19 year old cat - New Environment - Need some Advice.

Hi,

My cat is 19 years old and she is a ragdoll mix cat. She grew up with us in a humid environment in South East Asia. She is also very accustomed to moving houses - we have moved about 10-11 times. She has also travelled with us overseas to Canada where the temperature is alot lower. She was very quick in adjusting to new environment provided we were at her side. From hotels, flights, big and small houses. She is also the only cat - with ALOT of affection from us. 

She has constant love by us and is very well fed. 

She recently suffers from Arthritis - but with glucosamine it has been working very well on her. 

She also is very temperamental with vets, other cats and other people. She is very loving towards us and only purrs when we are around with her. 

The vet says she is overweight - and she walks with abit of a wobble. But it doesn't stop her from going to the bathroom (she is toilet trained) and going to her food.  

So here is the situation, 

About 6 months ago, we flew her to Canada. She adjusted well to the cold by sticking herself next to a heater and was always covered with blankets. She was introduced to 2 new kittens and she adjusted to the new home very well. She did not blend too well with the cat, but still accepted them. She would hiss at them most of the time ( for the entire 6 months ). The house was rather dark and her eyes were constantly dilated. She was also meowing a fair bit when my mother and I was not around - she was not getting enough attention in that house from my sister. ( we visited her once a week ).

Now, about 4 days ago, we moved her to a new house. The 2 cats remained in the other house. She is eating regularly, she goes to the toilet regularly with no difficulty. But 

1) she meows VERY loudly - like demanding attention 

2) she keeps hiding at dark places 

 - Usually she would do this for 1-2 days.. its longer than usual and its giving us stress. 

However, 

When we place her with us on the bed, she sleeps very well and is very quiet. It seems we have to be at her side 24/7. Her eyes are also not as dilated as before as there is alot more light in the house. 

What should we do to make this transition better for her?

-is she missing the 2 cats?

-is she in pain? - she doesnt show any signs of it! 

- her fur is really shiny and nice, her eyes are still bright and she is seems healthy. 

Some advice would be nice. We cannot leave her on the bed as it is very high. Being 19 years old she no longer can jump about - so we mostly carry her around. She walks only when needed.

Please share some insight - or if people with experience with very old cats. 

She is very dear to us. 

Thank You.

I can see you are so devoted to her.....just her age tells of the wonderful care she has been given

Older cats do tend to call out loudly.  Some people think their hearing is bad and that is the reason.

But I would definately suggest a vet visit.  When was the last time she was seen?  Senior cats get all sorts of new problems with age.  Too many to list here.  She will need a senior blood panel also.  At her age, it is the only way to go.  Do you have a regular vet?  If not, ask friends and neighbors or people at work who they would recommend.  The fact that she is hiding in dark places is disturbing.  Cats do that when they are feeling bad.  That is about the only hint they will give you as they cover up sickness very, very well.

So, please get her to a vet. This advanced age calls for a good exam.  I hope she is allright.  You are a caring, good owner to take such wonderful care of this sweet old lady.

Please let us know how she is.

Hi farleyv,

Thank you for responding.

Well she has been with me since I was 6! She has migrated everywhere we went. She is more than just a family cat, she is family.

Our last visit was about 8 months ago, when she got tagged (in the ear) right before she flew to Canada. The vets in Singapore are good, but the last visit was rather traumatic. They needed to take some blood from her in another room - but right after they placed her on the table, she started screaming very very loudly (as if in pain). We could hear this from the waiting room - don't know why they did not allow us to go in initially. She was really calm when the main vet. tagged her and checked for stones in her stomach. So upon hearing her scream like that, we rushed in and stopped the whole procedure. We suspected that one of the young vet must have placed her wrongly on her bad leg and made her really upset. So we ended up not doing the blood sample.

She was fine since and still is really. I just took a nap with her beside me. She snores and purrs very loudly.

We are scared and skeptical of taking her to the vet. Further more here in Vancouver Canada, it might be really costly?

I feel she is just being really loud as she just simply wants attention. I think your point on her hearing being off because of her age is very accurate. But all her senses seems fine as she looks at us and listens when we speak to her. She doesn't always retreat to the dark places. when she starts meowing and adventuring the house she would eventually ask to go into some dark place. But most of the time, once we place her on the bed - which is soft, warm and really comfy - she settles down and goes to sleep. She only starts meowing when we leave her alone for too long, she just need to know we are there...

What a sweet girl you have.. 

I must say that the vets in Canada are probably much better than in Singapore.   All vets are costly.  I just today had to pay over 300.00 for a test on my boy. 

You could get her into a vet and explain your concerns.  She could have an exam without blood work I suppose.  But dont discount going to the vets.  You never want to have to say "if only we took her in at the time".  Peace of mind is everything.

I had a cat once that would scream at the vets if the vet just reached for him to listen to his heart!  Sometimes it is not as bad as we think.

Just remember, vets are all different.  Ask around and see who is the best.

Good luck to you.

At her age, glucosamine may not be doing the trick, especially if she has moved to a colder environment. We have a 21 yo kitty and his arthritis is much worse in the winter. We too thought he was doing ok but he would hiss for no reason so we took him in, turned out, his arthritis had gotten much worse and we had to start a much more rigorous pain control regiment. 

I would definitely take her to the vet, it really can't hurt. 

My senior yells at the top of his lungs for attention , and I don't think he's losing his hearing, because in the middle of the night when he's laying on the bed, he can detect immediately when I wake up, just because my breathing changes .  Anyway, I totally agree that her arthritis is proabably  much worse in the colder environment, PLUS, if she's up on the bed and cannot get down, she may be asking for assistance.  Can you build her something that she can use as steps?  Luckily our guy can still jump up and down pretty well, but our last senior was having problems, so we actually filled up a storage box with books (to keep it from shifting), then put padding on top and covered the entire thing with fabric to match the room. That way she could jump up into the window seat, or onto the bed, wherever we decided to put her "step" that day.  (usually by the window seat in the daytime, and by the bed at night)  Or they make actual pet steps for those really high bed.

p.s.  I do think a Vet visit might be in order, though, just 'cause she hasn't had her senior panel done in awhile (so it seems)

Hi friends,

Thank you for replying and giving advice! Really appreciate it. When you have live with a pet companion for 19 years and still counting, they really become just family.

Well, Tootee, the princess, is settled in - though she is SUPER attached to my mom now. She sleeps, sits and goes wherever my mom does. Whenever I try and grab her to cuddle with, she would do so for like 5 mins and then start looking for my mom. Also the chair she sits on, she DEMANDS to be on it all the time.

She would meow like non-stop to get what she wants. (different meow now, not that of searching or pain or anything, its constant egging kind of meow - like that of asking for food ). So she is being super needy at the moment. Being a brat! Hahah - and we think a visit is a good idea sometime soon.

We basically are treating her with tough love now, by not succumbing to what she wants! So we have to endure her meows.

We live in Vancouver, BC. Any recommendations for a trusty, kind and gentle vet?

Thank you friends!

b1663r said:

Hi friends,

Thank you for replying and giving advice! Really appreciate it. When you have live with a pet companion for 19 years and still counting, they really become just family.

Well, Tootee, the princess, is settled in - though she is SUPER attached to my mom now. She sleeps, sits and goes wherever my mom does. Whenever I try and grab her to cuddle with, she would do so for like 5 mins and then start looking for my mom. Also the chair she sits on, she DEMANDS to be on it all the time.

She would meow like non-stop to get what she wants. (different meow now, not that of searching or pain or anything, its constant egging kind of meow - like that of asking for food ). So she is being super needy at the moment. Being a brat! Hahah - and we think a visit is a good idea sometime soon.

We basically are treating her with tough love now, by not succumbing to what she wants! So we have to endure her meows.

We live in Vancouver, BC. Any recommendations for a trusty, kind and gentle vet?

Thank you friends!

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I'll add my First off it is very obvious you adore your cat!   I would agree with the other posts about the vet visit.  Just to be sure.  My senior cat Hoot vocalizes at the top of her lungs. She has been doing this for about the past year.  She just turned 15.  I've had her to the vet over it and he can find nothing wrong with her.  You might want to use one of the Feliway diffusers.  They emit phermones to help calm the nerves of cats but your cat sounds like she adjusts pretty well in just about any situation.