Feline demetia

no1catman

Beginning to wonder if our get is in earlier stages of dementia. Certainly getting demented moments!!

Basic info - Calico cat of 13 weighing in at 5.08 kgs., not fat she's quite long.
In the early hours, she'll howl to get attention to go out, then later when she comes in (uses cat-flap to come in) another three to five howls. Sure that one morning she woke next door up - its loud. Then during the day, if she's left on her own - maybe she's asleep, wakes up has aa bite to eat then more howls.
So, we have vocalization, and separation anxiety.

Took her to the Vet - healthy cat - try Felliway, and an anti-oxidant - Aktivait - box of 60 caplets.

So far, less early morning need to go out, less loud howling, but still a lot of vocalization - less loud then before.

Anybody else experienced feline dementia? What happened? How did you cope?

MovingForwards

Just did a quick google, any of these fit?

Disorientation/confusion
Anxiety/restlessness
Extreme irritability
Decreased desire to play
Excessive licking
Seeming disregard for previously learned training or house rules
Slow to learn new tasks
Inability to follow familiar routes
Lack of self-grooming
Fecal and urinary incontinence
Loss of appetite (anorexia)
Changes in sleep cycle (i.e, night waking, sleeping during the day)

Have there been any local changes such as relationship issues, new neighbours, a strange cat doing patrols at night, building works etc as she may just be unsettled and needing a bit more tlc to reasure her.

Apoorwoman

Can you get your vet to check if your cat has gone deaf?

We once had similar issues and it turned out to be senile deafness.

no1catman

Apoorwoman wrote: »

Can you get your vet to check if your cat has gone deaf?

We once had similar issues and it turned out to be senile deafness.

The Vet checked her ears was happy enough, a little bit of wax in one but nothing to worry about.
Yet, making sounds behind, and/or the side of her - her ears don't twitch around.

So, could be - just need to bare that in mind, and try some form of sign language.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Try calling from behind her to get her attention. If it doesn't work (and one of mine might as well be deaf as a post for all the attention he pays if he's more interested in something else), tap on the floor twice and fuss her if she turns around. Also try opening a sweet wrapper behind her. That's how I dealt with my cat when she went deaf - she was perfectly happy for another five or six years, despite also having duff eyesight too.


Both of my currents do a Where Are You? yell from time to time - one does it if she's been sleeping deeply in the armchair for a while, squeaking like a flaming mouse about whatever she's been dreaming about, I suspect - and the other does it when he just wants to be acknowledged/let me know there's an animal/bird in the garden/ without having to put in the effort to walk from the kitchen/stairs to wherever we are. I like vocal cats - they're putting in the effort to speak Human because us humans are too stupid to speak Cat.



If yours can't hear, she doesn't know if you're still around - a hearing cat could come in and hear you moving around in bed or talking/snoring; although, as I say, one of mine still yells rather than stopping, listening and thinking about the likelihood of us creeping out of the house unnoticed at 3am - or between 9 and 9.05pm whilst he's in the litter tray digging for victory :cool: He's busy somewhere ignoring everybody right now, though - first I'll hear of him will be a shout from the other side of the house when he's awake/hungry/wondering what I'm doing.


ETA: He's just wandered in, warbling and chirping about his busy morning sleeping, jumped on the settee, curled up against me and is trying to go back to sleep again. It's a hard life for him.

NaughtiusMaximus

We have a 14 year old cat plus there were another 2 who are sadly no longer with us, all 3 of them became more vocal and clingy as they got older so I think that's fairly normal.

Moneycat

Hi,
We have an elderly cat (17/18yrs) who howls. The howls are very loud and we are convinced our neighbours can hear them, especially during the night/early hours. They don't last long though. We have not been able to pin point why she does them but it could be connected to her (loss of) hearing. She is definitely pretty deaf, does not turn around when you call her or even react to front door opening/closing even if she's just few meters away and happens to be looking into a different direction. Her ears do not turn towards sound and she gets startled if you approach her from behind (for example if she is sitting).
Apart from that, she seems happy enough - eats and sleeps a lot. Uses her litter tray but no longer wants to go outside. You can see she's visibly nervous even venturing out to the patio. We have a particularly bold neighbour's cat and she's been cornered couple of times.
I've never thought of our cat having dementia, she's the sweetest of cats and purrs her heart out. I think it's just old age....