Tell me about your senior cat

[spinbaby]

Our senior cat is Bud. He's a Maine coon and he's 16. He's a great sociable cat. His health is definitely declining--his kidney function is going so he drinks a lot of water and pees a lot. He also seems to be getting a bit senile so he sometime scratches at the linen-closet door when he wants to be let into the bedroom and he'll pee in anything that remotely looks like a litter box. But he still enjoys life, plays, suns himself, and takes an occasional swipe at the other cats to keep them in line. He's still the dominant of six cats. At night he sleeps tucked between his people. He snores.

[Liberal Veteran]

1. M'iko was 18 when she passed away.

She was spry until about a week before her death. She had kidney problems, and eventually they just wore out, but she was happy until that last week.

[fairfaxvadem]

2. Boy, the kidneys sure take a toll on our friends.

My BoBo's kidneys failed on him right after Thanksgiving. I don't know how old he was, he was at least 13, perhaps older, I got him as an adult cat. I'd known since spring his kidneys weren't right. Sonogram showed one very small kidney and one enlarged, definitely not good. But he was doing his regular routine right up until the end.

Saying goodbye was awful, he'd been through thick and thin with me. Your Bud sounds like he is still really enjoying life.

The snoring of cats just cracks me up!

[spinbaby]

3. Cats' kidneys fail a lot

Coon cats are particularly vulnerable. We've already decided that, when the time comes, we're not going to do anything heroic to keep him going.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. Yeah, something shuts down eventually

My first cat, Piccolo, was 22 when I had her put to sleep. Her liver was failing and she was only days, if not hours, from dying. I just couldn't let her suffer. I was 44 at the time and I had her since college.

[TexasBushwhacker]

5. Something shuts down eventually

My first cat, Piccolo, was 22 when I had her put to sleep. Her liver was failing and she was only days, if not hours, from dying. I just couldn't let her suffer. I was 44 at the time and I had her since college. I have two other cats now, but I don't think I'll ever feel the same about a pet as I did about her.

[hyphenate]

12. I had a Piccolo as well

She was 18 when I had to let her go. She was a torbie (like my Jessica) and she loved to lick me on the forehead all the time. She was a quiet little girl, though she and my Sandi, who lived to be 17, never really got along.

[SW FL Dem]

6. My Jamie will be 17 in a few weeks

She's doing amazingly well considering her age. She is being treated for a thyroid condition, as long as she takes her meds, she is under control. Jamie is really picky about the litter box, it's been ages since she has pooped in it, she tends to poop just outside it. Recently she has started peeing in/on the dog beds so we just picked them up. Her favorite place is on the back of the couch in the family room. She sits and suns herself for hours. The vet says her organ functions are amazing for a cat her age so we're hoping she hangs around for several more years.

[FizzFuzz]

7. I've really been tearing my hair out actually

Snickers and Shmoo are 15. Snickers tested positive for FeLV--I took her for testing because she had lost ALOT of weight. They thought it was thyroid at first but it's not. Now, she wants to eat alll the time, and can't gain any weight.

anyway, she has always "stealth peed" but I never caught her--just thought I was imagining funny smells sometimes. But we just moved year and a half ago and the master bedroom was getting really stinky. I caught her in the act. Now we have to pull up the rug (well the rug is FUGLY anyway, it needed to go). But we moved into the guest bedroom which is realllllly small and we keep the door closed so she can't get in. Well, now the couch and chair in the living room stink. They're old, but I can't afford to replace them too...and I don't know what to do to get her to stop anyway. I sure don't want to go replacing things, just to have her piss all over everything again.

I am realllllllllllly angry! It's sad too, because she liked to cuddle up with me in bed, when the puppies weren't hogging it.

[spinbaby]

9. Bud isn't stealthy about it

If we've got a basket of laundry or magazines or something sitting about, he'll use it as a ltiter box. Sometimes he'll use my husband's T-shirts when he drops them on the floor. No rugs or furniture yet, thank goodness. A hint that I read that doesn't work for us but may work for you, is to put down those puppy training pads. They're supposed to be infused with something to attract animals to pee there and some cats seem to prefer them to litter. Bud ignores them and goes for T-shirts left on the floor. He's lucky we're so fond of him.

[FizzFuzz]

15. lol! I sure hope I can figure out a solution. This is driving me nuts!

And I have a sensitive nose. Plus I'm a slob who is trying hard to undo her slobby ways, and the added stress is making me want to start smoking again!!!!! ;)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

8. We had a wake for my 13 y.o. Scott at DU last night and gave him

a royal send off. I had puffy eyes this morning. He had cancer. But Coco is eleven, and she still thinks she is a little kitty.

[FizzFuzz]

16. Ohhhh! So very sorry!

losing a pet is so hard. Sending you good thoughts.

[hyphenate]

10. I currently have two

My Jessica is going to be 14 this year. She's diabetic, and has gotten very thin. She looks scraggly, but she's got a lot of spunk. She is what they call a Torbie--a Calico with a classic tabby pattern. She's always hungry and thirsty. I have to give her insulin every day. She's my baby, though.

Amanda was my best friend's cat. When Marje, my friend, passed away in June, 2003, I took Amanda to take care of her. She's a tuxedo cat, and she's going to be 15 sometime this year. She's a little chubby, but she's also a bit nervous--when she came here, she started to pull out her fur because of the many "roommates" she now has. She loves to cuddle. She gets under the bedclothes and sleeps close until I fall asleep, and then she gets up on top of the clothes in the same place. She likes to sleep in one of those padded/quilted snuzzle-boxes, and she now gets along well with everyone else, except for Jean-Luc, with whom she still has issues.

Those are the two oldest at the moment.

[Rosco T.]

11. I lost one when she was 21....

and had it not been for a fleabitten dog, she probably would have still been around now. She was a kitten right up till she went (massive kidney failure). About 6 months before that, we had to spend some time at my better half's mother's house and the 'hound' (which our cats kept well at bay) brought a flea infestation in. She got really pale and week when we took her to the vet. He said she was almost 'sucked dry' by fleas. He kept her a coupla of days (the secod morning he said "come get her, she's eating everything in sight!") whilst we flea bombed the house (three times) and the mutt.

She seemed better, but 6 months later it was a massive kidney failure (like in a period of 3 days) and she was gone.

[Withywindle]

13. Aw...love the older kitties...

My Marlowe will be 13 this spring. He's a big beige tabby - I adopted him as a kitten from an acquaintance who was an animal hoarder and had too many. He was a stray kitten who lived in the basement of her building--semi-feral, but when I was sitting on the porch once he crawled up in my lap and fell asleep purring! So he definitely picked me.


He's actually always been a little bit of a pee bandit. I have to keep the litter box very clean and keep an eye on him. BUt his kidneys are fine so far, knock wood. He's also always been a bit of a cranky old man, prone to scratching at random. I'm the only one who understands him!

I thought it was going to be harder than it was when I moved in with my boyfriend, who also has a spoiled "alpha" neutered-male brat, and one who's bigger and younger. But they mostly get along great now, after some touch-and-go yowling early on.

[Placebo]

14. My cat is 12, does that count?

She's a great cat, but I'm beginning to think that she'd love anyone who put food in her bowl @ 6 o'clock every night. :D

She's also become a huge lap cat, way more than when she was younger. It used to be a huge occasion when she'd actually come by you, but now it's a regular thing, she'll be on your lap all night if you don't kick her off! :) I wish she'd sleep in bed with one of us though, that's something I've always wished she would do, but she's no bed cat I guess, oh well.

[yellowdogintexas]

17. My senior cat is Thomas. He is a Siamese/tabby mix, and has

white sox. He is about 12 years old and has been with us since he was about 6 months old. He has excellent manners and is very tolerant of the three young brothers who were born into his life almost 2 years ago.They wany him to play and sometimes he does but he only has to act like he wants to cuff them and they bow down. I don't think being the alpha male is his ambition, he just accepts his role naturally. The young boys assume he is boss cat because he was big when they were little; they do not realize they are now larger than Thomas.

He is very devoted to us, and sleeps in the waterbed down at the foot. On occasion he will creep up to the top of the bed and pat on my face until I wake up and pet him. We have enjoyed him enormously and have been very glad we had the opportunity to adopt him.

He has the BEST purr I have ever heard; deep and rumbling down in his chest; he also snores. And he has six toes on his front paws.

When he is aggravated with us he has been known to spray the wall; he also does this when a strange cat comes into the yard.


Thomas in the yard

[Meshuga]

18. He sounds like an awesome cat!

Do you have him since he was a kitten?

[Hans Delbrook]

19. Mine is Whiskers

She's somewhere between 14 and 16 years old. She's outlived two dogs so far. I'm not really a cat person but I inherited her from my brother who got her for my niece (they were both living w/ me at the time.)

She will not stop using the living room as a litter box so we have the doorway blocked off w/ plywood and I hate it. I'm looking into French doors right now.

My best friend swears we have a picture of an aging orange tabby somewhere since she doesn't look any different than the day we got her. (Fatter but that's about it.)

[Digit]

20. My Tuffie is only 11 and was a stray Maine Coon.

She was a kitten but probably almost 3 months old when she was found living on the streets at Christmas in the freezing weather.
A friend's daughter had found her and they were unable to keep her. She was hungry and cold. She was also alittle on the wild side.
She was a tiny thing even back then, and I had never heard of a Maine Coon. If you would try to pet her, she would attack you.
She unfortunately got into some of my daughter's stretchy pot holder loops and ate some of the string, which we had not known about.
Since I had another cat, I had failed to notice the new cat was not eating. One day, I noticed how skinny she appeared. Since she had alot of fur, it was not quite so noticeable.
I called the vet the day before Thanksgiving and found we had to do emergency surgery to get the threads out of her intestines. It took four cuts into different areas to get the threads out.
This precious kitty became the most loving being in the whole wide world. She became a cuddlebunny, almost like she knew we had saved her life.
She only managed to get up to 7 pounds max in her life although she likes to think she is a tigress.
Now, at 11 yrs old, she was recently diagnosed with malignant cancer and it cost me $1,000 to have her mammary tumor removed.
The people on the Pet DU group recommended holistic foods and I purchased some wholesome food today to try to extend her life.
She seemed to really enjoy it. She is sleeping like a baby now.
It is tough, since I was terminated from my employment a week after I found out about this. I figured that since she in tiny, it won't be so bad. I just want to say I love this little gal. Whenever I felt bad, she was there to massage me, to make me feel better, to massage me to make me fall asleep.
She is the most awesome cat in the world.

[juslikagrzly]

21. 19yo Stubbs died last October,

peacefully and at home. I so dreaded putting him to sleep. He had age related kidney failure. He was my bud :cry:. Had him longer than my husband, kids and other furries. He was a Manx.

Now we are left with the 15 yo sisters, Martha and Mary. Still spry.
16 yo Libby, who has decided to hell with us (and the rest of the kids, dogs, & cats) and lives next door in our neighbors garden.

And 11 yo Lazarus. He was hit by the car in front of me and needed two surgeries, hence the name Lazarus. When he came home he had an elizabethan collar and scared the shit out of the rest of the cats. He's always been neurotic-we call him Laz the Spaz.

Three dogs and two kids too. Man, what a zoo.

[ZenLefty]

22. One paw in the grave, but still doing well

Elwood was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and we're giving him shots to try to get his blood sugar back under control. He used to be a 25 pound monster, now he's down to 16ish and he looks too skinny. We're trying to feed him whatever he'll eat.

He's about 15-16 years old. My vet says that's considered geriatric by some, but Elwood is more like a grumpy old man.

Every day he catches mice. Fake ones that I hide in the house somewhere. He finds them and carries them in his mouth, howling his head off, to deposit them on the rug in the kitchen, where he waits for his reward for being such a good kitty. If you toss bits of lunchmeat at him, he will catch them in mid-air.

[Skittles]

23. that's a GREAT picture

:D

[Digit]

24. Handsome kitty

He thinks he is still helping out. You are so nice to make him believe that even if they are fake.
What a good kitty mom you are.

[Hardrada]

25. Old One -eyed Waldorf-Astoria was around 15

when he shuffled off on his own. He'd been a very big cat and was never declawed and was once a battler and he would sneak out whenever he could. But he lost an eye at age 11 and required some extra care. He really could not see much at all his later years but would go out and chase squirrels anyway. His last year he'd go out in the back yard, check all the corners to make sure all was under control and then come up on the deck and bang bang on the screen with his paw, having done his daily duty. Never loved a cat more and he taught me some courage when he faced the vet with very evident resignation and stoicism in his last months. No one who saw Wally ever forgot him.

[Capn Sunshine]

26. my senior cat is big mama

she's an outdoors cat , and we think she's probably in charge in this range that includes our neighborhood.

[mordarlar]

27. Pics of 11 yr old Autumn and 6 mo. old Cinder...

>
>


Edited to add with the kitten around Autumn is beat. LOL I have to separate them at night so he can get a break. The baby runs night and day.

[spinbaby]

28. Aw, so cute

I think kittens help to keep the old ones young.

[mordarlar]

31. Thank you. : 7

[China_cat]

29. Cotton is 20

Pure white. You wouldn't know she's so old because she still plays and looks as good as the babies...who are all 15 (brothers).

I don't have anything (including a husband) that doesn't qualify as 'senior'.

[trof]

30. Have his blood sugar checked.

Increased thirst and peeing was our first clue that Ace was diabetic. i give him twice daily insulin shots and he's fine now.
He adopted us about 10 years ago, so we don't know exactly how old he is. Maybe 13 or 14?

[spinbaby]

33. We've done that

Our first thought was diabetes, but it turned out to be reduced kidney function which causes the same thirst and peeing.

[Samurai_Writer]

32. I have two senior cats...

A mother and son, Nightmare and Smoke. Nightmare is 15, Smoke is 14. Both are hyperthyroid, although Smoke was just diagnosed. Nightmare is declining, Smoke seems just like he always has, still has those spurts of kitty fits, running around the house.

Nightmare has lost a lot of weight, is down to 5.2 pounds now. I am giving her IV fluids every day, along with meds for hyperthyroid (which Smoke also gets) and arthritis pain meds. I've recently moved their food bowl from the kitchen table (so the dog couldn't get to it) to my bathroom (which is open to my bedroom), and moved the litterbox from where it was in the kitchen to my shower stall. I keep them in my bedroom and bathroom when I am sleeping or at work now, and it seems to have helped Nightmare quite a bit. She's using the litter box again, still eating like a pig (hyperthyroid will do that to a cat), and has started to move around more, although most of the time she lays on the thick rug in the bathroom (white, of course, and she is black).

I bought the cats a new toy -- one of those sticks with a strip of fabric hanging from it, with feathers attached to the end. They both played with it (Smoke more than Nightmare). That's the first time I've seen Nightmare playing with a toy in forever, so she must have really liked it.

Both my cats are really laid back. Nightmare hisses at the dog if he gets to close to her, but Smoke is friendly with him and actually plays with him sometimes.

Here are my three sweeties. Of course, now I am relegated to the guest room and bathroom for the duration, since the cats have taken over my bedroom (I have asthma, and usually don't allow them in my bedroom). But I figure Nightmare doesn't have much longer, and I will make her as comfortable as possible. She doesn't seem to be in any pain that I can tell.

[NV Whino]

34. Pinkus, whom the vet recently said was 16

I was thinking more like 14 becuase he's still kittenish. Anyway, seems to have a melanoma on his nose (pink-nosed kitties are suseptable). Vet thinks we can treat it with antibiotics. But, while I was there (the cat hates to travel) I had the vet shave him. He was so matted that his movement was impaired.

It was interesting seeing my "big" cat suddenly be a small cat. But it was also interesting to see that even at 16 he's a very well-put-together cat. I gave him a down pillow and aimed the heater toward the chair. The last two days the sun has been out so he's been able to be outside. Now I have to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get sunburned. Oy vey!

As for cat box. He's never used one and when I put one out for him, he igonred it, dashed outside --in the rain--and dashed back inside. Don't think I've ever seen him move faster.