Dementia in senior cats?

zippychick

She is adorable Madget! Maggie walks on the keyboard! He he he. She looks like she was a lovely character

rang the vets today - he said straight away " bring her in". He said at her age it could be so many things, it's hard to tell - he didn't want to get my hopes up, or frighten the life out of me. So i am booked in for 730 tomo night.

She is sitting on my knee, covering my work clothes in cat hair , drooling and purring. Said to tell you lovely pet forum people hi and thanks for the help.

If i have to get her PTS i will genuinely be devastated. My Mums cat has gone missing two days ago and she is going through that heartbreak.

lisawood78

My old boy, who went to the bridge at age 25 did the wailing thing for the last 3 years of his life.
He was deaf as a post, had no teeth, fur like an old blanket and smelled the same.
BUT he was happy, he ate his food with relish, sauntered around the house sleeping wherever he wanted and getting as much love as he could handle. He used to lie next to you on the sofa, and then slowly creep closer until he was lying across you. Up until the week before he died he was in and out of the cat flap with no trouble, even having a brief look at the birds flying over on a good day.
He had a fit one day, whilst lying in his bed, he was struggling to breath so we rushed him to the vets, he passed away in my arms on the vets car park so we took him home again.
Apart from dental trobule that was his only 'sick day' in his long happy life.
RIP Princey boy, gone but never forgotten.
Thinking of you and your puddy zippy, best wishes for the vets tomorrow.

zippychick

that's a lovely comforting sweet story thank you! I need a pic to add to my little mental image please . Nice he died in your arms, if Mags took herself off to die i would be so so so heartbroken. I honestly don't think she would though, she's too much a mummys girl

it could be anything, it could be nothing. Am still not convinced she's in pain due to the context of when she wails. But then again I'm not a vet . Find out tomorrow i guess eh?!

Mankysteve

Our old ginger tom in his later years also lost all of teeth. He started having fits which where manageable at first, but they started to get them ever other week, he ha d heart murmur and when he started to be incontinent we knew the end was coming then he had two one day after another and we decided to have him pts.

But I digress, when he got older he started to like licking concrete, mum theory is that he had some kind of kidney problem and he liked the salt possible the cause of the fits, personal I think he just went nutty. He did also delevlop a thing of wanting to let in and out of the front door even though we had a cat flap at the back.

Some just have funny habbits though, our current cat she about 6 or 7 now when ever its raining will look out the cat decided its too horrible then go and check out the patio doors. I presume it's because we only open the patio doors when the weather nice. She could be just looking outside but she go between the two a few time then go find somewhere to quiet to sleep

madget_2

Thanks, zippychick. She was the most incredible cat I've ever known. The only problem was that sometimes her head or paws would lie further down on the keyboard, which meant that I couldn't use certain letters! ;-)

As for your lovely, Maggie, don't lose hope. The vet is doing the right thing. When they get older (just as with people and other animals), it's always best to get new behaviour checked out just in case it's a sign of something else. That doesn't necessarily mean that she'll have to be put to sleep. There are many conditions from which older cats suffer, but which are controllable with medication, etc. My beautiful tortie girl ended up with hyperthyroidism, epilepsy, arthritis, deafness and a tricky digestion but, with the help of a few tablets and making sure she had ways of making climbing up onto the sofa more easily, she lived until she was 18 years old. The day before she died, she even tried to climb a tree! (It didn't work, unfortunately, but the stubborn little so-and-so just absolutely had to do something once it got into her furry little head.)

Good luck tonight, and please let us know how you both get on. Will be keeping my fingers very tightly crossed.

nicter

How did it go Zippy ?

madget_2

Yes, I've been wondering how it went, too. Keeping my fingers crossed that all is well.

Mayflower10cat

madget wrote: »

There are many conditions from which older cats suffer, but which are controllable with medication, etc. My beautiful tortie girl ended up with hyperthyroidism,

Yes, our dear old boy Sam was Hyperthyroid and would meow/howl almost incessantly. Our very, very, elderly lady cat Magenta was very deaf in her last few years and would meow almost all the time - the vet said they can't hear themselves meow, so they just feel the vibration in their body.

zippychick

hello lovely kind people it's been a whirlwind few days and i shall briefly summarise - you will understand why!

Thurs vets - No physical issues, told vet all changes lately - living room gutted, walls knocked down, carpet ripped up, i have new boyfriend, i went back to work after 6 months of being made redundant and being at home. Vet says cat is pining for me and shouting at me - possibly getting a wee bit forgetful, possibly losing a bit of hearing - last two i knew. Left relieved.

Fri 10ish pm - strange cat behaviour. She was sitting with her mouth open (not like when they taste, different than that), and looked really odd and dazed - eyes dilating. Rushed to emergency vets 11pm in taxi. Vet says not overly bad breathing, bit wheezy, keep her in. While there, she started her jaw trembling and she literally couldnt focus on anything

Sat am - walk home miles from vets night before, exhausted, fall into bed, miss loads of phone calls as so tired, ring vets at 4am - update, is ok. Settled. Back to sleep, wake at 815am - when am supposed to be at vets. Get taxi to vets in rush

Collect her 830am - taxi another journey to my own vets which was now open. With a document confirming their observations. She pooed in the taxi - luckily i had the case well protected and taxi driver very nice.

915 - own vets, helps me clean poo up.Gives me tabs for blood pressure, and antibiotics and says to see how she goes and bring her back on tues to see vet we like the best (Gina) . Says not good at her age, has a severe heart murm (no one told me it was severe i dont think?)

Sat - 11ish? get home in taxi and make her comfortable. Seems ok ish

430pm - takes a very very bad turn. Sitting upright with her head trailing on the floor as she couldnt hold it up. COuldnt get up the stairs,got to 4th step and her body collapsed. literally could barely put a foot in front of the other. Wasnt in obvious distress - breathing wise etc - or pain - she just couldnt walk. (after thought - emerg vets gave her steroids on fri night, might these have affected her?)

530pm - resign myself to the fact she is on her way, and sit beside her all day. Literally watching for her last breath as she's so sick and breathing so slow. Decide not to take to vets - too traumatic after being in 5 taxis in 3 days. Thought the shock would have killed her to be honest. Best friend called in and also said i was doing the right thing and she was devastated at how Mags was. I slept all night on the sofa beside her on her pillow, waking up to check shes still breathing

Sunday - much better. Jumping from one sofa to the other , has just been out the front sniffing cars today, is eating, has been upstairs sitting on her favourite window sill. Is now up behind monitor sleeping as she likes to be near me.

its so hard to judge - the anti bis and blood pressure tabs will have kicked in, and she is vastly improved since saturday. Vets app is for 7pm tomo night - so i may have to make a decision of PTS or no, i don't know.

If it was judging by her on saturday - no doubt she would be put to sleep, as it was heartbreaking seeing her paws quiver when she tried to walk, and how she couldnt lift her head. Today - she is content and happy, still poorly but nothing like she was on saturday . Im sure everyone - friends - think im a drama queen - but im glad my friend seen how she was as she said herself , she wouldnt have believed how downhill Mags had went.

So, im nowehere near out of the woods and i have no idea whats going to happen tomorrow. Ive not posted as i;ve been so simply exhausted I can't explain. I broke my heart all friday and saturday. now the little b***h is sitting purring looking smug

Any thoughts? opinions? She is very happy cat and was even purring on saturday when she was dire bad - only the odd time. But she is happy. I just don't want to keep her alive for my sake. Ok, i tried to post this factually without emotion, but i've still managed to make myself cry.:o


all input appreciated. Need to go pop my dinner on - will come back later on see if anyones replied.:A

SnowyOwl_2

Oh dear zippychick, I wouldn't like to be in your shoes right now.

It's impossible to know what way Mags is going to go - your best bet, IMO, is to make a judgement based on what the (nice) vet says. It could well be that Mags' symptoms appeared because of the steroids - but it could also be that the steroids have actually given her a temporary boost.

Be brave and ask the questions you don't really want to ask.

If Mags gets like she was on Saturday again what will you do? Will the vet visit you as it sounds like your getting Mags to the vet would be totally impractical if she was in that state? Perhaps you could ask this when you next speak to them and let that help you reach a decision.

I understand you not wanting to prolong things for your own sake when there is the chance that Mags might suffer because of it, but it is so hard.