*Update* Need to find a warm home and comfortable lap for 18 year old cat. Any ideas?

gettingready

How really unreasonable for the place to refuse to allow her to keep her cat if she moves there. How absolutely awful... for both your gran and the poor cat.

So sorry about that....

Beckyy

Retirement home needed for elderly cat, due to house move. Male, 18 years old, very friendly etc. Contact for details.

puddy

this makes me really angry, why do these places disallow pets? and dont tell me about insurance and health and safety

cinderellacomplex

Beckyy wrote: »

Retirement home needed for elderly cat, due to house move. Male, 18 years old, very friendly etc. Contact for details.

I would also put a note in about his health if it is decent.

paulwf

This is going to sound horrible but realistically the cat is probably only going to be around for another year or two tops. At that age they can go downhill very fast, our old cat was about 17 and was fine one day and couldn't get up the next Another of our gang was in a similar position, about 16 or so and went downhill within a couple of days. Basically is there any way you can hold off for a little longer?

If it really is time to move at least being 18 the cat will probably be quite placid and will settle anywhere with a comfy cushion. If possible it would help to offer to cover any medical bills, a lot of people would be reluctant to take on such an elderly cat because vet bills are quite likely.

gingin_2

I've never thought of it as unreasonable for them to not take her cat. She will only have a single, uptairs room in a home with 30 others so I can't see how it could be possible to let her keep the cat and not others.

I'm not sure about the cat's health. He is sometimes pooing in the corner of one room, having never done it before. My Aunt thinks it's because my Grandmother is not emptying his tray when he does a poop (she's become very forgetful, family history of dementia), but I think it could be an indication of him going downhill ever so slightly. He looked thin a while ago but I saw him yesterday and he looked fine, so I just don't know. She certainly could afford to cover the vets bills.

We don't know the age of her cat. He spent a week in their garden at least 17 years ago and they adopted him from then on. He was a grown cat then, so he might well be older. 18 is really a guess.

Paulwf, she really needs 24 hour care and has done for a while now. Physically she is okay but her memory is deteriorating rapidly and she's not taking care of herself despite having daily help. She's become a bit of a burden to her lovely neighbours and they have contacted my family to say they really don't think she is coping and they can't cope either. We are trying to move her to a home close to my parents so she can continue to be taken to church ( a big part of her life) and to WI and basically have a regular life outside of the nursing home.

morg_monster

puddy wrote: »

this makes me really angry, why do these places disallow pets? and dont tell me about insurance and health and safety

Well, those two reasons, I guess! One "elf and safety" reason in particular would be that toxoplasmosis (a risk from animal poo) can be extra risky in elderly or immuno-compromised people.

Another thing to consider would be that if the owner dies before the animal, what happens to it? Presumably in many cases there is no family willing/able to take on the animal (or it would have gone to them when the person came into the home), so the home is responsible for it and this problem just gets passed on to them to deal with.

Plus, would the the home staff be responsible for caring for the pets that moved in? Since most often in these cases elderly people move into these homes because they are not really capable of looking after themselves any more. There's buying and putting out food, changing litter trays, taking them to the vet, removing them from other residents rooms where they aren't wanted, stopping them scratching the doorframes, they'd probably need a whole new member of staff!

Yes I realise some of these issues won't apply to an 18 year old cat, but if someone is allowed to bring in their beloved 18 yr old cat, why not a beloved 2 yr old cat? Why not a beloved dog? You have to draw the line somewhere; the easiest place to draw it seems to be where this home has drawn it; ie no pets whatsoever.

OP, I hope you find a home for kitty. I would think you might have more success with the local advertising than you might expect. One problem might be the expectation of high vet bills as the cat nears the end; maybe your grandma has some money that could be put aside for this so the owner doesn't have to worry about that? As it could put potential owners off. Good luck!

edited to add - OP, sorry we crossposted re vet bills! Also reading your post above, I just wanted to say this sounds similar to what happened to my grandmother (but minus cat), it's so very sad watching them deteriorate. all the best.

foreign_correspondent

gingin wrote: »

We are trying to move her to a home close to my parents so she can continue to be taken to church ( a big part of her life) and to WI and basically have a regular life outside of the nursing home.

Ask at the WI if anyone could care for the cat - or if they know of anyone who would - I have had some dealings with them, and to be honest, they are not as I expected, (clearly we all have our prejudices - and I am happy to admit mine were wrong!) they are a lovely bunch of ladies!

One of them may well take your grans cat on, for the sake of your gran - and maybe that way she could have regular updates and know exactly who was caring for him.

Also, to be honest, 'elderly cat needing home due to house move' may not really appeal to people reading the parish mag - people may think it sounds like someone just ditching their old cat who has become an inconveneience... however, if they knew (or knew about) your gran, and understood the predicament she was facing, they may be far more sympathetic and take the cat on out of empathy for your grans situation.

People who step forwards to take this cat on will most likely be people who are motivated to help because of your gran's situation - anyone who really wants a cat just for the sake of having a cat will be able to find plenty of younger and fitter models!

maybe something like - "Cat owner very reluctantly looking for new home for her beloved elderly cat, due to imminent move to nursing home - all he wants in life is a comfy lap and good food - can you help? (Insert cats name here) and his owner would be very grateful"

Also, the more information you can give about the cat - eg. 'Big friendly ginger tom looking for new home' - so that people have a clearer picture of him - the better.

paulwf

Just wanted to add I hope you manage to get it sorted. It would be worth asking vets and sanctuaries if they know anyone that can help.

loulou123

I still think its a little unreasonable of the home to point blanky refuse to take the cat too. I work in a care home and know of several others locally that allow the elderly to bring in their pets if possible (depending on the pet and its behaviour etc.)

I dont suppose its an option to look for another care home that will take them both on is it?