Incessant Crying - 17 yr old calico

3 months ago I moved from a trailer to a townhouse and
at first my cat seemed fine until about a week ago.
She now goes from normal to incessant crying all the time.
Last night I hardly slept at all because of the crying
and I'm taking her to the vet Saturday to rule out any
physical problems. I put her in the bathroom once last night
but that was probably a mistake because she just cried louder.
She is very spoiled and prefers human food if given a choice.
I feed her moist food twice a day and she cries unless I do.
She rejects her dry food but eats it occasionally, when I'm not
looking. Unless her water bowl is full to the top, she acts
like there is no water at all, but I don't think she has a
vision problem. I feed her 3 to 4 different kinds of moist
food but don't know if that's a problem.
I sleep with her downstairs now, because she kept waking me up
in the middle of the night and acted like I was leaving her when
I went upstairs to sleep. At first that seemed to help, but now
she cries even if I sleep downstairs.
Please help if you can - amateur or professional advice is
welcome.

Hi Bryan! First of all, I wanted to welcome you to TCS! There are a lot of experts on this site, so I'm you're you'll get some great suggestions!

My first thought was that she's just trying to adjust to the new home. Do you let her sleep with you at night? If not, maybe she is needing some extra attention since the move. I'm glad to see that you are taking her to the Vet. That's a very smart thing to do. It might be nothing wrong with her, but at least you would know that it isn't a health problem.

Good luck and hope to see you posting on the boards!

Shoot...I forgot to add something! Is she spayed? If not, maybe she is smelling a intact male outside your home? You might want to invest in a Feliway plug in. They seem to help calm kitties down when they are stressed out.

If you're not sure where to find a Feliway Plug, you can do a search on our Sister Site www.meowhoo.com
Good luck once again and please keep us posted!

She was spayed at 6 months old after having her only
litter, so she is not in heat, although the behavior
pattern is very similar and she goes to the door like
she wants out even though she is an indoor cat.
I do sleep with her but lately she is restless and won't
let me sleep either.
I'm stumped but determined to find the answer - I love my
cat very much and will find a way to solve her problem.

It sounds like a medical problem to me, but I'm by far not an expert. This might be her way of letting you know that something is wrong physically with her.

Since you've moved, has your play time with been less? Maybe she is just yearning for more "together" time with you. Just a suggestion...I really don't know what could be causing this. I'm sure your Vet can shed some insight with you about her behavior.

You are doing the most important step by being concerned and seeking out a professional's help (vet visit) Cats do not like change, and she could be responding to the recent move, or to a smell that is in your home, or even to a cat that is outside. At her advanced age, it would be a good idea when you take her in to have a blood panel drawn on her so her levels can be checked. Stress, no matter how small can sometimes trigger major health issues.

She sounds quite pampered, and if she was younger, I would offer the advice that you just ignore her when she "goes vocal" but over time, she has successfully conditioned her human to see to her every need, and at this late date, it would be cruel to press a change on her and stop doing for her as you are:

She is very spoiled and prefers human food if given a choice feed her moist food twice a day and she cries unless I do.
She rejects her dry food but eats it occasionally, when I'm not
looking. Unless her water bowl is full to the top, she acts
like there is no water at all

Click to expand...

So you see, she expects you to respond to her and you do because you love her so much. As I said, responding in Tough Love at this late stage wouldn't be fair for her. But my concern would really be a health issue and she should have a full work-up.

Another suggestion would be to purchase a black light flashlight through Petsmart and shine it around your home after midnight (with all the lights off) look for iridescent markings on the carpet and even on the walls. If someone had a cat prior to you moving in, they may have not done a great clean-up job when they left. Then using something like Natures Miracle or another enzyme breakdown cleaner, clean up those stains until they vanish.

Good luck!

I strongly suggest a visit to your vet, for her to have a full exam, her thyroid levels, and kidney values (be sure to get a urinalysis for them to check the specific gravity) checked. My now 16 y.o., one of the signs that something was wrong was his "losing me". He'd not have me in his immediate field of vision and begin to cry..sometimes, I'd be behind him, and he'd not realize it and begin to cry. That, plus his losing weight was enough for us to get bloodwork done, which showed he has Chronic Renal Failure.

I've heard others on the support list I am on for this condition, discuss just this same thing..howling/crying...sometimes it's the result of high b/p affecting the cats vision, or thyroid level's being off or the cat hainv CRF.

I'm not a vet, but did want to share that I've experienced this with my beloved oldster, and heard many others describe this. Best wishes to your kitty,

Hi! Any update on this? Hope everything is going well with u and ur cat in ur new home! Pls keep us posted.

Took my cat to the vet Saturday and I'm glad I entered
this forum. Instead of just getting her usual annual, I had
blood work done and found the problem is not behavioral at all,
and has a very physical origin. Her BUN (blood urea nitrogen) is
54 and shouldn't be over 16. Her alkaline is 317 and shouldn't
be over 113. Her other levels were all just slightly over normal.
My vet recommended feline KD and I'm getting some ASAP.
He also recommended a semi-moist product since she is so used to moist food. He said warning signs are frequent vomiting and not eating
or drinking. So far she has none of those symptoms and I hope I may have caught this soon enough to save her life. Her teeth have some tartar buildup but the vet said no infection and anesthesia is too risky at her age. I agreed and I knew then he wasn't after more money and truly cares about my pet. Her crying is caused by her high levels
and the doctor said her body is effecting her mind. I now blame myself for this situation, I have a more than average knowledge of anatomy and physiology and also knew that kidney problems can be fatal for a cat.
Yet,I still bought off the shelf foods and basically was slowly "killing her with kindness". I now recommend any of you with a cat 10 years or older get a blood test with your pet's annual.
My vet couldn't even detect a problem until he had
the blood test results. When he mentioned it I said "let's do it" and
I'm glad I did because it's my cat's only chance for survival now.
Please learn from my mistake - even though my cat is almost 18 she still would have been better off if I had a blood test done earlier.
Now, it's a fight for her life - I'm glad that I acted on her behavioral changes quickly as this may still ultimately save her.
Pray for my Katy if you believe and at least learn from this if you do not.

Bless your heart bryan , be sure I will keep you both in my prayers . Keep us informed how things go with your cat .

Brian, I am glad you listened to the cat owners here. Honestly they have nothing but the best of intentions everytime they answer posts. You got her to the vet and had the necessary information to present to the vet and got her looked at and evaluated.

Don't beat yourself up about killing her with kindness- 17 years old is a good solid age and she sounds like she is the center of your life. No cat could ask for a better caretaker than she has.

I took off your single posting on this, because our boards are reactive, and simply adding to this thread will bump it up to the top if you want people to see it and heed your words of warning.

My best to you and Katy- we are here when you need us-

Thanks, Hissy
My little girl needs all the help she can get.
You have all opened my eyes to my elderly cat's
special needs - I started to think nothing could stop
her but I now realize her life is in my hands and she
needs me very much. Just like a human child, your cat
is totally dependent on you to make the right decisions for them.

Originally posted by bryan3021
Thanks, Hissy
My little girl needs all the help she can get.
You have all opened my eyes to my elderly cat's
special needs - I started to think nothing could stop
her but I now realize her life is in my hands and she
needs me very much. Just like a human child, your cat
is totally dependent on you to make the right decisions for them.

Click to expand...

I'm glad you've found out what was causing this, but sorry your girl is dealing with CRF. When I first got this diagnosis for Alix's Grandpa, Patrick, I found this website..it's an incredible resource:
Feline CRF Website
My other recommendation is that you use these lists to choose your foods for your kitty (of course, being guided by your vet, but sometimes, we end up teachers of our vets, and there is nothing wrong with that...your vet might enjoy seeing these two wonderful lists):KatKarma's Dry Cat Foods List and Katkarma's Canned Cat Foods List These two lists allow me to choose canned foods for Patrick that are lower in phosphorus, and when he's needed a change, even a non-prescription, lower protein/low phosphorus food.
I know this must all seem incredibly daunting, but I want you to know that Patrick is 14 months out from his diagnosis and still have a good quality of life (he plays, he purrs, he rules!). Please consider, for support and much, much more detailed and accurate information, joining the yahoogroup list for this... [email protected] You can find the information on how to join by going to yahoogroups.com and searching for this group by name.

best wishes to you, I hope the above will help you,

Just started Katy on Waltham's Renal Support today.
She will most likely be on this the rest of her life.
Any ideas for alternative food/treats that do not
contain protein or phosphorus?
She is eating the Waltham's but I'd like to be able to
give her something else that is safe for her.

Originally posted by bryan3021
Just started Katy on Waltham's Renal Support today.
She will most likely be on this the rest of her life.
Any ideas for alternative food/treats that do not
contain protein or phosphorus?
She is eating the Waltham's but I'd like to be able to
give her something else that is safe for her.

Click to expand...

Bryan,

Go to the katkarma sites I listed in my note above...you'll even find the walthams you are now feeding, and compare to it. Also, please check out the feline crf help website - without belonging to a list, it discusses medications, tests, so many things, and has a link to a site in England that is superb..it addresses vomitting, muscle wasting, how to handle high potassium or phosphorus levels, signs and treatments for anemia (a problem that many crf kitties eventually have)...so much expertise, free for the reading

best wishes to Katy,