Old cat suddenly behaving oddly?

[Mimibabybat]

Hi, so my cat just turned 20 a few days ago. She had a vet visit in november and they said she was in really good health for her age, and that she definitely is spry for her age.

Since then theres been no incidents, but just as of maybe 2 days ago shes acted a bit odd.

Shes now sleeping in a place shes hardly ever slept, and she seems almost unwilling to hop down. I know she has some arthritis in her back legs, but she's never until just now been unwilling to get down. But when she does hop down, she runs.

Now the vet said shes spry, sure, but it seems shes running everywhere. She runs in the kitchen to get her food, and she runs and jumps back onto the couch to get to her new spot with surpising speed for her age.

And just today it seemed like she almost forgot to go into the kitchen to snack or to get water until i would prompt her.

Other then that shes normal, wants the same amount of attention and whatnot.

Money ia tight so when i take her to the vet i always want to be sure since its a different expense to bounce back from.

But im starting to worry about how odd shes acted today especially, and would just like some feedback about whats maybe going on or what to do.

 

[gilmargl]

First of all, welcome to the site, and congratulations on having such a senior cat who appears to have had no real health problems in her long life. As far as I know, none of my cats have reached such a ripe old age. They may have been with me for 16 or 17 years - but being strays their birth years were never known.

Of course, no-one can say for sure what has caused her behaviour to change and I can only guess that she is suffering - either from a temporary small injury or a geriatric condition. Maybe she is in pain - cats are expert at hiding the fact that they are sick - and this may be causing her to run to find a secure and safe place. Perhaps her new sleeping place is either warmer or cooler and provides more comfort. One of my younger cats used to run away from food (and me) - before and after dental treatment to remove most of her teeth. Food caused pain and I was the provjder. (We have been back to normal for many years but she is now also approaching old age). Your Kitty may be feeling far happier in her new bed, and knows that moving, even for food, will cause her pain or discomfort.

Is it possible to phone your vet and explain the situation? An understanding vet would no doubt treat her gently, offering paliative solutions rather than drastic intrusive treatments. At her age, a good painkiller may be the best solution to help her cope with arthritis and other natural aging processes which cannot be put off for ever.

Needless to say, I do hope this is only a temporary condition and that, in a few days, she recovers and is back to her normal self.
Good luck!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. 20 years is terrific!!! Feeby's (17+ yo) first signs of arthritis (aside from a slight limp) were related to not jumping up on as many of her 'perches' as she did before. Although, it took a while for the arthritis to progress to the point that she sometimes would 'not bother' to go eat - I think it was because she was feeling stiff and achy when trying to get up from a rest.

Initially, I crafted interim steps for her - things like footstools or hard-formed boxes and placed them in the locations where I noticed she was somewhat avoiding. I chose those over the 'typical' cat steps, as I personally think the steps are too small. She took to those interim steps like a champ and began frequenting those 'perches' again. Then, I started Feeby on Glyco Flex Plus (glucosamine, chondroitin, green lippped mussels, MSM & DMG) and within a month the limping stopped - but I will admit she has never stopped using those steps I put out for her. I highly recommend it and would still be using it for Feeby if it weren't for the fact that after 3 years she decided she no longer like the taste (and smell, I suppose) of the green lipped mussels. There are other more basic arthritis supplements out there as well - Cosequin or Dasuquin to name two I think are the more common.

I also think that Feeby developed some new 'places' to hang out that she had never used before, and in hindsight I wonder it she did that to 'replace' the older locations that she was avoiding so she wouldn't have to jump as much. I don't know whether it is the case with your cat, but Feeby also started getting on the top of couch - a place she really never went before. As it turns out, she found the coffee table to use as her own choice of 'interim step' - another place she never used to venture to!!