| Lets address the sheaths first. You say they are black? Are they truely black or have they just died? Are they dry? Or are they black and moist like we see with some kinds of rot? I've had Cattleya-types that grew growth after growth, cycle after cycle, and had many dry, dead looking sheaths, then suddenly one year most of the back growths with dry dead sheaths bloomed all together. If the sheaths are just dry and dead, I'd leave them as they may still bloom. I would not remove them as doing so may expose tender buds. If they are moist and truely black, it may be rot of some kind.
Are the 2 pseudobulbs at "the end" which you're concerned about, are they at the lead end of the plant where the new growth comes or are they at the oldest end of the plant? If they are at the old end of the plant, they will probably never do much more than what they're doing now. They may have already bloomed or for whatever reason they may not bloom. Their energy reserves may be depleted, which is normal. But, the "limp" part concerns me. When you say they are limp, is the bulb itself spongy or mushy feeling? Spongy and mushy bulbs are often signs of decay of some sort, rot or something similar. If they are rotting they will probably be a bit smelly too.
It's difficult to tell you if your plant is near blooming size or not because there's no point of reference in your picture by which to guage the size of your plant. What size pot is it in? Knowing the mane of the Cattleya would help too because then we'd know what blooming size is for that plant. Because there are many different kinds/sizes of Cattleyas (from micro Catts all the way up to veyr large standard size Catts) what is a seedling size for one type is blooming size for another.
Some Cattleyas, the twice a year bloomers, should probably just about be finishing their summer blooming so it may not be long before new growth starts. Have you had this plant long enough to see it through one or 2 full gorwth cycles? Are the new growths maturing to be as big or bigger than the old growths? If so, and if you're certain the plant does not have rot of any kind, I'd say a healthy dose of patience is what i'd perscribe.
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