old cat dying⁉

[mazie]

Don't be fooled, cats are very resilient!!!   Can you share some pictures of the wise, old feline wizard???  (I love that name, Merlin)

 

But I am glad you are getting him checked out.

 

[gracethecat]

I would love to share some pictures! I will takes some when I get home!

 

[beth0612]

I just lost my BELOVED kitty Oliver in November and he was 2 months short of his 21st birthday. The last couple of years he had trouble jumping, so do make sure your cat has extra props to help him get where he needs to go. I had to move a chair next to my bed so Oliver could get up, but he was able to climb into the litter box until the very end.

It's good that you're taking him to the vet. There may be something going on that you can't fix, but there may be something simple that's wrong that you can address easily. I took my 17 year old cat into the vet soon after Oliver died because I wanted to know what I was facing with her since suddenly it dawned on me that she was elderly too. (Comparatively she'd always been the "young" cat.) It helps to know where you are on the healthy/unhealthy spectrum. 

 

[gracethecat]

Merlin might be ancient but he is still the boss!

 

[laura mae]

I don't know, to me it still seemed like she hurt. I don't recall it being a huge miracle for her. Maybe it helped her feel better, but I didn't notice big improvements for her.

 

[gracethecat]

Heisloveing his barn! And the horses

 

[mackiemac]

 
I don't know, to me it still seemed like she hurt. I don't recall it being a huge miracle for her. Maybe it helped her feel better, but I didn't notice big improvements for her.

I guess every cat responds differently, and Skye must just be one who responds very well. But if it gave Hazel even some modest comfort-- it's good. All I know is she went from moping and hardly even able to lift her leg to groom herself and cringing pitifully every time she would try to sit or stand... to RUNNING, and being able to do a standing scratch with her back leg, to walking the fence again, and even climbing trees and going to the roof. I have no doubt that she has achy days just like I do, like when the weather changes or we have storms on the horizon-- but she has many more happy days than hurting days. And looking back at her behavior, I now suspect that her arthritis has been there in some degree for many years and I just didn't make the connection. Cat arthritis behavior is so different from d*g behavior or people... MUCH more subtle!

I still recommend it for "Arthur Kitties", even on a one box trial (about 60 days). It's much safer than steroids like Depo or long-term pred, or NSAIDS, and she even had an "Alice in Wonderland" trip down the rabbit hole when she got a single dose of tramadol... for 12 hours she was "gone", stoned, looped out... seeing the purple flying mice... it was not good.