Is my cat losing it?

[junipermarten]

I don't know if cats get something similar to dementia but something is going on with mine and I'm not sure what.

He's an old boy, maybe 16? He started acting a bit odd a while ago but he's been slowly acting more peculiar as time goes on. We'd put his food down and he didn't realise it was right in front of him, or he would be fed and then he'd keep crying and crying for food as if he'd forgotten he'd been fed. I know cats do this but this is new for him.

He started making unusual crying noises so we tried feeding him, or letting him out but nothing worked. He's always been quite a sickie cat but this ramped up and we had him at the vets a few times but they couldn't find anything wrong.

The weird, random crying has escalated and today he's been circling the outside of the house most of the day. He'll cry loudly to get out so we let him out, then 10mins later he's wailing to get in so we let him in. He comes in then goes straight to the other door and cries and scratches to get back out.

We moved house about 2 months ago and he's not been going out much as the neighbourhood cats have roughed him up a few times, plus we don't have a cat flap here so we brought the litter tray back out for him and he seemed quite happy going out very occasionally for 10mins or so but now he just doesn't know what to be at constantly!

Any ideas? Back to the vet??

This is just so out of character for him and the odd behaviour from him is just escalating.

One of our dDogs had dementia. Would stare, pace, pant, didn’t want to go for a walk, started messing in the house.

To me it sounds like your ca doesn’t like the new house/ surroundings/ getting beaten up by neighbour cats…

There are drugs for dementia for dogs, so presume there are for cats, maybe ask the vet.

Cats can get dementia as they age. It's time to keep him inside as he may get confused when out and forget where to go. Take him to the vet and see what they think, they might prescribe calming medication for him to stop him getting so anxious.

Write it all down with timings as he may not present as unwell at the vets. How's his eyesight? The confusion you describe along with not noticing food under his nose might suggest he's losing his sight? But it does sound like his age is catching up with him, see what your vet says.

It does sound a bit like kitty dementia, which you're right, is a thing. But I would take to the vets for an full mot and they can check nothing else is going on.

Feline dementia is absolutely a "thing" but he does need to see a vet to rule out any underlying health issues.

I wouldn't be letting him outside anymore as he may get lost and fail to find his way home.

Thank you. His eyesight was also something I was thinking about, the poor soul. Will get a another trip to the vet booked. I'm not keen on him going out anymore, I'll see how that goes!