older cat advice

[RightsaidFreud]

So about 6 months ago, we took in an elderly cat who we thought was a stray. It turns out she belonged to one of our neighbours, but she never settled with them as they have dogs and she was terrified of them. She wouldn't even cross the threshold of their house, or any other house. They would put food out for her, but that was it. They told us (as have other neighbours since) she has lived outside for 5 years! All those bitter winters, and she slept in the bushes . We had been putting food out for her, and one day, she built up the courage to come into our porch, and she hasn't left since.

Her coat was in very bad condition and she was very thin. We gave her flea treatment and spent weeks gently combing her fur for a few minutes a day (thats all she would allow us to do) and she's been part of our little cat family ever since. She spends her days sunning her belly on the sofa and her evenings snuggled on the lap of my boyfriend. It makes me very sad to think of all that time she went without a warm bed and a cuddle.

we recently took her to the vet to have her checked over, and to try and find out her age (none of the neighbours, and even her orignial owners didn't seem to know). We knew she was old, but wow, we couldn't believe it when the vet checked her chip and told us she's almost 20 years old!

She's certainly a spiritly 19 year old, jumping on the sofas and very vocal about everthing. Our other cats are babies in comparison, they are 5 and 6. Just wondeirng if those of you with older cats can offer any words of wisdom? Any speical food we should be feeding her? The vet said she seems fine health wise, slight infection in her back teeth, but other than that fine. We're taking her back in a month for some blood tests and some jabs.

Keep an eye on her teeth via the vet (it can make a heck of a difference) and give her oodles of TLC, whatever she fancies to eat and a prime position in the sun or next to the heater/fire. Make her ending years jolly, basically.

What a grand age - and the poor old girl to be stuck outside for all those years.

Well done you all for taking her in and giving her a good home for her sunset years.

PS - Seniorboy (18 and still going) has a little bit of arthritis in his bones and hasn't got a lot of flesh either so he adores a heat source the minute the weather gets the slightest bit inclement - which for him, pretty well means anything less than 20 degrees. Maybe think about a heat pad for her, later in the year?

PS - is she using a litter tray inside the house now?

Thanks Cozie, she's such a little lap cat, fast asleep right next to me as I type. I try not to think about all those years she spent outside, as I get quite upset about it. Our other two have taken to her, esp our boy, he's always rolling about in front of her, showing his belly to her, but she doesn't have any of it, not surprising really when you think any cats she may have met outside were a potential threat.

We're looking into getting her chip details changed over to us and seeing if we can get any insurance for her. We realize a lot of place probably won't, or it will be very expensive, but if her blood tests showed up anything, we would obv have her treated (whether she has insurance or not!)

It was the strangest thing with the litter tray. The first night she stayed in, I was really worried she wouldn't use them, so placed 2 around the living room for her (our other two don't use them). Woke up fully prepared to clear up any accidents, but I shouldn't have worried! She had used one of them in the night, she knew exactly what to do! She seems to prefer using them to going outside now, I can only think maybe she feels safer using the litter trays than the great outdoors. We don't mind though.

You'll be darned lucky if you find an insurance carrier who is even prepared to look at her - even with a set of thumping great exclusions. But as she's now a housecat, you'll be spared RTA problems and she sounds as if she's got a great basic constitution (she must have to have lasted that long in the great outdoors) so I would guess that the stuff you might face are just the 'things getting dodgy with age' illnesses such as teeth, joints (arthritis), kidneys and liver (and other organs) which I don't think an insurance carrier would touch anyway in a girl of her age.

I'd be going for palliative care only with such an old cat - unless the vet is very confident. Seniorboy had a GA dental at 16 and came through fine but I'm not sure that even his vet (who is very active for elderly animals) would do one these days. Wait and see how she gets on.

Yes - she'll much prefer to be inside now, tray included. A safe haven for her at last.

Yeah, our vet said he would take a closer look at her teeth when we bring her back. I would be really worried about giving her a GA at her age, one of our neighbours took her old boy who was 18 to have some teeth out as he was struggling to eat, and he didn't pull through but I'm not sure what the vet could do without giving her GA, just treat any future infection? She hasn't got a lot of her back teeth left on one side, but she's still eating well (she doesn't eat a massive amount anyway, not compared to our other two anyway) and the vet weighed her at 3kg. She's a tiny little thing, our black boy is a panther in comparison!

Seniorboy has now lost most of his teeth so has had one AB injection in the past couple of years for a dental inflammation. I'm not keen on giving ABs unless necessary (and neither is his vet) but that time it cleared it up fine. See what the vet says.

One good thing about a tray is that you can keep an eye on her inner workings. Very useful.

Best of luck with her - bet she's happy as a sandboy to have landed on her feet at long last.

Thanks cozie we're so pleased to have her as part of our family.

I wish it was me she had come to

Do you have elderly cats allmycats?

the last old lady cat I had got to 18 before she had to be put to sleep, she came to me at 7 from a family who had never let her out of a cage !!!
she was tiny and when we lived down a farm lane she discovered the great outdoors and loved them for the rest of her life - she have so much love and was such a character - she was a wonderful pet
my cat is a relative youngster at 8 yrs and hopefully soon she will have a playmate to replace the gap left when her brother died last year

Good lord, the last few winters have been very harsh and she survived all that. I really do wonder if some people have any empathy for animals at all.

Do we get a picture?

What a lovely story, Freud. Good for you

Living outside? Kept in cage? I really wish people would give these gorgeous creatures the home they deserve. I'm glad she found you.

Yes, I'll try and upload a pic of her when i get a minute .

When i first approached her original owners about her, they told me that she was 'an outside cat' and never went in the house. I don't think it occurred to them that she was absolutely terrified of their loud, very yappy dogs. She's the total bloody opposite of an outside cat, loves nothing more than a warm blanket on a comfortable lap (more often than not, my boyfriends, she seems to be all about him!). We are just so pleased she's decided to adopt us and by extension our two other kitty rascals .

Some people are just thick.

Photobucket is easier to use than mn photos ime. All my files are too big for mn.

We had a longhair rescue who moved out of his home after a dog chewed his leg, my mum, for all her flaws, is passionate about animal welfare and took him in. He was a very intelligent cat.