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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / March 2007Bandit Becoming Senile?
I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you can call it! Bandit, as most of you know, is now 17 years old and totally blind. She manages to make her way around the downstairs of my home quite well using the walls and familiar "landmarks" to figure out where she is and where she's going. But even if she is comfortable roaming around in the dark I can't see why she would do something like this! In my garage there is a 4.5 foot tall workbench that runs the entire wall that abuts the house: http://www.possibleplaces.com/CatNipped/House/DCP_1667.jpg. Since this picture was taken we moved the coffee table that we're refinishing (lower left-hand corner in this picture) right next to the workbench. The other day, Bandit went into the garage (I'm presuming to use her litter box) but decided to jump up onto the coffee table (again, I'm presuming, but it was probably that something in her world had changed and she wanted to investigate it). From the coffee table she jumped up to a box that was butted up to the coffee table and the workbench. From there she jumped up to a higher box, and from there jumped up to the workbench. Well, getting up there was a breeze, she just put her paws on the next higher surface and jumped up. However, she didn't consider how she was going to get down again! She tried reaching out to feel for the last surface she jumped from but couldn't stretch far enough down to reach even if she hadn't moved from the spot where she first jumped from the top-most box.. She was afraid to just jump down blindly, and was well and truly in a pickle! I was upstairs when I heard a terrible yowling - it sounded like a banshee in torment! I rushed downstairs to see who was being tortured and killed and found Miss Bandit standing in the middle of the workbench waiting for me to rescue her. All that would have been fine except the little bit*h had the nerve to bite me when I picked her up to put her back safely on the floor!!! OK, I suppose in her mind it was all my fault for having moved the coffee table. However, I have not moved the stool in my bathroom since we moved into this house three years ago, yet while I was in the shower Bandit came into the bathroom and jumped up to my stool then onto my sink, and found herself in the exact same predicament! At least this time I was prepared for her "gratitude" and kept my fingers, hands and arms out of reach of her teeth! I'm worried that she may be growing senile, I can't figure why else she would start doing such stupid things! I'm afraid she might do something like this when I'm not home and either be stuck or try jumping down and hurt herself. I hesitate to keep her confined to one room where she can't jump up on anything, I'd rather see her keep as active as possible for as long as possible. Any suggestions / advice? Hugs, CatNipped Well, Duffy's mama has ramps to tops of things so Duffy can get back down. I would suggest that if there's somewhere without a ramp where you cannot put a ramp, like your sink or your work bench, you close that room door while you're gone or put a baby gate across it. That Way bandit can wander the hall and the "Safe" rooms and not get trapped on your sink. Senility I think would be accompanied by senseless behaviours, errors of perception, etc (like compulsive walking in circles, sudden passiveness, constant licking of one spot, etc.) (one of Dp's dad's dogs was senile for a while) and it sounds to me like Bandit isn't being insane, she's wanting to explore and get around and resenting these limitations on her freedom of action! Good luck with her, --Fil > I'm worried that she may be growing senile, I can't figure why else she > would start doing such stupid things! I'm afraid she might do something [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > CatNipped > Well, Duffy's mama has ramps to tops of things so Duffy can get back > down. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > bandit can wander the hall and the "Safe" rooms and not get trapped on > your sink. I would go along with this. It sounds to me that Bandit needs help with her sight problem, rather than being senile. You may have to re-think how things are set out, after all, she will still want to try and do what she always did. Kitty Farmcat's (diagnosed) slight senility takes a different form. She forgets things, like where her litter box is. Once an idea crosses her mind now she has to act on it immediately without having the thought process to work out how she should do it. Like yesterday, when she followed me down the garden because she had expected her breakfast as soon as I got up and wanted to find me to tell me so, forgetting how vulnerable she is against any wandering cat now she is so frail and elderly. No wonder Boyfriend sent her back inside tout suite! > Senility I think would be accompanied by senseless behaviours, errors > of perception, etc (like compulsive walking in circles, sudden > passiveness, constant licking of one spot, etc.) (one of Dp's dad's > dogs was senile for a while) I think there are degrees of senility and what you describe is the top end of it. > and it sounds to me like Bandit isn't > being insane, she's wanting to explore and get around and resenting > these limitations on her freedom of action! I think that too, Fil! Tweed >> Well, Duffy's mama has ramps to tops of things so Duffy can get back >> down. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > things are set out, after all, she will still want to try and do what she > always did. Yes, Tweed, I just replied to Fil's note and agree with both of you. BTW, I haven't been on the group much lately - how did your hernia surgery go? Are you still out of work recuperating? Hugs, CatNipped > Kitty Farmcat's (diagnosed) slight senility takes a different form. She > forgets things, like where her litter box is. Once an idea crosses her [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Tweed > Yes, Tweed, I just replied to Fil's note and agree with both of you. > > BTW, I haven't been on the group much lately - how did your hernia > surgery go? Are you still out of work recuperating? > > Hugs, Tweed's surgery was delayed, she's not due to go in now until March 21. As you can imagine Tweed was not too happy about this.  SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera) Cats leave pawprints on your heart. http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk >> Yes, Tweed, I just replied to Fil's note and agree with both of you. >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Tweed's surgery was delayed, she's not due to go in now until March 21. As > you can imagine Tweed was not too happy about this. Oh yikes! It's hard enough to get up the courage to undergo surgery, but to be postponed - *TWICE*, that has to be nerve wracking! Hugs, CatNipped >> Yes, Tweed, I just replied to Fil's note and agree with both of you. >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Tweed's surgery was delayed, she's not due to go in now until March 21. As > you can imagine Tweed was not too happy about this. I was rather norty actually. When I was on the phone to the consultant surgeon's secretary on the day I was cancelled less than a hour before I should have gone into hospital to find out what the *"%*& was going on to be cancelled for a 3rd time, she said to me "he will be too busy to get back to you until tomorrow, he is operating all day." "Actually" I said, "he isn't, there will be a whole two hour slot when he should have been operating on me, maybe he could find time then to get back to me." Needless to say, he didn't. Maybe as well, once I recovered from bursting into tears from the cancellation phone call I was fit to kill. I wished him the agony I had gone through the previous Friday and the emergency hospital admission. May he lie awake all night listening to poor ill people vomiting and others crying with embarrassment because they have had bowel operations and have had diarrhoea all over the place like happened on my ward that night. Instead of living in a posh house in an expensive district and being able to eat steak and scallops. Tweed > Well, Duffy's mama has ramps to tops of things so Duffy can get back > down. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Good luck with her, Thanks Fil, that sounds like excellent advice. I already have a ramp leading up to my bed for her - in the garage I've moved everything out away from the workbench so she doesn't have any way to climb up there. I'll take a walk around my downstairs keeping in mind what you said and I'll see if I can make it safer for her. Hugs, CatNipped > --Fil > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >> >> CatNipped > I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you > can call it! [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] > > CatNipped When you rushed in to rescue her, did you remember to talk softly to reassure her that you were there to help. If you just grabbed her, she may have thought some monster had her and reacted accordingly. She is old and blind and you called her a b++++ - perhaps you deserved the bite. Purrs that all is forgiven by now. >> I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you >> can call it! [quoted text clipped - 75 lines] > She is old and blind and you called her a b++++ - perhaps you deserved the > bite. Purrs that all is forgiven by now. LOL! Yes, I *always* talk to her softly before touching her - it doesn't help. I've been calling her Bit*h Cat From H*ll since she was 6 weeks old - http://www.possibleplaces.com/catnipped/Bandit_Bad_Ass.asp - she deserves it, she has *ALWAYS* bitten first and not bothered to ask questions after - I have the scars on my body to prove it. Hugs, CatNipped >>> I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you >>> can call it! [quoted text clipped - 85 lines] > > CatNipped Thanks for reposting that story. I had forgotten what a wild kitten she was. Perhaps her father was a really wild cat instead of a domestic wandering Tom. MLB >>>> I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what >>>> you [quoted text clipped - 108 lines] > was. Perhaps her father was a really wild cat instead of a domestic > wandering Tom. MLB From the way she yowls when she gets angry, I think he was a puma!!! ;> Hugs, CatNipped I'm glad I don't have any serious biters. One suggestion, when you are going out, can you leave a CD or the computer on, with some bird sounds playing, to keep her amused? Mine like listening to the Africam, seems like it always has a cacaphony of birds. > I'm glad I don't have any serious biters. > > One suggestion, when you are going out, can you leave a CD or the computer > on, with some bird sounds playing, to keep her amused? Mine like listening > to the Africam, seems like it always has a cacaphony of birds. Good idea! I'll give it a try (I have a few CDs that are supposed to help you sleep that have sounds of a forest, babbling brooks, ocean waves, etc. - I can't use them 'cause they make me have to pee all night long, but the cats may like the bird sounds in the background). Hugs, CatNipped >> I'm glad I don't have any serious biters. >> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > CatNipped You could also try violin music (or other soft music). Ketzl really blisses out when I play something like that. Cello/piano duets are his favorite. SignatureJoey DoWop Dee Remember: It is To Laugh >>> I'm glad I don't have any serious biters. >>> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > You could also try violin music (or other soft music). Ketzl really blisses > out when I play something like that. Cello/piano duets are his favorite. I'll second that suggestion. Whenever Smokey had to ride in the car, he would get "antsy" after about 10 minutes. Then we learned to turn on the classical FM station. He would settle right down then. SignatureSam, closely supervised by Mistletoe >>>> I'm glad I don't have any serious biters. >>>> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > would get "antsy" after about 10 minutes. Then we learned to turn on the > classical FM station. He would settle right down then. Yes! I left the radio tuned to classical music (at a low to medium volume) for Duffy when he was in the room alone after I adopted him. I don't do that now that he and Holly are together all the time, but I think classical or "easy-listening" music does have a calming effect (and possibly gives the impression of companionship). MaryL >> I'm glad I don't have any serious biters. >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > night long, <snip> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ And just *where* was the BW on that one??? Huh???? Mimi (my desk-top kitty) is now very thankful I did *NOT* have a mouthful of drink when I read that line! > I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you > can call it! [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > > Any suggestions / advice? You might be partially right! Not senility, but could she have had a small stroke? A friend's elderly cat kept going behind close-to-the-wall furniture and forgetting how to back out or turn around again! His vet told him she'd apparently had a stroke affecting the part of the brain that deals with such spatial relationships. (FYI, the cat still had a few good years in her - he just had to be sure she couldn't trap herself when he wasn't there to help.) >> I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you >> can call it! [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > good years in her - he just had to be sure she couldn't trap herself when > he wasn't there to help.) That or the tumor that's causing her blindness may be affecting that area of the brain. In every other way she is the picture of health and feistiness, so I'm hoping she'll be around to bite on me for a long time yet. I *thought* I had "child-proofed" the house for her until she started this climbing bit! ;> Hugs, CatNipped > Any suggestions / advice? None. Jake continually gets up on the roof of the house. He climbs a tree out to small branches and jumps. We have to go up on a ladder to get him back down. Jo >> Any suggestions / advice? > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Jo Oh my - then I guess I shouldn't complain since I haven't had to get on a ladder to retrieve her yet! ;> Hugs, CatNipped >I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you >can call it! [quoted text clipped - 51 lines] > > Any suggestions / advice? its a B*st*rd C*t trick (or should that be a B*tch cat trick) to make you go get her - and allows her to get her fangs into you again? Sorry, no advice except to look carefully around the place and Bandit proof it some more. Yowie >>I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you >>can call it! [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > > Yowie Yep, fer shur! BTW, Ben tells me that when I'm not home and he is, the Bit*h Cat From H*ll doesn't move her keister off my bed - so apparently she only does this for my benefit! ;> Hugs, CatNipped >I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you >can call it! [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] > > CatNipped Lori, I don't think this is either stupid or senile. First, the biting episodes were probably indicative of fear or nervousness because Bandit had found herself in an unfamiliar situation and did not know how to get out of it. It might even be a minor case of misdirected aggression. Second, remember that Bandit lost her vision as an adult (in fact, as a *senior* cat) and so is still learning about these things. If you will take a look at some of the pictures in Duffy's album, you can see that I had a carpeted pole installed at the side of my computer hutch. Duffy loves to climb, and he started to climb up the unguarded shelves. I was concerned that he might fall, even as agile and alert as he is. A short time later, I had another carpeted pole mounted horizontally across the top of the computer hutch because he would get up there and litarally hang down toward me, with only his hind legs and hips on the top of the hutch. That didn't give him anything to grasp, and I was afraid he might slip off the polished wood. The carpeted pole that was added gives him something to grab with his claws if he needs it. I think Bandit will gradually become aware of the consequences of what you described in your message. Duffy is so aware of his surroundings that he somehow knows how to navigate both up and down, and he even knows how far out to leap if he decides to jump down -- but he has had a lifetime of learning, and Bandit is relatively new at it. I suggest that you give Bandit the full run of the house, but try to construct a few safety features t help her navigate. Also, do you have a sturdy cat tree with *carpeted* poles? If not, I recommend that you get one. Duffy loves to climb, and I think of these poles as his "horizontal space." The reason I emphasize carpeting is that it gives him some texture to grasp with his claws. Good luck with Bandit! MaryL Photos of Duffy and Holly: >'o'< Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e >>I will never, *EVER* understand the way cats think - *IF* that's what you >>can call it! [quoted text clipped - 88 lines] > > Good luck with Bandit! Thank you, Mary. What surprises me is that Bandit has been, for at least the last 5 or 6 years (4 or 5 years before she became blind), a pretty sedentary cat - not adventurous or prone to any exertion not necessary for basic survival! ;> I do now have a carpeted ramp leading up to my bed, but I didn't think to put any anywhere else since she didn't seem to have any inclination to go anywhere besides my bed, her food station, and the litter box. I *have* gone around and moved things away from high places so as to deny her "stepping stones" to situations she can't handle or that would be dangerous, but even a samll 2 foot high stool distressed her since she couldn't "feel" the ground from the top of it, so putting ramps on *every* place she might venture isn't really feasible. I'm thinking about just closing off the "dangerous" rooms when I'm not at home to rescue her and letting her roam when I am. Ben says that she doesn't seem to get into these predicaments when I'm not at home, so it may all be attention-getting behavior. Even if it is, at 17yo and blind, I'm going to give her all the attention she wants! ;> Hugs, CatNipped > MaryL > > Photos of Duffy and Holly: >'o'< > Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf > Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o > Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e "CatNipped" <lcrews@houston.rr.com> wrote in message > > Ben says that she doesn't seem to get into these predicaments when I'm not > at home, so it may all be attention-getting behavior. Even if it is, at > 17yo and blind, I'm going to give her all the attention she wants! ;> LOL. And Jake almost always gets stuck on the roof when its time to come in for the night. Also he's never done it when I was home alone. Considering their other options, I'd say it is very wise to give an attention seeking cat all the attention she wants. Jo > I was upstairs when I heard a terrible yowling - it sounded like a banshee > in torment! I rushed downstairs to see who was being tortured and killed > and found Miss Bandit standing in the middle of the workbench waiting for me > to rescue her. Awww... poor baby! I think she's doing what a normal cat does. How many times do young and healthy cats climb up trees and can't get down? SignatureVictor M. Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com |
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