Ageing Cat. Support.

[TabbyTatCat]

Hello.

I didn't realise there was a cat section. My lovely boy is nearly 18 & seems to be ageing rapidly the past few months. He's losing his hearing & has also stopped grooming himself.

Is that normal? He currently has a matted section on his back so I need to get that sorted (it's only small, I noticed it today)

He's very noisy, he's always meowing, this hasn't changed, although he used to hear us coming behind him, hear us opening the bedroom window if we were upstairs & he was at the back of the garden, not facing us, & he'd turn & start meowing... Now he won't notice at all or if we are calling him then he will occasionally start looking around, but he can't locate the sound.

He still follows us down the road to the shops but he just kind of sits there gazing into the distance as he can't hear us coming back now, whereas before, he'd hear us from halfway down the road & come charging, meowing.

He has 3 legs but has always been independent & loves being outside. He gets lots of attention from the neighbours/strangers, because of his meowing & then the 3 legs. He runs in like a zig-zag pattern. I joke that he lays on his side across the path, to show everybody that he only has 3 legs, so that they will give him attention!

I'm not sure what I want with this thread really, just to know that there are others out there maybe, to chat about fellow cat-related issues with! I feel really sad that he seems to be getting old so fast, & can't imagine him ever not being here. I got him when he was 2.

The most important lesson I took from all this is to treat the cat not the numbers. Elton's numbers were dire and every time we visited the vet we got the same kind of speech about preparing for the worst - but no-one told Elton he was dying so he just wombled happily through life and I'm sure your beautiful boy will too

Ah bless him.

just sharing my experience with an older moggie who had hyperthyroidism and also has mild CKD.

he’s 16 or 17 now (we don’t know quite how old), he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism about 3 years ago, he lost loads of weight quite quickly and was ravenous all the time. We put him on the thyronorm medication but he was allergic to it and it made him really ill. So we had a choice between an operation to remove the thyroid, or a treatment with radioactive iodine, that effectively removes the issue. He had to have a two week hospital stay and it was expensive but it completely cured the issue.

when he came back he was diagnosed with early stage CKD and since then he’s been on renal food. He’s a fussy bugger, but he’s doing really well on it and it’s keeping him stable, and not really progressing, for now.

In the last couple of months he was sick a couple of times (very rare for him) so we went back to the vet, and it turned out he’s got high blood pressure. So he’s now on medication for that too! He also has a joint supplement as he’s got a bit stiff.

But all in all, he’s great in himself and living life very happily. I’m surprised your vet was so pessimistic about your boy, as my experience is these issues are very manageable, but I appreciate his age might make some of the treatment options less feasible for you.

Sending hugs anyway, it’s such a hard balance with our older mogs, wanting to find the right balance between quality and length of life.

Thank you Puppylucky. Wise words!
And thank you elessar I'm so glad to hear that your boy is doing well. That's great to hear!

She did make it sound like because he's 18 then we just shouldn't bother to try much (although to be fair, when I got him they weren't sure if he was 2 or 3 so he could be 17 or 18 now) but she also said that the blood tests showed lots of other little niggles, so maybe it's the combination of everything together.

When my senior boy reached 18 he started to get skinny and didn't groom as much. He still ate well. We used the babys water wipes on his face. I gently brushed him and he let me. When he was younger He would never let me brush him. He loved to lie in the sun in the garden. He loved a bit of BBQ steak. We used to cook him a bit every time. He had a seizure one day at the beginning of the autumn and the vet had to PTS, but he had one last lovely summer where he snoozed in the garden in the sunshine a lot and ate steak from the BBQ. My 2 new cats are 7 now. Times flies by with kitty's. 😻😻 When I look back at senior cats last photo I can see he does look old. Strangely I didn't notice att.

caringcarer You gave your boy a lovely life, such a nice post. I'm so glad that you have such nice memories.

My cat used to love a brush, but he hates it recently. I have used baby wipes on him also. The other thing he does now is he doesn't dry himself when he's been out in the rain (he's always loved to sit in the rain) so I have to dry him as much as he will let me with a towel/put the heating on for him.

@TabbyTatCat He's beautiful and clearly very loved. Our elderly cat was diagnosed with stage 2/3 kidney disease at the age of 16. He went onto a renal diet which he liked - the vet recommended any of Royal canine, Purina or Hill's. And he had ipakatine powder which we sprinkled over each meal. He had a couple of blood tests at 6 month intervals, which showed his levels improving. He stabilised well and lived almost another year, with a good quality of life for all that time.

He enjoyed the summer sun, being brushed, sitting with his brother and sister, pottering around the garden with us, seeing the kids come back in 3 more Uni holidays and being spoilt by them. He took to meowing loudly at the top and bottom of the stairs for them so they would come running and carry him up and down! He was a lovely character.

At 17 and a bit he became more tired over a couple of days and stopped eating, then became obviously weaker, but it was all very sudden and he had been good until 2 days before. The vet felt he probably had some heart issues as well as the kidney disease probably worsening. We chose not to have any further invasive treatment or tests at that point and he was peacefully put to sleep.

You know your cat best and I think you will absolutely know how he is doing and be able to gauge the best thing to do in his interests at different points. Best wishes to you and him.

Thank you southchinasea for sharing your lovely memories. Your cat sounds like he had a perfectly happy life with you, & was very loved.

I am worried about the food situation tbh. He is so used to having chicken, cheese, sausages etc, as well as his normal meat & cat treats.

My boy likes to meow up the stairs when it's time for us to get up, & if we aren't quick enough then he comes & tells us off! He also goes to the hallway at school pick-up time.

Today, he's found some tissue paper from the kids craft box & has dragged it across the floor to lay on.

Aah, he sounds so lovely and very active and in the midst of things!

He is, southchinasea, he loves to find somewhere to hide & he loves to lay out across the path at the front as well, getting everybody's attention as they walk by! (I once had a group of random kids knock on the door to tell me that he was crying, I had to explain to them that he's not distressed, he's just 'talking' to them as he wants their attention)

Hello. I've not been on for a while but wanted to keep the thread going.

My boy is now nearly 19.

He has good days & bad days but still 90% good. Apart from the deafness (& resulting extra noisiness) he's like he always was.

Which is still strange to me as the vet is so worried about him & says that he's so unwell. The list of things she's worried about are getting longer.

The last time I took him she said that if things don't improve then I need to start thinking about a more permanent solution. My child was standing with me & understood what she meant by this.

I also need to be on high alert in case he starts breathing rapidly & then I have to rush him straight in. As well as everything else, he's developed a heart murmur.

The vet she said that he should be eating anything & everything & ravenous all of the time, & the fact that he's still fussy with his food, shows that something isn't right.

I've been having online meetings & he has been interrupting these by talking to me when he spots me. This was always normal for him but he's much louder now due to the deafness, & instead of just a few meows, he will now sit there & talk to me for 5 minutes, but if I try to pick him up he runs away... Luckily, people are finding it funny!

His back leg bothers him sometimes, he has had a couple of times recently of 'falling over', where he just kind of went down onto the side where there was no leg. Just for a second then he bounced back up. I always make a huge fuss of him when this happens although he's (as he always was) a bit like 'Ok you can snuggle me for 30 seconds but then get off me'

It's very difficult for me, I feel like the vet is talking about a different cat to the one I have, I feel like she's mixed his results up with another poorly cat (each time!) as he just doesn't seem as poorly as she says. Sometimes I wonder if I somehow can't 'see' it & everybody around me is desperately worried about him as they 'can' see it...

They wanted him on a completely renal diet but they've now said that 'fed is best' (reminds me of a baby!) so all of his old favourites that I'd stopped giving him, are back in rotation as well as the renal food. They just want him 'eating' & don't really care what it is, for now.

Finally, I'll mention his fur. His fur is beautiful again.

He got so many mats all over all of a sudden & I felt completely overwhelmed with it & was going to ask the vet if it would be kinder to him to shave all of his fur off (at a proper groomer or the vet) as he wouldn't let me comb him. I tried to wash him once but that didn't change anything apart from annoying him, & since he doesn't groom himself he also doesn't dry himself when he gets caught in the rain, so it left him soaking wet (& still matted)

I don't know if he started to enjoy it or he started to understand what I was doing (I hope!) but one day he just sat & let me comb him, I got all of the mat's out, so much fur, it looked like a whole cat had come off him! & it took sooo long!

But he now lets me comb him, he's not matted & hasn't been for ages, so I just give him a little comb to keep him used to it now. Every now & then he will get a new one but I can get rid of it right away.

His new favourite spot over night, is his bed in my bedroom (this had sat unused for a year since I bought it!) so I can keep an eye on him. Although he still loves the garden & I often wake up to find him curled up in the garden.

He is thoroughly spoiled. He has a water bowl outside & a 'food station' in the living room, as well as his usual ones in the kitchen...

So that's the update on my boy.

Hello @TabbyTatCat - so nice to hear your update and that things are going well with your old boy. I can so relate to the feeling that the vet is talking about a different cat. As I said before, Elton was pretty far down the path of CKD and his numbers were awful. His wee was basically water as his kidneys weren't filtering effectively any more. But you would never have guessed he was unwell until the last few days. He didn't have a huge appetite but ate enough to keep his weight stable and loved being cuddled. We also harness trained him in the last few months of his life and going for walks gave him and us such joy. Funnily enough his coat also became magnificent - possibly due to all the supplements I was giving him. You are doing entirely the right thing by enjoying the cat you have and not worrying too much about the future . I found that vets don't always have the best bedside manner and can become fixated on tests and numbers as they don't have any other way of knowing what's going on - but you know your boy better than anyone and if you think he's happy then he probably is - pic attached of Elton striding out on his lead

Oh Puppylucky What a lovely photo, thank you for sharing that sounds like you had a lovely routine.

I remember speaking to you before, thank you for answering me today.

I think that I feel guilty? That the vet seems to think that he's near to the end & that I should be deathly worried about him, & I am... But he's just 'fine', & then I feel guilty that I'm missing something!

Also I've not spoken to many people about him but when I do they are full of concern & seem to think that he should be barely functioning, which doesn't help my worry!

They didn't actually get back to me regarding his last blood tests so I need to chase this up, I'm nervous to, as I know it's going to be all negative...

This is my boy in his upstairs bed

Oh he looks lovely! I know what you mean about blood tests and dreading bad news. I used to cry almost every time we were at the vets - and we were there a lot! I do think your vet is laying it on with a trowel a bit though - is there a polite way of asking them to back off? Caring for an older or sick pet is stressful enough without someone constantly bringing you down .

Puppylucky Well they've backed off now because they haven't even given me the results, after scaring me half to death about how bad they will be!

Thank you, it's nice to know that somebody else 'gets it'.

It's horrible isn't it. I didn't even think last time, until afterwards, but she took us in a side room & said the things about watching his breathing & making some permanent decisions, not only in front of my child but also she left the door open so everybody else heard what was going on.

That's just rude of her!

Mines exactly the same, though without the back issue/cold, she’s 21 so a very good age.
Just take each day as it comes when they are this old.

I lost my darling boy at 18 and more recently another darling boy at 15. Both times it was very fast. One minute they were active and healthy then a rapid decline over 3-4 weeks.

Can I ask those of you with cats aged 18-20s what you feed them? After the heartache we’ve been through recently I’m determined to do everything possible for the longevity of my younger cats. I guess diet must play a part as it does for humans. So what’s the Mediterranean diet equivalent for cats? Mine eat Thrive wet & dry and freshly cooked chicken and beef sometimes but are partial to Lick a Lix which can’t be good for them.

Iamthemoom I'm sorry to hear this. How many & how old are the cats that you have now?

Mine probably has a poor diet compared to most on here as I'm on a very low income now, but he has the renal pouches & other wet food throughout the day as well as some chicken, then he has the same left for overnight. There's always some biscuits down but he rarely eats these now.

@TabbyTatCat so pleased to hear your boy is still soldiering on. Our old girl is also still going, now 19.5. She still has the same issues as before but nothing has deteriorated, in fact that the last blood test her numbers had improved and she’s also been gaining a little bit of weight.

@Iamthemoom our cat was on the Hills Prescription Diet for teeth for many years. In fact we only switched her over to wet pouches a couple of years ago when she started losing weight, but at 19.5 she has all her own teeth which the vet has said is very unusual.

That's lovely CaveMum I'm really pleased to hear that.

So, an Update from today.

I made myself call the vet regarding the last blood test.

They said that my vet left straight after seeing my cat last time & even though the blood test results were recorded, they didn't realise that I hadn't been contacted.

So I spoke to a much more positive sounding vet. She said they don't need to see him at all until February for another blood test, unless I feel like he needs it (obviously I'm still on alert for his breathing) She didn't tell me what his Thyroid levels are but she said to up the dose of the meds & see how we go.

She's happy with him eating the way he is, happy that he sounds like he's doing well etc.

She said to go in & get the calming tablet before the next blood test as the last time he went he got himself into a state & they weren't able to do it, I had to give him the tablet another day & go back. So this time I'll collect the tablet first.

I feel a bit silly for not calling them before now, but I'm glad that it's done now & that there's nothing else to panic about!

@TabbyTatCat Good news!

With my old cat who I lost last year he would go absolutely nuts when it was blood test time. The vet had to reschedule once and gave me gabapentin to give him. I was so exhausted with him, I thought I'd take it myself!!

Give him a headrub from me!

Thank you HelenInHeels. I know the feeling!
They take him away for his tests etc so I had no idea what had happened when they bought him back out to me, but they said that with some cats they just need an extra pair of hands to help hold them but with mine they were worried that he'd give himself a heart attack because of the state he got into.

The receptionist then said that I could give him the tablet & go back the next morning but the vet said this wouldn't be long enough for him to calm down.

He was fine with taking the tablet (mixed in with some tuna) but he wedged himself behind the TV unit which he'd never done before, so he was obviously feeling out of sorts & I struggled to get him out of there, so I'll expect the same next time. Poor boy.

That’s amazing. Thank you I’ll check that out.

Thank you. It’s been a harrowing few weeks. He went from running around the garden like the young ones to us losing him so fast. We all feel like we’ve lost a family member. He grew up with DD.

The others are all babies. A 4 year old and two 3 year olds so we have plenty of time with them. I want them to live to 20+ because they’re my literal babies and I can’t stand the thought of this heartbreak again. 😢