- Joined
- May 13, 2004
- Messages
- 5
- Purraise
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I found out the hard way a couple weeks ago that cats can get a form of Alzheimer's disease. Although the disease has been formally adopted for dogs as "Canine Cognitive Dysfunction", it's not officially adopted for cats. However, take time to read the article posted on this website under the Care section entitled "Love to the Max - Feline Senility."
I was amazed to see that my 15-year-old kitty, Domino, had almost every one of the symptoms described in the article, and some of them are:
1. constant crying or yowling
2. wandering aimlessly
3. litterbox "accidents"
4. not wanting to be petted or cuddled
5. repetitive pacing. For instance, Domino would momentarily stop by me while I was seated on our loveseat, whine for a moment, walk completely around the loveseat, and start the whole process over again, repeating it two or three times - this was only one of the repetitive pacings that she would do.
I was also very interested to learn that there is a drug on the market that can relieve the symptoms (but does not cure the disease). Right now it is only FDA approved for dogs, but some vets will prescribe it for cats.
Tearfully and with a heavy heart, I had Domino put to sleep on May 11. I just could not afford the battery of tests that she would have to go through in order to finally get the prescribed symptom-reliever, Anipryl. Assuming the vet would prescribe it, that is. And it wouldn't cure her, anyway, and the disease would still progress and eventually cause her death. I miss her so much, she was my first kitty and I'd had her since she was a wee kitten. But now she's across the Rainbow Bridge and is free from her restlessness, confusion and upset.
I'm not a vet or even a breeder or cat expert, I just wanted to make everyone aware of this disease.
Thanks for reading,
Becky
I was amazed to see that my 15-year-old kitty, Domino, had almost every one of the symptoms described in the article, and some of them are:
1. constant crying or yowling
2. wandering aimlessly
3. litterbox "accidents"
4. not wanting to be petted or cuddled
5. repetitive pacing. For instance, Domino would momentarily stop by me while I was seated on our loveseat, whine for a moment, walk completely around the loveseat, and start the whole process over again, repeating it two or three times - this was only one of the repetitive pacings that she would do.
I was also very interested to learn that there is a drug on the market that can relieve the symptoms (but does not cure the disease). Right now it is only FDA approved for dogs, but some vets will prescribe it for cats.
Tearfully and with a heavy heart, I had Domino put to sleep on May 11. I just could not afford the battery of tests that she would have to go through in order to finally get the prescribed symptom-reliever, Anipryl. Assuming the vet would prescribe it, that is. And it wouldn't cure her, anyway, and the disease would still progress and eventually cause her death. I miss her so much, she was my first kitty and I'd had her since she was a wee kitten. But now she's across the Rainbow Bridge and is free from her restlessness, confusion and upset.
I'm not a vet or even a breeder or cat expert, I just wanted to make everyone aware of this disease.
Thanks for reading,
Becky