Don't know how to help the old boy.

[SpaghettiMeatballs]

I have a 17 year old rescue cat. He's been mine for 10 years.

He hasn't used a little tray for years but recently has been having accidents so I've tried to reintroduce a litter tray with no success. He wee'd on a new carpet today which I'm very unhappy about.

His hearing has declined to the point where he is completely deaf now which means he can be very easily startled.

He has taken to howling in the night. He forgets he has been fed and reappears asking for more food moments later. He point blank refuses to eat biscuits anymore and has lost weight. I am feeing him increased wet food now to try and combat this.

I don't know how to help him. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old so messing on the carpet and waking them at night by howling isn't great for me.

I am thinking of taking him to the vets but I don't know what to say really. He doesn't seem that unhappy. Still comes for a stroke each night. I am worried the vet will want to run lots of tests which I know he will find very distressing. He hates the vets.

Any ideas of what I can do please? Is the vets a good idea?

They do get more clingy and lost with advancing years.

You can take him to the vet but I guess you have to accept the change in their twilight years.

I would recommend a trip to the vets. It could be something treatable like a thyroid problem. Cognitive dysfunction/senility is another possibility though and I don't think there's much in the way of treatment for this.

Make sure litter tray is easily accessible - high sided ones are difficult for some elderly cats. If he is used to toiletting outside I would try a fine clay type cat litter or even add some soil from outside to encourage him to use it.

I'd do a vet visit & get an led night light for the room he sleeps in so he thinks its daytime & time to snooze.

Aw poor old boy, sounds like he's going a bit senile. They do howl for no reason when they get like that and can become incontinent, or just forget where they're supposed to be doing it. Could you limit him to places where it's easy to clean up the floor and perhaps put him in a safe warm room at night with his food and litter tray? Then maybe the howling wouldn't be so disturbing. Also you can buy incontinence pads that you could put in his bed if he wees there. It's sad isn't it. If you feel you can work round his problems and he's not in any pain then just let him be. It's possible he could have a UTI so you might want to get him checked for that. I've had two cats that got to a very old age and both of them got like that and went deaf too. I understand you not wanting him pulled about at the vets. I had to have a cat PTS not long ago as he had the same problems but took a turn for the worse and was obviously suffering.

It's just so hard with the litter tray because I have to keep it somewhere where my baby DS can't get to it which limits my options. He is forever crawling after the cat. He adores him.

I'm nervous about using soil for the same reason even though I do think that is a good idea.

I'm thinking of saying to the vet I am happy for him to have a check up and some tests but nothing too invasive and no overnight stay. Does that sound reasonable?

He had to stay in a few years ago with kidney stones and he got himself in such a state. I don't want him to go through that again.

furtive I will try a tray. He preferred a high sided one in the past but what you say makes sense.

Yes must be difficult when you have a baby crawling about. Could you keep him in the kitchen with a door gate so the baby can't get to the litter tray(or whichever room you're thinking of)? I think it's perfectly reasonable to say you don't want anything too invasive done at the vet, it would upset him and probably not be recommended at his age. Why not take him for a quick visit, they would probably just do a blood and urine test to start with and you can take it from there depending on the results.

I think that sounds very reasonable. No point in stressing him out. I doubt the vet would want to keep him overnight if he is eating and reasonably well in himself so hopefully just a quick visit.

I see your issue with the litter tray. It is really tricky. Ideal thing is to have more than one litter tray in different places so cat has options and privacy. He might be put off using it when the baby is around but I know from experience it's not easy to keep baby away from cat!

I think I am going to try the litter tray upstairs. My ensuite is a decent size with a deep windowsill. The children only go in there first thing while I am showering and sometimes not at all if DH is around to watch them. I can put the tray on the windowsill when they are in there. He will have privacy for the rest of the day then.

I am going to book an appointment with the vet but be firm about limiting tests. I think deep down I'm terrified they will find something very wrong with him.

He was on Zlykene (sp?) for a long time after his previous vet stay when they realised how nervous he is but he came off it a few years back. I'm wondering if he may need to go back on it although he doesn't seem anxious or upset in himself. It did seem very beneficial to him at the time.

Our old girl started crying at night. She's on meds for thyroid and arthritis (cats are notorious for hiding pain). Perhaps arthritis makes litter tray painful to use? A light on is a good idea. We limit out cat to downstairs if we go out for very long (hard floors). I can also highly recommend the Bissell little green cleaner. Spot cleans carpet brilliantly.
It sucks when they are old and infirm!
Also worth a teeth check and that food suits an oldie.

I don't know about all the other symptoms, but the refusal to eat dried food happened to my boy. It started with that, then he didn't finish his wet food. But was still hungry so shortly came back to meow for a fresh dish. I started giving him some milk, which he always finished because he could just lap it up and didn't have to chew. I then noticed he found more mushy wet food a little easier to eat. Went to the vet numerous times with him without any conclusion. Vet gave steroids which temporarily picked him up. Cat became pitifully thin. Vet ran blood tests on him. Nada. Eventually, vet sedated him and looked into his mouth. I had told her he was finding it hard to physically eat. They discovered a cancerous lesion in his mouth. I wish this physical aspect had been investigated earlier on.

This may not be anyways connected as your cat has many other symptoms maybe associated with age, but worth keeping in mind if he is not finishing his food and then still crying for more shortly afterwards.

Sounds like thyroid problems. Notorious for making them yowl at night.

Also senility.

Bless the little lad.

I've made him an appointment for next week and arranged for a friend to have the DCs and for DH to be there too.

Just for once he isn't going to play second fiddle to everyone else.

Poor boy. He is getting full sympathy because I managed to clean up the carpet. He'd be on 95% otherwise.....!

He's been outside this morning which is good but had an enormous yowling session as I went to bed with woke DD. I think you may all be right about senility. I think he'd lost his way to my bedroom which is where his chair is.

He has big indicators for hyperthyroidism, eating, losing weight and yowling. Also arthritis, not being able to get into the litter tray is a classic arthritis sign.

Hope the vet is able to help in some way. It will put your mind at rest anyway once you know what is causing it. Probably a mix of problems due to his age. Let us know how he gets on at the vets.