Older Kitty Seems "off" - Is This Normal Aging?

[cmedeiros17]

Hello all! It's been a while since I have visited/posted! One of my cats is now about 16-17 yrs old. He went to the vet a few weeks ago because I noticed he seemed "off". He was drinking a lot more water and yowling and not eating as well and lost some weight. He also seemed to be uncomfortable and wouldn't lay still. I was suspecting thyroid (or kidney) issue. He had a full blood workup and all looks great! He did have some elevated white blood cell counts. He was also diagnosed with arthritis (hence why he couldn't get comfortable and hobbled around.....we were given meds for this). The vet was thinking he had some digestive issues (and felt unwell so eating less). She gave me some antibiotic to try and I'm not sure if its working or not. I am having a hard time getting him to eat. I have a multicat household and all my kitties would be at the feeding area at breakfast time/dinner time. He won't come down on his own anymore.....I have been bringing him his own separate bowl but he still only picks a bit..... He also just seems kinda "off" (can't explain it). I'm starting to wonder if maybe he has kitty alzheimers. He doesn't respond to his name and possibly can't hear. But he just basically sits around and looks confused sometimes. Of course the vet did mention the white blood cells could indicate other things.....cancer I'm assuming is one of them but his blood work did look great otherwise. I have a followup with my vet this weekend and will mention all my concerns again obviously. Was just curious if anyone had any similar experiences?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Haven't gotten there with Hekitty yet, but I do know that yowling can be caused by cognition issues in older cats, so do discuss that with your vet! Let us know how your Grand Old Man is getting along.

 

[cmedeiros17]

Haven't gotten there with Hekitty yet, but I do know that yowling can be caused by cognition issues in older cats, so do discuss that with your vet! Let us know how your Grand Old Man is getting along.

Thank you for replying . Im very worried about him and cant wait for our appointment....thankfully its Saturday morning. I will update after his appt.

 

[betsygee]

We had an older cat who started yowling because he was going deaf. Another one did the same, just from confusion and 'kitty dementia'. You could try giving him some Gerber or Beechnut baby food to try to get him to eat a little more. They make some that's just meat and gravy and no added flavors that's safe for cats to eat. Let us know how the vet appointment goes.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Yes, please let us know what the vet says!

 

[cmedeiros17]

HI There - I was going to start a new thread but realized I had this one and figured I would just add to it. I guess I never came back to update - oops. Basically back in January I was told he had some digestive issues and probably had IBD? He was also diagnosed with Arthritis. The long round of antibiotics did help him feel better and start eating again. However he has declined over the past 6 months and I am at the point where I may be considering euthenasia. His constant meowing has gotten progressively worse. He has been on medication for the arthritis and it has been increased to the strongest dose possible. He does eat some and uses the litter box. I can't distinguish if his constant meowing is from pain or dementia but he does not seem happy. He seems pretty miserable and basically stays in one room of the house and will sleep on the floor a lot. When he is awake he is pacing/meowing. Though he is still eating some and using the litterbox and drinking water......he just does not seem to have a happy existence. I think he is in pain. The vet did mention cancer as a possibility as well but without further testing/possible surgical biopsy we would not know for sure. I can't put him through that! Nor can I really afford to do so. I'm just at a loss as to what the right thing to do is. In the past I have always guaged "when it's time" by whether they are still eating/drinking/using litterbox/able to get around. I'm having a very difficult time with this.....please be kind and if you have any suggestions/advice I would love to hear it. Maybe someone has been in a similar situation.

 

[cmedeiros17]

Here is a pic of my guy.....he's the big kitty on the left of the photo. Tiger <3

 

[catlover73]

Your babies are beautiful. I am so sorry that you have reached this point with your baby. This is a really hard decision to make for anyone even though it is out of love. One of the things that has helped hubby and I to make this decision is to sit down and honestly look at the quality of life. What are the things your baby enjoys? How many of those things is he still able to enjoy? Even though it is really hard to do this we put pen to paper and wrote things out together. It hurt like hell to have to do this but it did make it easier to make a decision. For some reason seeing the changes in the quality of life in writing really made it clear that it was time. This may not work for everyone because it is so painful to do this. Just know that whatever you decide you have a lot of support here in this community that understands and cares about both of you.