After the Qat-ceañera
Caring for an elderly cat
Eating:
Try to give your cat the same amount of food every day so you can monitor if he loses or gains, or if he stops liking his food. At 17-ish I had to start giving him prescription food because he wouldn’t eat anything else… and I think I tried 9 million different varieties.
Bathing:
I don’t recall if it was all at once or a little at a time - he stopped grooming himself. I think partly because he had trouble reaching areas of his body and partly because he stopped caring. More of the former because when I took over, he seemed to really enjoy it. I comb him almost every day (gently because an old cat’s skin is like tissue paper), and I use dry cat shampoo occasionally. They also have kitty wipes.
Drinking:
If your cat starts drinking tons of water, he may be diabetic. If he starts drinking wine or beer, he may be enjoying retired life.
Sleeping:
Mine likes one spot for a while then switches. I recommend an electric blanket because he’ll get cold easier as he gets older. If your cat is social, put the blanket near you. If he prefers to be alone, make sure it’s in a corner of a sofa or something that will help him to get up and down easier.
Stairs & jumping:
It’s pretty amazing that cats can jump up on something that is like 3 times their body length. Most likely you couldn’t jump up onto something half your body length. But it will get harder for him, so I recommend getting those kitty stairs for the bed or sofa – wherever he needs it BEFORE movement becomes a problem. When you notice your cat stopping & looking before he jumps down, get the stairs.
Urinating:
UGGHHHHH we call my 21-year-old cat “puddles” because he only uses his litter boxes half the time. If you have one litter box, and he starts going in a place that is nowhere near the box, get another one and put it where he’s going. If he sort of misses the box, but you feel like he’s in the ballpark - he probably wants you to keep it cleaner. I empty mine & wash it outside with the hose maybe once a month but his majesty wishes I would do it more often. There's another strange thing you can try if he's going near the box, try giving it a quarter turn because he might not like the position of it. They make litter boxes for seniors that are easier to get into and have higher walls. As the highest ranking member of the court, I have acquired 3 for my king.
Medicine:
If you have to give pills, get pill pocket treats. Cut them in half if they are much larger than the pill. Mine figured out how to separate the pill from the treat. Now, we cut the treat in half and he seems to eat the entire thing. But you gotta watch the little jerks because they hide them in their mouth and discard them when you're not looking.
Yowling:
OMG he is so loud now!!! You wouldn’t believe the DRAMA. He walks around screaming his head off. It sounds like someone is torturing him. I read it's prominent in older cats but the reasons still remain a mystery. I think most times he is confused – kitty dementia is a thing – I looked it up. And sometimes he’s constipated.
Sight & hearing:
His sight is going. It’s hard to tell but mine seems to hug the wall as he walks – especially going up & down stairs, which thankfully he doesn’t do very often. And his pupils don’t expand and contract as quickly as they once did. The hearing is even trickier – how can you tell when he just ignored you most of the time anyway?
Comments
Post a Comment