Expert: Dear Tabbi - 5/19/2008

Question
Hi Tabbi,

Our lovely cat, Tiffany, is 18 years old and doing pretty well besides a few problems that I’d expect if I were her age. For example, she has hyperthyroidism (well controlled on neomercazole), and some renal failure - but she refuses to go on a low protein diet – I figure that if I were her age and was told to live on bread and water I’d tell them where to go. She may as well have quality of life at this stage. However, she’s not appearing to be unwell, eats with appetite, and at her most recent vet examination (April) was found to be bright, alert and aware of her surroundings with no history of behavioural changes. However, she has a couple of other problems like nuclear sclerosis in both eyes (we think she can see shapes but not distinguish who is who), and appears to be almost deaf.

Lately we’ve noticed that she appears to be quite restless, not sleeping as much as she used to, and the vet thinks that could be due to arthritis (being uncomfortable), slight senility due to old age, or distress due to gradual loss of sight. She gets around our large garden quite well, following paths that are well-known to her, and still gets around the house okay.

The problem we’re having at the moment though is that at night she sleeps until about 2.00-3.00 a.m. and then starts meowing quite loudly. She only sometimes goes into the laundry to use her litter tray (has always preferred to go outside) and didn’t use it when I put it in the same room where she sleeps in her basket. I have to get up and let her out and I go back to sleep. Usually half and hour later she’s outside meowing constantly until I let her in again. Then she starts up meowing a couple of hours later and won’t stop until I get up and either feed her or put her outside again. I don’t feel it’s to go to the toilet because quite often she goes outside the door, turns around, and comes back inside again. The meowing has become loud in comparison to when she was younger and she hardly ever voiced her feelings before. As you can imagine, I’m not getting much sleep and keeping patient with her is becoming a challenge.

What I suspect is that she’s a bit confused and perhaps doesn’t know where she is but, if that’s the case, I don’t know how to alleviate that. Sometimes I resort to leaving her outside after the first instance around 2.00 and then have to close two doors so that I can’t hear her because she’s so stubborn she won’t give up and meows constantly, sometimes for hours. I don’t like her outside anyway and it’s almost winter here in Melbourne (Australia). She does have two other sheltered baskets outside, but being her age I’d prefer her in and away from any unwelcome young bucks who might be looking to party with her overnight (she was spayed at a young age, by the way). What do you think and can you suggest anything I can do to sort her out?


Answer
Lyn,

Your cat is approximately 88 years old in human years. I would keep her inside unless you can watch her. She may have 'kitty Alzheimers'. Also if she is deaf that could cause her confusion. The deaf cat (and/or blind) will rely on vibrations caused by people moving around to let the cat know where everyone is. When people are sleeping there aren't any vibrations and the cat gets confused.
They also get more vocal because they are confused about the changes in their body and mind.

The best thing to do is just love her and give her lots of attention and reassurance while you still can. Don't ever get angry or frustrated at her for getting old.

Here are some good articles on geriatric cats that you may find informative:

http://www.sniksnak.com/resources/geriatric.html

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1310&articleid=610

http://www.messybeast.com/towards-end.htm
(this site is up and down alot. If it quits working try again)

And if you do need to put poor kitty to sleep at some point here is an EXCELLENT site for emotional support:

http://rainbowsbridge.com/hello.htm

I hope for the best. And it sounds like kitty has a lot of heart. It's never easy to go through when they get old. Your kitty is lucky to have a caring, loving owner....and remember, she KNOWS she is loved.

Tabbi