Problem with grandparent's cat

My grandfather and I think his 12 y/o cat (Princess) has been acting strange. I noticed this strange behavior months ago. Usually when I was at their house she would always be sitting on grandpa's lap. But then she stopped and would always be hiding. I'm not sure when this started but I suspect it was around the time they got two new female cats. They didn't do the introduction thing but these new cats stay on the other side of the house, so there should be no territorial problems. Then about a month after that, Princess had a ton of knots in her long fur so grandma insisted we shave them off. That didn't go to well and ended with my aunt holding the cat up by the scruff of her neck, I could tell the poor cat was miserable. Since then, she runs away from me when she sees me. She's been spending a lot of time upstairs in one of the unoccupied rooms.

Yesterday (Thursday), grandpa said she won't eat. I don't know if that started Thursday or not. He's handicapped due to a stroke so his mind isn't all there. He says the cat won't jump on the table to eat. He says he put food on the floor and she ate that, but now she won't eat. She normally eats both dry and canned food. There may be a possibility she's thirsty and can't find the water (I just thought of that). The water is kept on the table which she won't jump on now. Plus, I think no one ever changes that water so it may be undrinkable to her. There is water in the kitchen but she rarely goes in there. I'll have to let grandma know about this.

She's also doing some sort of lip smacking thing. It's like she's licking her lips. I think that's a sign of nausea, right?

When she went to the vet's a few weeks ago the vet said she had soft or hard feeling intestines, I think. I can't remember. So I think there was concern of IBS or IBD. No blood work or xrays were done. I think her mouth (gums and tongue) had a slight blue tint to them, the vet wasn't overly concerned about that. She also is in need of a dental cleaning and has been since June 2008 or 2007. She had blood work done June 2008 and it was normal.

When she was at the vet's they had problems getting an accurate temperature reading. It kept coming back with a low temperature. They thought something was in the way (poop, I guess) so they kept reinserting the thermometer. After about about two minutes they finally got a temperature that was within the normal range and went with that. But I wonder if she really had a low temperature and the reinserting of the thermometer caused her body temperature to raise. Because Thursday I felt her ears and they were very cool. The outside temp. was 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the inside temp was 76-78 degrees Fahrenheit. So, her ears probably shouldn't have felt that cool. Right now, it's 76 degrees in my house and none of my cat's ears feel cool at all.

I told my grandparents that if she doesn't eat today (Friday) to call me and I'll take her to the vet.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what might be wrong? She could be upset about the new cats and the shaving, she is rather moody and seems to hold a grudge. Or she could actually have something wrong with her. I just want to get an idea so I can keep an eye on her. Grandma doesn't like her but she's grandpa's baby. If something happened to her he'd be heartbroken.

cats probably are having an effect on her. Also the trimming of her fur I am sure traumatized her. Please make sure your grandparents realize clean water is imperitive. Cats need to drink or they get dehydrated and all sorts of nasty things can follow. You are right to take her to the vets, but I would definately get blood work done. I'd make sure she is tested for diabetes. Its been over a year since the last blood work. A lot can happen in a short time. She really needs to eat also. Clean food and water should be there all the time, especially considering her age. It may be hard for her to jump up on the table at this stage of her life. I think in human years, she is well into her 70's. When cats get this old, they start to suffer from constipation. Every elderly cat I have had did. Then it's time for stool softeners and wet food. She sounds like she has a few issues. I'd see the vet asap and you will probably have to transition to care that is geared toward the elderly cat. Good luck.

Thanks. I'll call grandma later today, she doesn't get up until mid-afternoon.

It's interesting that you mentioned constipation. I found a small piece of hard poop in the unoccupied room the cat's been staying in. I don't think the other pets go in there. But one of the other cat's (about 8-10 y/o) has just recently developed a constipation problem. They eat canned/wet food in addition to dry, so it doesn't seem like constipation should be an issue.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to leave food on the floor without the dog getting into it? The dog is as small as the cat, so it won't do any good to stick the food under a small table or in a box or something like that.

If you have a counter that the cats can eat on, that would be good. The dog cannot jump up on a counter but the kitties can.