Need some advice about my 19 year old cat

tarmale

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Hi, I'm new here but have had cats my entire life. Currently I have a 19 year old female cat that I've had since she was 5 months who is obviously getting old.  She is spayed, declawed, indoor/outdoor cat.  Her typical day is:  wakes me up around 5:30am to eat.  She eats only wet food at this point and the soft middle treats.  She will go outside for most of the day if the weather is nice but comes in to eat and then goes back out.  I bring her in before dark as she cannot defend herself. She does socialize while outside with a younger male cat across the street.  She will go there but she will not allow him over our house as she's very territorial. 

Once she comes in for the night she will eat again and then sleep.

So, typical cat behavior. What's changed is that she often urinates outside of the litter box.   I took her to the vet and he ran blood work and she's perfectly healthy.  She is a happy cat and has no cataracts but has lost most of her hearing. She eats a lot!  She's always howling for food.  She probably goes through about 1.5 cans of food per day so that's not an issue and she has always been skinny perhaps due to her high metabolism.  She drinks plenty of water too and isn't on any medication.

So what I want to know does she sound like a typical, normal 19 year old?  I don't think she needs to be put down and my vet agrees.  She is active and alert we're just concerned about the urinating. 

I've had a cat as old as 24 but she was very sick towards the end whereas my current cat is not.

I appreciate any advice. 

Thank you!
 

margd

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Often when cats stop using their litter box, it's because of a UTI. Since she's been to the vet, hopefully she's been checked for that,

Another possibility since she's such a mature lady is that she has a touch of arthritis and it sometimes hurts to get into the box.

It also might be that she keeps going back to the same spot because her sensitive nose can pick up the smell of urine, even though you've cleaned it up. Try an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle so all the urine molecules are broken down.

Good luck!
 

kitty kisser

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I know this is off subject but I would love to know what you feed these cats ? To get them to live healthy and as long as they do !
 

kittenz

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Hi - I have an 18 year old that loves Acana dry kitten food (sold in the U.S., made in Canada) and Wild Calling (Made in Grand Junction, Colorado) sold all over the U.S., moist food. I just leave a massive bowl of dry food out for everyone, and then feed the moist food at meals.

Orijen is also branded as Acana, as you probably already know, but ... I latched onto that brand, as well as mixing it with other brands my 19 year old likes, because Acana fixed my other cat's health - 13 years old - when she lost 9 of her 16 lbs., after not being able to keep any food down inside her stomach.

For some weird reason, both the 13 year old and 18 year old love kitten food, so who knows, maybe it's simply kitten food that works well ... :-) Good luck in your search :-)
 

ruthm

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I'm going to assume your vet ruled out diabetes, but did he test for hyperthyroid?  It is a seperate panel that has to be sent to an outside lab?  Both are easily treatable- please keep us posted.
 
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tarmale

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Hi Ruth, yes both were tested for and ruled out.  When we adopted her we were told she had some kind of high metabolism disorder.  I no longer have the paperwork though so I'm not sure what it was called.  She has always eaten a lot and has always been very slim.  I guess it keeps her going!
 
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tarmale

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Hi kittykisser,

I have to say I swear by this.  As a kid, we had lots of cats.  Some we took to the vet and others we didn't.  Not sure the reason, probably because my parents couldn't afford to take them all.  The ones who had less vaccinations lived the longest.  We had a 16 year old female who just slowed down and passed and the oldest, 24, started getting tumors on her head and we had to put her down.  All the ones that went for regular vaccines died younger so now we never take any of our pets to the vet unless they are sick.

The other thing that we do with our pets now-cat you know, 8 year old lab, 4 year old bunny and several fish-(one goldfish lived to 13) is we make sure they are well socialized with us and keep to their daily routines.  As far as diet, I have no problem giving them table scraps and real food vs dry food with all the carbs.  They are most likely then benefitting from a low carb diet and fresh water.  I don't give them vitamins or anything else.  The dog likes to "help" rake leaves etc so we let her and she's so happy.
 
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tarmale

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Sorry, reply didn't go to your question for some reason.  It's on the bottom of the thread.
 
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tarmale

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Thanks Margd,

I'm going to get her a low entry litter box today.  I'm hoping that might help her.  If not I will have to take her back to test for that.
 
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tarmale

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Thank you so much kittenz!  I'll be at petco today and I'll see if they have some.  I'm glad your cats are doing well.
 

zed xyzed

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Hi - I have an 18 year old that loves Acana dry kitten food (sold in the U.S., made in Canada) and Wild Calling (Made in Grand Junction, Colorado) sold all over the U.S., moist food. I just leave a massive bowl of dry food out for everyone, and then feed the moist food at meals.

Orijen is also branded as Acana, as you probably already know, but ... I latched onto that brand, as well as mixing it with other brands my 19 year old likes, because Acana fixed my other cat's health - 13 years old - when she lost 9 of her 16 lbs., after not being able to keep any food down inside her stomach.

For some weird reason, both the 13 year old and 18 year old love kitten food, so who knows, maybe it's simply kitten food that works well ... :-) Good luck in your search :-)
I am a huge fan of Orijen too, It really is great stuff. I will need to check out Wild Calling. thanks 
 
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