My almost 15 year old cat, Thomasina, can no longer get up and down into her litter box or onto furniture. Her hind legs somewhat gave out.
The thing is, I do not want to have her put to sleep because she is acting completely normal other than not being able to stand up properly. Her back legs still work, she just can't seem to get them under her, so she uses them to push herself around. She's been like this for 9 days now, and seems to have adjusted herself to it. The only change is that she now gets up with the humans of the house and goes to sleep with them. She still goes to the bathroom for water (she has done this for years no matter where else she has water), sits in the hallway and watches everyone, and wants to get up into the chairs in the living room. She eats normally and has not lost any weight. I feel that she still has a good quality of life, so putting her down is not really something I want to consider when there are other options.
So, does anyone have any ideas of how i could make the house easier for her to move in? I am thinking of building a sort of short ramp into the litter box until we can find a much shorter one (ours requires a decent jump to get into).
Another thing is the bed and couch. I would really prefer her to stay down, but truth be told she attempts to get up anyway, even if she has to claw her way up. This is not an option though, with my mother having a leather couch. I am not concerned about the getting off part, she knows she cannot really jump, but I'm worried that climbing up she might lose her grip and fall. Would it be good to devise another ramp or steps for her, or to just try keeping her off?
As far as building these things, I am thinking of making them out of wood and putting a grippable covering on. Does anyone have any suggestions for this?
Thank you all for your time!
The thing is, I do not want to have her put to sleep because she is acting completely normal other than not being able to stand up properly. Her back legs still work, she just can't seem to get them under her, so she uses them to push herself around. She's been like this for 9 days now, and seems to have adjusted herself to it. The only change is that she now gets up with the humans of the house and goes to sleep with them. She still goes to the bathroom for water (she has done this for years no matter where else she has water), sits in the hallway and watches everyone, and wants to get up into the chairs in the living room. She eats normally and has not lost any weight. I feel that she still has a good quality of life, so putting her down is not really something I want to consider when there are other options.
So, does anyone have any ideas of how i could make the house easier for her to move in? I am thinking of building a sort of short ramp into the litter box until we can find a much shorter one (ours requires a decent jump to get into).
Another thing is the bed and couch. I would really prefer her to stay down, but truth be told she attempts to get up anyway, even if she has to claw her way up. This is not an option though, with my mother having a leather couch. I am not concerned about the getting off part, she knows she cannot really jump, but I'm worried that climbing up she might lose her grip and fall. Would it be good to devise another ramp or steps for her, or to just try keeping her off?
As far as building these things, I am thinking of making them out of wood and putting a grippable covering on. Does anyone have any suggestions for this?
Thank you all for your time!