Time to put to sleep?

I adopted my cat about 1.5yrs ago. When I adopted her I was told she was 3 yrs old; however, I have had two vets tell me since she is actually around 8yrs or 9-10yrs. She had mites when I adopted her and they were successfully treated. She also had her vaccinations and was Feline leukemia tested (neg.). I had noted after I adopted her that she wasn't chewing her food well so I brought her to my vet and he said her teeth were completely rotten and needed to be extracted (she has only about 8 teeth left). He gave me a quote of about $800; however I was moving provinces before I could get her in for the surgery. Meanwhile, about once a month since I adopted her she would urinate somewhere in the house (bathtub, shoes, bag, etc) but never in the same spot. Then about 6-7mths ago she began vomiting every day and didn't move a lot...during that time she urinated in the bath tub every day. I took her back to the vet for blood work and urinalysis. The blood work showed low grade chronic pancreatitis, which I am treating with 5mg of Pepcid AC daily; however the urinalysis came back clean, so we figured the urinating outside of the litter box was behavioural.

I was given a dental quote by my Vet, in the city in which I reside now, of $1800 with tax. He said it could be as low as $1000 before tax; however it's unlikely. The reason why I am giving such a medical history on her is this: am I unjustified in thinking it may be time to put her down? That is a lot of money for me (I have a ton of student loan debt), and I have already spent a lot on her so far. I understand that in order to have a pet I need to spend money, but I would hate to spend all of that money and then have her pancreatitis led her to diabetes, which I would need to then treat. And I still am putting up with behavioural peeing, which I have tried to stop by making her space calming, using feliway, giving her multiple litter boxes, not changing the litter and cleaning it everyday! Granted the peeing outside of the litter is a lot better...it's only once a month again. I also don't mind a senior cat, but I was expecting a relatively healthy 3yr old, as the vet who did her exam before I adopted her said she was a healthy 3yr old, and now I need to deal with all of these health issues right from the start.

I know you can't tell me what to do, but I don't want to put her down thinking that the pancreatitis will get worse, when it may not. Or that she is going to die in a year because she is older, when she may not. $1800 is a lot of money when I may need to treat another thing within a few months. She seems happy and content now...I just want to make the best choice for everyone! Thanks for your help :)

Thank you so much for getting back to me...you made me feel a lot better! The way the vet makes me feel usually is that she needs dental work done and needs it now! I just would like to know how painful it is to have severe periodontal disease? Vets just keep saying it's painful, but if you could relate it to something I would appreciate it!

As for her pancreatitis, I upped her dose to 5mg as the vet originally put her on 2.5mg but she was still vomiting everyday. I tried gravol but to no avail. Now with 5mg I would say she vomits roughly 2x a week...is that still being controlled, or do you have any other recommendations? I feed her "taste of the wild" canned food (protein 8.5%, fat 5%, fiber 1.5%, moisture 80%, Ash 3.0%, taurine 0.5%, 951Kcal/kg. Grain free, natural ingredients), do you believe this is a good choice or do you recommend another brand for cats with pancreatitis? Also, does chronic pancreatitis usually lead into diabetes? And if so, would this be easily controlled with insulin/diet?

Do you feel that the urinating outside of the litter box could be contributed to her teeth/pancreatitis? I am just worried that dental disease can spread inflammation systemically, which could be contributing to pancreatitis and behavioural urination due to pain/stress. What are your thoughts?

I am sorry to dump this all on you...when I take my cat into the vet they have very little time to explore these issues with me. Thanks again, you've been extremely helpful and I really appreciate it.