Elderly Cat Advice

[Hilary]

We have a cat who is by our best guess 18. He came from a shelter as an “old” cat at 10, 8 1/2 years ago.

He has been to the vet annually since we got him and went again 6 weeks ago because he is just seeming very old - his kidney, liver and blood sugar functions are normal.

My question is that is there something we may have missed, other than that he is just a very old cat.

He gets up and comes to the barn with me every morning - makes his rounds, has his little routine that isn’t a lot different than has been but he is VERY thin. If he didn’t have a rough coat he would look emaciated.

He eats both wet and dry food - dry is free choice and wet is twice a day or if he asks for a snack. He is fussy about the wet food brands but his appetite really is good.

He drinks a lot of water, but this is not new. The vet said “He’s a big cat, he needs more water than your small one”. We’ve done a few diabetes tests over the years and they are negative.

The two other changes in addition to the weight loss are:

1. that at the end of this summer he did no grooming and his summer coat blew out and he was matted everywhere. He is a short haired cat but has that bristly rougher coat. A bath and a week of brushing and he no longer looks so awful. Our other cat grooms herself a lot, and this one never has. We joke that it’s a boy thing.

2. While he will use the cat box (cleaned regularly), and the flower bed, and the driveway like he always has, he has taken to peeing on a piece of paper or grocery bag if it is left on the floor overnight. His urine is light colored and not smelly when fresh. This started about the same time the shedding/grooming issue happened. The first time I had left something out accidentally but I started putting a paper down for him and he uses it once every night. He has over the years occasionally peed/marked but maybe 5 times in 8 years. He isn’t a bad boy about it.

Is he just getting a bit senile? He appears happy, plays sometimes with his toys, treks around the farm, enjoys our company but we’ve never had a cat get this old and decline in this manner. Usually they get acutely sick.

[Laurierace]

Send a urine sample to the lab to check for these among other things.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?449359-Mama-Kitty-again!

[Hilary]

oh my! They did have a positive fecal this spring and were dewormed with (um can’t remember which drug) but he has had a few days where he appeared unable to urinate - a few drops here and there, and acting unsettled. Then he started using the paper and has had great quantity.

We’ll ask the vet on this one - he is an indoor/outdoor cat and used to hunt/eat a lot. He has no lower fangs anymore so his hunting is limited but he still catches and eats something once in a while.

Earthworms!??

[Simkie]

Yeah, I would check his urine as well. A kidney infection could cause the peeing and the coat/weight issues.

I also thought that outside kitties that hunt needed to be dewormed regularly?

If his appetite is good, I would offer either more wet or more frequent wet to get his weight up.

[reefy]

My elderly cat did decline almost exactly like this, except he never had litter box issues.

Starting at about 18 - 18 1/2, he started getting the rough coat and just not looking good. His blood work was always fine, his appetite was still fine.

The last month of his life, he got very fussy about eating, grooming was worse. I ended up at the animal ER here in town and it turned out he had a tumor on his liver. It was huge at that point. Who knew? He acted fine except for the lack of grooming - I guess that can be a sign in cats that they aren’t feeling 100%. I just figured it was hard for him to do it because of age. Anyway, we kept him comfy for 2 weeks and when we couldn’t do that, let him go. He was 19 1/2 so who knows for how long that thing was growing in there!

Cats are generally really stoic about pain. It makes it really hard for us to tell if they feel okay or not, when most everything with them is okay.

[Romany]

I’m not a vet, but when one of our cats became elderly, he got to eat whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and a variety of canned food in separate dishes was his choice. I groomed him gently, and I gave him a couple of sheepskins to lie on - one on top of a second has got to be the comfiest cosiest bed imaginable. He gave up on the sand tray, but those puppy-training pee pads (Hartz or similar) turned out to be the perfect solution.

It’s in their nature to hide any pain, same as dogs - I guess it’s a defence mechanism.

Hugs to your old cat.

[betsyk]

Teeth! Honest. We have an elderly barn cat who got a somewhat unintended dental (miscommunication plus an eager vet…) who looks five years younger as a result. He’s the poster child for kitty dentals. His coat improved, his attitude improved, he’s mousing again and has taken back his role as greeter and social chair.

[Pancakes]

Thyroid test!!!

If it hasn’t been done, make sure a T4 level is run, and a free T4 as well.

Also, a course of antibiotics for a UTI isn’t a bad idea. Your kidneys only need to be running at 65% function for it to show up on bloodwork. 75% function can lead to loss of urine concentration, which manifests itself as drinking a lot/peeing a lot. That can lead to UTIs. Your bloodwork could be normal despite that, though.

And, if it’s an outdoor cat… deworm!!

[Hilary]

Thanks everyone! I think the only test he has not had is the thyroid. And the bladder worms!

Those test are next - he was dewormed this July after a positive fecal. (both cats got the meds).

His teeth have been cleaned regularly for several years - our vet is pretty insistent that any cat over the age of 7 is considered elderly and needs dental care all the time. I suppose since he is this old, we’re doing something right.

Will keep you posted but he’s trucking along! He’s a good boy and we’d love to have him around as long as he is comfortable.

[littleum]

Aside from thyroid and urine, if you care to spend the money, have a belly ultrasound done to rule out masses or lymphoma.

But it could really just be he is an old man.

[Hilary]

The old man endured another vet visit today - he does in fact have a uti, so we will take care of that and we will do the thyroid tests, but the vet, who saw him in July and he’s lost another lb, said “well, I cannot find anything specific or acutely wrong with him, he is just a very old cat.” She said they do get cancer and that is a possibility, given his age, so we’ll treat the UTI, see what the thyroid test comes back with and give him whatever he wants to eat, and let him sleep on the pillows. Thanks for everyone’s advice and good kitty vibes.

[Coyoteco]

I’ve had several cats live well into their twenties and they stayed in good shape until the end except the 26 yo got thin. The last one who died was interesting in her conduct. She took a walk every day around the house for her self exercise. The went from eating dry food - always her choice - to eating canned food only. She did that at a time that I thought she might be showing some symptoms of diabetes. They went away when she changed her diet.
Anyway, with your cat, in addition to the thyroid test, I’d check the worm load again (worming has to be repeated after three weeks or the worms come back)and I’d make sure she had not fleas, lice, mites some of which can be microscopic. I like to have the blood pressure taken, too.

I’m glad you found the uti.

[awa]

I like this to supplement cats and they usually are happy to lap it up from a bowl. Do check around the internet before buying as prices vary widely and I always seemed to find a better deal on a different website each time I ordered.
http://www.medi-vet.com/VIYO-Recuperation-Cat-p/18097.htm

[Hilary]

Well nearly a month later and the old boy is acting like a kitten! The vet prescribed an antibiotic that was once a day for 2 weeks- fortunately he is a good boy about pills.

The erratic peeing has stopped, and he’s been seen acting incredibly silly - foolish fits with the corner of the rug, batting his favorite stuffed toy, chasing his tail even!

He’s still a bag of bones, despite getting dry food at any time, and tinned about 8 times a day - he’ll only eat a teaspoon or so at a time but whenever we see him he’s offered a snack.

All the other tests came back normal so hopefully he’ll be around a while longer!