit if I say his name, but mostly he doesn't really seem to notice us very much. He seems to enjoy being petted, although he can't purr anymore-- it sets off his gag reflex, which leads me to believe he's got some kind of tumor in his throat.
The real issue, though, is my other two cats. They are going berserk, roaming restlessly around the house and yowling at the top of their lungs, all day and all night, not sleeping at all, and getting underfoot and scratching me and yowling at me, and wetting in inappropriate places, and hanging over my poor old kitty and trying to lick him or climb on him, and generally driving everybody crazy.
I realize they're probably aware of what's happening, and having a fair amount of anxiety, but I'm wondering whether I should separate them from the dying cat-- they could live upstairs for a day or two, or in the basement. Do you think they'd settle down if they weren't around him? Or would that just make it worse, do you think?
I'm so sorry. 
It seems like the smell of (impending) death might be upsetting to your other two cats, but I'm not sure if isoliting them upstairs would help them much. I lost my two oldest cats to cancer last year, and after they had passed (when we were burying them) I went around and let my other cats smell my hands. I don't really have any valid reason for it, but it seemed like it would help them understand that the cat in question was dead. The first few days, both times, were rough for my other cats as they adjusted to missing their companions and finding a new kitty heirarchy in the house.
