Hello.  I've posted here once or twice before about an old cat I
inherited.  All I knew about her when I inherited her was that she had
been spayed and given initial shots (rabies, distemper, leukemia) when
she was saved from the streets by my sister in 1994.

One of you was *so* nice and called my little babe a "grand old" cat,
and she is.  Or was--before I finally got her to a vet in January,
where she received her first exam, teeth/tartar cleaning, shots, and
microchipping in years (first and only microchipping).

In order to help my little girl, I have to be upfront and say this may
have something to do with those "chicken or the egg" situations.  I'm
going through the worst period of stress in my life, so I don't know to
what extent if any my kitty's very dramatic and upsetting behavioral
changes are influenced by my depression and ill health.

1)  Increased night-time restlessness and vocalization.  Before the vet
visit, she would often prowl our halls, but not meow.  Now I've been
without sleep ever since January because she meows for no perceptible
reasons.  She eats Fancy Feast exclusively, always has at least three
water bowls and litter boxes available, and frequently little sips of
milk.  Her bowel movements have never been better.

2)  Dramatic changes in daytime behavior.  Of course it is that time of
midwinter where everyone, animals or humans, get really down; and this
is the time of year when vomiting has traditionally happened with her.
But she doesn't want to get near me anymore in the ways she used to
before the vet visit (and catching and trapping her that day is such an
ugly memory, I actually rearranged furniture and mopped every floor in
the house, so that there's no scent of fear pheromones leftover).

She's always ready and willing for a brushing, which I give her at
least three or more times a day, and it's not a matter of *total*
avoidance.  She just has a kind of sad hopeless expression that I
sincerely am not imagining.  Last week, I took my queen bed apart in
order to put the box spring and mattress on the floor.  (She stopped
being able to jump up this past autumn.)  I thought she'd come and curl
up with me the way she used to.  She'll gladly sleep across the room on
her cushion (in fact, that's what she's doing right now), but she
sleeps almost round the clock--until it's time for me to sleep!

I'm sorry for rambling on so long, but I'm so sad about her aging.  For
some reason, her aging reminds me of my own (I'm 49), and vice versa.
So--  Can someone just tell me if it's "normal" for a cat to just lose
interest in living, or to come to life only at night, when she can
avoid human beings?

I have to stress that I did not want to vaccinate her.  I did so
because I might relocate to a development where it is required, and now
I feel so guilty, as if I somehow "did" this to her.  The vet was
female, an angel, and her staff was great.  (The vet gave her a clean
bill of health except for her teeth.)

Thank you all for reading and hopefully responding.