Worried about old cat

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

david.nisbet.87@gmail.com - 09 Jul 2006 14:21 GMT

Our cat is about 17/18 years old and he's losing his appetite, seems to
be losing his legs - when he jumps up to something or back down he
doesn't land on his feet and falls. I think this is also stopping him
getting into his little box as he's started doing the toilet all over
the house something he's never done before. He's also not sleeping in
his bed but either in the kitchen or at the front door.

Reply to this Message

wester@laway.net - 09 Jul 2006 16:16 GMT

>Our cat is about 17/18 years old and he's losing his appetite, seems to
>be losing his legs - when he jumps up to something or back down he
>doesn't land on his feet and falls. I think this is also stopping him
>getting into his little box as he's started doing the toilet all over
>the house something he's never done before. He's also not sleeping in
>his bed but either in the kitchen or at the front door.

Vet first for an evaluation. If he's going to continue to go downhill
(hey, 18 years is a good, long life) and no longer has any quality of
life, you may want to consider letting him go with some dignity. A
difficult decision and one that only you can make. Good luck and let
us know how it goes.

Reply to this Message

Rhonda - 09 Jul 2006 16:34 GMT

Hi David,

He may be falling because he's not eating much and getting weak.

He could have a kidney or bladder infection since he's going all over
the house. He also could have the start of chronic renal failure, which
can be treated for quite some time. There are many different things that
could be happening.

He needs to go to a vet right away and have some tests -- at the very
least a full blood test and urine test. This could be something very
minor and treatable even though he's that old. My friend's mom's cat
recently died at age 25!

Good luck,

Rhonda

> Our cat is about 17/18 years old and he's losing his appetite, seems to
> be losing his legs - when he jumps up to something or back down he
> doesn't land on his feet and falls. I think this is also stopping him
> getting into his little box as he's started doing the toilet all over
> the house something he's never done before. He's also not sleeping in
> his bed but either in the kitchen or at the front door.

Reply to this Message

Professor - 10 Jul 2006 13:44 GMT

Your cat is losing control of his back legs probably because he's got kidney
failure or diabetes. Unless you're up to becoming your cat's nurse it may
be time to put him down before he suffers further.

> Our cat is about 17/18 years old and he's losing his appetite, seems to
> be losing his legs - when he jumps up to something or back down he
> doesn't land on his feet and falls. I think this is also stopping him
> getting into his little box as he's started doing the toilet all over
> the house something he's never done before. He's also not sleeping in
> his bed but either in the kitchen or at the front door.

Reply to this Message

Paula57@yahoo.com - 10 Jul 2006 19:54 GMT

> Our cat is about 17/18 years old and he's losing his appetite, seems to
> be losing his legs - when he jumps up to something or back down he
> doesn't land on his feet and falls. I think this is also stopping him
> getting into his little box as he's started doing the toilet all over
> the house something he's never done before. He's also not sleeping in
> his bed but either in the kitchen or at the front door.

I had a cat that lived to be 22. When she started moving around
slower, I put a heating pad set on low under a doubled bath towel and
that was her "spot". The warmth seemed to make her old bones feel
better, so I figured that she was getting a little arthritis, just like
old people do. We her appetite went down, I switched to canned food
only. She had always liked baby food meat as a treat, so eventually I
pureed canned food in a blender and she just lapped it up. As they get
older, they can have dental problems and their mouth can get a little
to tender to eat dry crunchy food.

The litter box problems definitely call for a visit to the vet. I'm
guessing kidney or liver problems.

Reply to this Message