old cat getting infirm - hand hold needed

[queenofthebucket]

My old boy is 17 and very arthritic. Most he does is sit and purr recently.
last couple of days he has struggled to get doen from the sofa, he's made the leap but his back legs won't support him. He makes it upstairs to his tray.no accidents, but at the moment Ive carried him up to my bed where we are having a cuddle, because otherwise he is more or less static all day.

I guess Im just feeling sorry for him.

It's awful when you see the decline, isn't it?

Practical things - could you fashion a step up and down to the sofa, eg a footstool?
Could he have a tray downstairs, if he'd take to that?

Has he seen the vets, to ensure that pain is kept on top of?
Is he warm enough?

I've got trays upstairs and down now, to reduce the amount of effort it takes for my old girl (nearly 18, arthritic and with kidney failure)

Is he on any pain meds? Metacam can work wonders for keeping them pain free. (Portia has just gone on steroids and that has perked hre up no end)

It is horrible to see them decline tho.I am dreading the day we lose out girl x

We had a heated whelping pad for old girl. She would unfurl with relief on it.
YYY to pain meds. Old girl had stomach issues so couldn't tolerate metacam but ended up on tramadol.
She was 19 when we lost her.

Thankyou all.
yes he has a step to get off the bed, but he seems to be a bit thick about using it, and just launches himself into space. He has been on metacam before, I need to take him to the vet but I'm scared they will want to put him down. I used to have a downs stairs tray before with my other old boy, when he started to lose bladder control.
wolfie what is a whelping pad? at the moment he like to sit in an empty suitcase, is that because he is feeling insecure do you think?

hand-hold here..... Grumpy is now 19, and is no longer allowed his metacam for his arthritis. (due to thyroid, kidney issues).

we have mini staircases (built out of books and boxes) about the house so he can get on beds, windowsills, sofas.... and he now now miaows to be carried downstairs.... though i sometimes think he is just faking it ;) the sneaky sod.

I have tried a microwaveable heat pad..... Grumpy hasn't taken to it, but other recommend them. Not sure if its the same thing as a whelping pad.

So sorry OP, we lost our 18 year old cat in May, it is very sad to see their health decline. I don’t envy you going through it. I still think of my lovely cat all the time. You will know when the time is right. What does the vet say?

They can like small and safe spaces. It may be out of draughts too.

A whelping pad is like a mini electric blanket. (Meant for tiny puppies!) We called it her butt warmer. We looked at the microwaveable ones too. For us I wanted to put the pad where I knew she slept and then just switch it on. She wouldn't have liked to be relocated to something I had to take away to heat up then put under her!

My lovely cat had arthritis for the last few years (prob from age 14). She was on YuMove and Metacam, which helped, but then she developed growths in her stomach which the vet diagnosed (from a scan) as a mix of cysts and tumours. She went onto a course of steroids as a treatment for this, and stopped her metacam. The steroids worked wonders for her arthritis! In Feb, she was given only days to live... And we finally decided to let her go last Friday, aged 17. Until almost the end she was trotting around and jumping like a much younger cat. The steroids not only kept the growths under control but clearly helped her arthritis. They were a wonder drug, and gave us 8 extra months with her.

I don't know if a vet would prescribe steriods for that alone, but in our case they really prolonged her life and made it comfortable until the end.