wdolson
Posts: 10398
Joined: 6/28/2006
From: Near Portland, OR
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quote:
ORIGINAL: wdolson
My condolences. I've been there with an 18 1/2 year old cat 9 years ago now. I still miss him, but his kidneys had gone south and there was nothing left to do. The one cat we have now is 20 and in decent shape for his age, but he is declining. It's been a bad day for him. He gets a tremor sometimes and it was bad today. It's died down now, but it's still there a little bit.
I'm dreading the day we have to make the call on this guy. It may be as much as a year away (if he's lucky), but I can see the day coming.
When I go back to the agonizing decision I had to make with the 18 1/2 year old cat, I also think about how much he was suffering and it makes it easier to bear. The worst thing about cats and dogs is our lifespan is so much longer then theirs.
Oh and I've had two pretty smart cats. The one who I had to put down could open any door if it wasn't latched. And once he learned something new, he would never cast about for a solution again, he would go right to the solution. The current cat starts over from scratch every time he encounters a door he wants to get through. Another cat I had in college could open latched doors by jumping up and grabbing the handle.
Unfortunately she never learned about cars can got run over. My father saw it happen and the sound of his voice when he came in the house cradling her body still haunts me.
Bill
quote:
ORIGINAL: witpqs
Geez, Bill! Sounds like our departed friends were about the same age and had the same smarts. We made a house hunting trip when relocating and had a sitter (her and her husband - two for the price of one!) stop over each day to give the insulin shot. When we got home we found a note that he had found a new hiding place. During the hunt for him they caught the other cat three times (bet he was happy!) before finally finding their quarry quieting hiding inside the bathroom vanity. 
In the new house after we moved he used to go to a big draw in the kitchen island, slide it open, climb in on top of stuff, then close it and "meow" for one of us to come and play with him.
I have given cats their booster shots, but I never gave daily injections or an IV. The 18 1/2 year old did get a daily thyroid pill, I got very good with a pill gun. The current cat when he gets his tremors, they calm down when I give him some valerian. We have some tincture I cut with some water, then load up an eye dropper and squirt it in his mouth. He's 1/2 rag doll, so when he wants out of something he goes boneless. It's like trying to hold onto a blob of wrestling Jello. I have to be fast with him.
The current cat is quite a character. My SO is more of a dog person (she still misses her standard poodle who died almost a decade ago), but she does like this cat. She's determined he's probably half Ragdoll and half Norwegian Forest Cat. He has the coloring and fur of the Forest Cat as well as the appetite. He's like a dog when it comes to food. He's always looking for more, though he doesn't overeat. He's always had good quality dry food available and makes a major fuss if the bowl gets less than 1/2 full.
But he's always cruising for snacks too. He eats just about anything edible that falls on the floor. Most fruits and vegetables are about the only things he won't eat, though he does like pineapple juice. My So loves popcorn and eats it several times a week. If she puts the bowl on the floor, the cat is over there cleaning it within a few minutes. He can't jump anymore and I taught him to fear getting on the counters, so he's limited to what he can find at floor level.
Last year I thought he was a goner. He's been a little chubby his entire life, but started losing weight over about a six month period. Then one day his cheek swelled up. I finally got him to the vet and it turned out one of his molars was abscessed. He had to have it removed along with a couple of small front teeth that were also going and he went right back to his old weight in fairly short order. The vet was amazed at how fast he put the weight back on. She is used to elderly cats being skin and bones and he was when he came in with the tooth thing, but I guess it's unusual for an elderly cat to put on weight like he did.
An employee at the pet store told us that cats lose their sense of smell as they get older, but they need to be able to smell and taste their food or they won't think it's good. I got a dry food that is a mix of fishes. It smell quite strongly (I hold my breath when I pour it out for him), but the cat loves it.
He kind of staggers around the house somewhat. His back legs are weak enough he waddles when he walks, but he's still just as big a foodie as ever and he seems to enjoy life. He manages to get up and down the stairs every day. His food is still downstairs and his favorite sleeping spot and the cat box are upstairs. When we're around he prefers to go outside, but it's usually only for about 10 minutes to do his thing, sniff a thing or two and then come back in.
The weak back legs is a sign of the failing kidneys, they usually go together from what I've read. I've also read that for both cats and dogs, if they live long enough, the kidneys are what's going to get them. It's probably the carnivorous diet. Protein is hard on kidneys.
Bill
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RE: OT Loss of the family dog - 
Luke and Jax last year. 
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