Elderly Cats

jaffacake

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Ok. I`m curious to know what your elderly cats are like because now I have one
but I`m not sure what is normal.

Maisie seems quite bright mentally now that she`s had a few problems sorted out ( teeth, fleas, worms, plenty of nice food ) but physically she seems quite frail.
She is still quite thin and boney though she has filled out a bit.
She only lays on here side if she has catnip, She tries other times and gives up.
She has a funny way of holding her front legs, one or other is usually bent at the 'wrist' like she doesn`t want to straighten it.
And lastly, she doesn`t go out but if a gust of wind came along she`d get blown over! She was running around yesterday for the first time and fell over twice. Also she sneezed and almost fell over.

I`m wondering if this is all just because she is old? I`m thinking she has some pain/stiffness in her bones.

What do you think?
 

booktigger

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How old is she and when did she last have a full check up including blood tests? Cats dont tend to lose weight with age, they tend to put it on, and weight loss is normally related to health issues than age. I Would run the lying down and leg issues by the vet, in case it is due to something like arthritis. Good luck.
 

mooficat

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aww bless little Maisie
so how old do you think she is then ?

Dino and Pepsi are both over 13yrs

Dino is a big lazy fatso, so nothing vexes or bothers him

Pepsi is super chilled, she weighs normal and hates the wind, but she copes well with everything, oh and she is still hunting, caught a baby bunny yeaterday
so she is obviously very sprightly

Do you think is it worth getting Maisie x-rayed ? just from what you described, other than that if she didnt have a good diet when she was young then it could have affected her bones
...bless her
give her some special Easter cuddles from us
 
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jaffacake

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Originally Posted by booktigger

How old is she and when did she last have a full check up including blood tests? Cats dont tend to lose weight with age, they tend to put it on, and weight loss is normally related to health issues than age. I Would run the lying down and leg issues by the vet, in case it is due to something like arthritis. Good luck.
I dont know her age. The vet said she is a teenager.
She came to me on 27th march and had a check up on the 29th. They did a pre-anaesthetic blood test and tested for FeLV and FIV. She was clear for both but showed slight kidney problem that he said may resolve if her teeth were sorted out.
She had that done on 2nd April and is going back on tuesday for post-op check up.
Will definatly ask vet tuesday. Someone on anouther forum said I should ask for Hyperthyroid test as she has such a huge apetite.

Originally Posted by mooficat

aww bless little Maisie
so how old do you think she is then ?

Dino and Pepsi are both over 13yrs

Dino is a big lazy fatso, so nothing vexes or bothers him

Pepsi is super chilled, she weighs normal and hates the wind, but she copes well with everything, oh and she is still hunting, caught a baby bunny yeaterday
so she is obviously very sprightly

Do you think is it worth getting Maisie x-rayed ? just from what you described, other than that if she didnt have a good diet when she was young then it could have affected her bones
...bless her
give her some special Easter cuddles from us
Pepsi! You bad kitty!

When I had a live in job at some stables in the sticks I shared a caravan with their cat. He had a liking of baby bunnies
One day I came back to find a live one in the lounge so was able to set it free.
I really don`t know her age. Just have to rely on the vets opinion but I suppose it`s hard to really guess.
My sister has a cat thats 14 and quite wobbly and senile but he`s had 3 strokes!
Will ask on tuesday what they think about x-ray.
Going to write a big list of questions for them. Have to get my moneys worth!
 

booktigger

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I would ask the vet to give you a rough idea of her age - it might be worth getting her insured too. Hyper-t did stick out to me - if it is that and they recommend meds to control it, you can get them cheaper online.
 

mypuddycat333

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My cat is 14 1/2 and has become frail. She stopped using the litter box and in January I took her to the vet who said this was a "behavior problem". However, in the last month or so she's dropped weight again and is eating only half of her normal food. Not only that she's not eating table scraps--her favorite. I know I need to take her to the vet again. I checked her food and none are on the MenuFoods recall list, but some of it does contain wheat gluten. She eats Whiskas. I think she won't be with us much longer. She is going downhill.
 

pat

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Senior "catizens" are a favorite topic of mine. My oldest is now 17 1/2 - he doesn't look his age at all..will play, prefers (as he always did) to be solitary (he's solid black and quite the reserved panther-mans). He does have several health issues, but you wouldn't know it at all to look at him.

Alix and her sister Ophelia are now 13 1/2 - one is plump and sassy (alix), the other is lean and a drama queen..both play, are active and neither seems to be in their teens, except for noticing that Alix has some stiffness in her back and back legs (which I treat with treats containing glucosamine and chondrotin).

Patrick (RB), was still known to catch and flip a toy such as his Rosie Rat at almost 19 (though if I saw him playing, he'd stop...heh...maybe he thought I'd quite babying him so much if I saw).

I would see how not only her hyperthyroid levels are, but ask if it's been long enough since her dental to recheck her kidney values. It wouldn't be unusual for her to have some early chronic renal failure, and there are changes you could make to diet etc. that would help. (for a wonderful site full of information on crf, go to: www.felinecrf.org)
 

sobriquet

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I have three old moggies, two are like barrels on legs, yes they have put on weight, I completely blame my husband but he says they meow at him and so he feeds them.

The other is a bit further along and has some health issues, we don't know how old he actually is as people moved out a couple of houses down the road and he came to live with us 13 years ago. He has started to lose weight.

There is a time when they start to lose again, like frail older people. I would try some of the human arthritis type things like fish oil, the beneift of course is that cats love fish oil so it shouldn't be hard to get the cat to take it.

Basically for care with oldies, make sure they have a warm place to sleep.
Make sure they have good quality food at regualr times, regular health checks and not to much harrassment from young ones, human especially.
 

booktigger

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For those of you with overweight cats, do keep an eye on their weight and try and get them to lose some - some of the conditions they can develop are also age related, so you could end up with them having them either sooner, or a bit worse - my way of thinking is I Can't prevent them getting age related issues, but I can stop them getting health related issues, and I wouldn't want to lose them sooner than I have to to something I could have prevented.
 
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jaffacake

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Thanks for all your input guys!
Thank you Pat & Alix for that link. It was very informative


She has had diarrhea now since saturday evening. Thats when she finished her anti-biotics so I don`t know if it`s to do with that.
I`m doing all the research I can so I can try and give her good quality of life but I don`t want her to suffer if she is very poorly. She doesn`t want to do much today and is curled up next to me on the sofa.

Wish us luck at the vets tomorrow!
 
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