Elderly Cat Care- Senility and Deafness

kitav

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My cat is 18-20 years of age, has gone completely deaf in the last two years (very gradually, but it's all gone now), and has become increasingly senile.  This has led to some real problems, namely lots of nighttime yowling.  Because she's deaf, it's basically at top volume...which for her is VERY, very loud.   I don't live in an apartment, so that's not an issue, but she wakes me up approximately every two hours throughout the night.  Her sessions of yowling generally last for about twenty minutes.  Even if I let her in my room and on my bed, she wanders out to the living room/kitchen to have her old lady shouting time. 

Food quiets her until she forgets she's eaten (or where her food is, despite me trying to maintain a routine of where it is every single time), which lasts about 45 minutes to an hour.  I can't overfeed her, no matter how much she wants me to, as she's a very, very small cat.  Actually, if she was younger, I'd say she's a little overweight, but it's so hard for her to maintain her weight at her age.   Her vet okays her diet.

  I've been to my vet, but she didn't really have any recommendations, other than the obvious.  I don't feel like she's uncomfortable or unhappy enough to feel like putting her to sleep is a good option.  She basically is just confused cat gramma, wandering around at night talking to herself.  Other than the deafness and senility (forgetting where her food is, nighttime yowling, occassional lethargy), she's in very good health.  Some hip problems that means she avoids jumping and asks to be picked up all the time, and a lack of teeth (from fighting when she was younger, not health related).  No pain, no unhappiness.  She's actually more friendly and content than she used to be, enjoys contact more.

Obviously the yowling is a sign of confusion, which makes me sad, but I don't know if anyone else has had any success curtailing the noise.  I love her very much, but I can't exactly manage to live without getting much sleep at night-  it's not like she's bringing home the bacon.  Is there anything I should do to make it easier on her?  I've installed more hidey-spaces for her, tried not to redecorate or move things around, keep the windows curtained, but it's not helping.

I know it's probably a long-shot, nothing else anyone's suggested has helped, and even my vet just sort of shrugged.  If anyone has some experience with this sort of problem...I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Thanks.
 

miss mew

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Welcome to TCS!  You sound like such a loving, patient kitty parent


I have seen these issues with 2 of my elderly cats that have since passed.  Unfortunately I was not able to curve the yowling and whatnot very much.  I know with one of the cats we discovered she was also having vision issues as well and leaving some nightlights on helped with the yowling some.

We'd love to see some pics of your old gal if you get the chance!
 

cocheezie

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I went from having the quietest cat in the world to the loudest. She didn't howl when it was night however. Until almost the last when she became very bold, she was a scaredy cat and basically lived in my bedroom for four years. In the bedroom there was a litter box, water and food bowls. At night, the door was shut. Perhaps locking her in with you at night might work (with a night light if she's having vision problems). Her world becomes much smaller and there is always a reference point - you, litter box, food, water. Just a suggestion.

Edit: oops - I seem to have forgotten to mention that she became the loudest cat in the world when she lost her hearing.
 
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kitav

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Well,it's easier to be patient when she can't hear your annoyed growls of frustration at 3am or get scared at your shouting at her to shut up!   I'll try leaving a table lamp on for her, and see if that helps.  I haven't wanted to close her in with me just because of the 4am CrazyCats she gets every night, but I suppose being woken up once by her racing around my bed is better than constantly being woken up.

I'll see if some light helps.
 

cocheezie

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Just growl with a smile on your face so she doesn't sense that you are tired and sleep deprived. She doesn't know what she is doing wrong.

Excellence taste in hats.
 

miss mew

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before I forget! Jynxie the old lady tired of my crap.
What a beautiful lady
 I hope you had a decent sleep last night.  Who needs a newborn baby when you have an elderly cat!
 
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kitav

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I still can't say if it helped or not to leave a light on.  I had at least two interruptions, though it might have been only two, but it took her longer to start than usual.  She didn't wake me up the first time until about 3.   I'll try to get her vision tested, I wouldn't be surprised if she's losing her vision, or at least having more trouble focusing on things.  Do kitty vision tests work well?

Now that I've been thinking about it more, I'm wondering if I should get something like this


To feed her throughout the night to stop some of the fits.  She's always been a gorge and whine eater, and with her diet I haven't been able to give her an auto feeder (I never stopped to think before that refrigerated ones existed, but hey, look at that!)  I'll look into it come payday, and see if it helps.  At least having timed gooshy food every couple hours might stop some of the begging.
 

betsygee

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We also had a cat who went deaf and started this awful nighttime yowling.  On the advice of our vet, we started leaving a TV on in the room where he slept.  That way when he woke up, he wouldn't be as scared or confused.  It helped a lot.  That and ear plugs for me!
 

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Has your vet mentioned anything about thyroid problems? Have you had her thyroid checked? When our two Old Ladies (Whisper was 20 and Bootser 21 when they passed) became old Ladies (or maybe I should say Old Crabs (and I mean that in the nicest way possible, honestly), they both developed thyroid problems. Because of their thyroid issues, they wanted to eat constantly. And they would start yelling very, very early in the morning.....they wanted breakfast. Never mind that it was 3:00 in the morning; they wanted breakfast. And nothing would change their minds. I got to the point where I just couldn't handle it anymore. And I refuse to give any cat breakfast at 3:00 a.m. It just wasn't going to happen. The noise always awakened me, but my husband didn't hear much of it. So I got up and went downstairs and got on the treadmill with my iPod, so I didn't have to hear it. Even though both cats were on meds, by that time, they were so attuned to each other screaming, that it didn't matter. Eventually we had to euthanize both of them, not because of the screaming (although I threatened to every morning, I'm sorry to say), but because their health just went downhill (kidney problems for both of them) and we knew it was time anyway. I'm really getting off the topic here and I apologize. But your kitty might need to have some blood work done to rule out thyroid issues. When the thyroid gets out of whack, they'll eat and eat and eat and they're never full and they're always hungry. Meds will help for a while.

They were both very small cats and we could not free-feed them as they would eat and eat and eat, until they puked. And then eat their puke and come back for more food. 

Our BooBoo, who is one of Whisper's litter kittens and will be 19 in February, is deaf. Thankfully, he has not yet started that yeowling in the middle of the night that many deaf cats seem to develop. He may meow a few times during the night, but quickly calms back down. Usually he's back in bed with us (I think it's because he feels more secure with us than out someplace alone) and I also think that having the tv on at night seems to help him. We just keep the tv on in the bedroom pretty much all night long as I'd rather have the tv on than listen to him meow. 

We also keep a night light on in the bathroom. That's where most of their litterboxes are and if I don't turn the night light on, usually Boo starts meowing around 1:00 or so. When I get up to find him (and it he isn't in bed, I always go looking for him, just to make sure he's not in any trouble or anything), he's usually sitting in the bathroom. I turn the light on and sit there while he uses the litterbox, then we both go back to bed. 

It's interesting being a mom to elderly cats, that's for sure.
 
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ankitty

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Ear plugs or cotton balls. 


I had a cat she went totally blind and meowed really loud also. She didn't meow during night, but she came to my bed and woke me up every two hours. Our vet said she was getting senile and her mind was in a happy dream land. I was annoyed and sad, but when she passed, I regreted that I got annoyed by her. 
 

cocheezie

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A simple vision test that was performed on my diabetic cat during a low glucose incident in which he had been acting brain blind. Stand slightly behind your cat so that the cat does not see your arm raised or the puff ball (light and will not cause an air disturbance). Then raise your arm and let the puff ball drop about a foot away from the cat just at the edge of their vision. You could also try it in the dark to get an idea of night vision. Then you can take your findings to the vet.
 

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Oh, those memories of loud meowling all hours of the day and night....   Pal had her hearing  until she passed just before her 22nd birthday but when she lost her sight she started to yeowl big time.   I'm pretty sure she didn't have any dementia as she was very adept at learning new layouts to navigate the apartment and still patted toys I tapped her paws with in gentle play.  The loud meowing seemed to be her cries for reassurance when she didn't know where I was, or when she wanted something and knew it would get my attention.  Actually it got the attention of everyone living in my apartment block and out on the main street (the floor below) as well  but I try not to feel too bad about that as she was such a honey and didn't mean to keep then entire neighbourhood awake.    The best tactic was to try and keep her in the room where I was, or where she had company so when she wanted something she would get attention quickly and someone could try to figure out what she wanted:  usually it was to be petted and stroked but sometimes it was clean litter or some food / water.   It helped a bit for me to talk back to her because she did have hearing and she would navigate towards me as long as there were no hard to open doors or anything in the way, but without hearing that wouldn't help.

If a cat does loose sight and or hearing it can help to make the most of the senses they do have so using regular vibration / tapping which cats sense more than people do can help such as letting her know when food is put out or where you are,  touch,  and smell.  Bare in mind her sense of smell might not be so acute either and maybe need more smelly foods like sardines or adding Fortiflora and other smelling toppings to food she likes to help her find it.

You could try the timed feeder but it would depend whether she could get used to the different design and learning when she's able to feed vs when she can't.  I used a feeder like this with my previous cats when they were young but not as they got older so don't know f Pal would still have coped with it.  I gave her a mix of wet pouches of food, tuna in spring water to keep her eating enough to maintain weight, and biscuits so she could snack over night.  She'd been fed a mix all her life though so this wasn't a big change for her.

I just got kind of used to the night time meows and would guage how desperate Pal sounded as to whether to roll over and go back to sleep with my ears covered, talk and reassure her, or get up and fetch her and bring her to bed with me for more reassurance after checking out what was bothering her.
 
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kitav

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A peanut butter cup tinfoil hat.  The height of fashion, haven't you heard?
 
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kitav

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She's always been a food beggar, so I hadn't actually thought about a thyroid problem.  Her brother died of renal failure a couple years back, but her food was always separated from his due to her dietary needs, so whenever I'd feed him she'd start begging.   After he passed the begging just sort of continued.  When she goes into the vet I'll have them check into it.

I'll do some vision tests tomorrow, I found some things online, too. 

I wish I could wear earplugs, but missing my alarm just isn't something that can happen, and I'll sleep forever unless I force myself awake.  Plus, if she really is upset, I like to be able to know.  I can tell the difference by now between nighttime talk yowling, and upset yowling.  She does do some of the latter, and I've made a habit of getting up.  She's a very raspy cat, one of those smoker-voices, when she gets upset it scales off and sort of gets cut off by her lack of higher register.

She's terrified of mice, and one got in one night, which is how I learned the difference.  Mighty hunter. 

Yes, the lack of vibration thing was a problem when she first lost her hearing, because I don't have subfloors.  Putting yoga mats under rugs has actually helped that, because it's the only way she can tell people are coming if she's not paying attention.  And her little scarred 'mrarph!'s every time I startled her were kinda making me sad.  She loves to sit on rugs, so putting the mats underneath means there's enough 'vibration' for her.  If she loses her vision, I'm not going to be super concerned because I've already put into place a lot of the things she'd need.  Obviously I want her to be able to see, but the transition wouldn't be so rough.

Thanks so much for the responses, guys.  :)  And I love hearing about your kitties.
 

mservant

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Jynxie sounds like she's well wrapped around your heart @kitav  , our older cats have a way of doing that like no one can imagine.  
   Her raspy chatter sounds very cute when it isn't at full volume.  

She is very lucky to be with such a caring person who is adapting their environment to help her find her way as her cat senses change.   I hope she does keep at least some sight but even if not, cats including older and very frail ones can manage without sight very well.  Pal showed me this as she padded about my home happily for 3 1/2 years after she lost hers.  
 

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If she isn't blind you might try cat videos for her. Long shot, I know. I have two Siamese about your kitty's age (nearly 18), and they do yowl far more than they did when they were younger. However, I think their yowling may be different. Both have kidney disease which I'm managing with diet and being sure they get plenty of water (I mix water with KD diet in the blender and put a sprinkling of Fortiflora on it with every feeding.) I do feed them almost as often as they want. Most of the time they sleep. 

No question in my mind that your kitty should continue living if she is not in pain. I was about to put one of my cats down a year ago; she was grieving for her sister who died. Then she had dental work - all her teeth were pulled. I spent several months hand-feeding her and figuring out what diet was best. Now she is restored.

I don't know if you can afford Fortiflora, but it's a nice treat for them.

Sorry I can't suggest something brilliant. 
 

ecantarow

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PS I'd go the ear plug route. Flents are a good option - something you can mould and insert in your ears so as to really seal them. 
 
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