Hard decision to make about my cat

[MummyDoIt]

She's an old girl - just turned 21 - and has a few health issues. Kidney trouble which we manage with pills, she's quite deaf and she's a bit dotty but not suffering pain or anything. However, in the past few days, she's become slightly incontinent. I keep finding little poo balls and she doesn't seem aware that she's doing it. Unfortunately, she sleeps on my bed and twice I've woken up to find poo on the bed.

I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow but I suspect he'll say it's her age and there's nothing they can do in which case what do I do? I hate the thought of having her put to sleep as she's not actually suffering but I can't cope with cat poo all over the house. This is not a decision I want to have to make.

oh what a horrible time.

if she isn't suffereing then for me personally i would find a way to work with the poo.

is it possible to restrict her access to some parts of the house? keep her in rooms that have easy clean floors/furniture? place litter trays in every room she uses?

Litter trays wouldn't help. She's using her litter tray normally, it's just that a bit of poo escapes sometimes and she's not even aware of it. Usually seems to happen when she's asleep.

I plan to keep her to the kitchen tonight but I'm afraid she'll howl all night. She's such an affectionate old girl and spends the whole night snuggled up next to me so I don't think she'll enjoy solitary confinement.

That's my dilemma, really. I could manage the poo issue by confining her to one room and just clearing up after her but what sort of life is that for her? She's an indoor cat (has access to the garden but won't go out!) and she's my little shadow. Wherever I am in the house, she wants to be with me. She won't understand if she's suddenly locked in one room.

I feel for you, it's a horrible time isn't it ? I have been through the same tough thing with our two big ginger and white boys, Biff and Buster. Biff was a few years ago and Buster was last year. Think what what is best for your fur baby. Maybe you can put an old duvet cover on top of the bed ? x

poor girl. i totally understand. before he died my cat slept with me every night. if i forgot to let him in the room he would scratch at the door until i did. he didn't like being confined either.

it's a really hard one. could you have a light blanket over the bed cover and just accept that you will have to wash it everyday?

or what about putting one of those toilet trainig pad things for puppies on the bed for her to sleep on or does she move about during the night. R snuggled behind my knees and didn't shift all night so it would have worked for him but i know other cats move about.

I tried putting old sheets on the bed and pillows last night but (sorry, this is disgusting) the poo had rolled off the pillow into my bed. I woke up with cat poo on my arm. She likes to sleep on the pillow, curled up round my head, and the possibility of waking up with poo in my hair is just too high.

oh yes, i dont blame you for not wanting that. hmm. i'm trying to think of ways round this that doesn't leave her shut up in one room. i'll have a ponder and get back to you.

I'm hoping it's to do with the kidney problem and a change of medication might improve things. I'm going to try shutting her out of the bedroom tonight to see if she copes with it. I don't mind her sleeping on my bed during the day as I can put old sheets on to protect it. I can shut her out of the DSs room. We have wooden floors and a leather sofa too so cleaning up after her isn't too bad. It's the night time that's worrying me. If she won't settle to sleep downstairs, I don't know what else to do.

the only thing i can think of is for your cat to wear a nappy of some sort. i dont know if such a thinge exists for cats but i'm sure there is a way of doing something that would catch the poo and would mean she wasn't restricted to teh kitchen.

Well, I relented last night and let her sleep on the bed as normal. She likes lying on towels so I put an old one at the bottom of the bed and she slept all night on that. No poo accidents all day yesterday, overnight or all day today so I'm wondering if it was a temporary glitch. She has had some different food so maybe it was that? I'm holding of on the visit to the vet until I see if she does it again. Fingers crossed she won't, otherwise cat nappies may well be the way to go!

well that's a good sign! hopefully it was maybe just a temporary tummy thing. in your shoes i would take her to the vet anyway. i know it costs but i think it's better to know sooner if there is a problem and if there isn't then you can put your mind at rest that she's still healthy rather than worrying about it.

how's kitty getting on now OP?

No accidents since Saturday. I gave the vet a call and he said change of diet could have been behind it as she had a different brand of cat food last week. He said take her in if it happens again. She's been extra snuggly and extra cute all week to make up for it!

aww. that's fab news. hopefully that's the end of it.