Conference misery::feline

    Sharon,
    
    I had problems with my old cat the last year she was alive (Little Cat
    made it to 19 1/2 and was a long-term FL survivor)  She beat on the
    other cats, puked on my pillowcase (her way to voice displeasure with
    me from the time she was a kitten) on a daily basis) and scratched
    Atlehi for being on the bed.  Atlehi is my youngest child and was 6
    weeks old at the time, so we know she wasn't doing anything like
    poking, grabbing or otherwise harrassing the cat.  She did settle down
    once it was firmly explaned to her that the baby was off limits.  Kiwi
    also took over domination and had a couple of go rounds to stop the cat
    problem over a couple of weeks.  
    
    However, Kiwi became very protective of Little Cat once it was settled
    and obvious that LC wouldn't be with us much longer.  Yelling at Little
    would elicit a response from Kiwi, as would any distress noises from
    her.  
    
    As for how to handle it, I haven't a clue.  Little cat was otherwise
    healthy except for the wieghtloss that happens with ancient cats, and
    still purred until the day she died.  We went through major
    soul-searching each night when I got home about taking her to the vet,
    the last month, but she wasn't in pain, just shrinking and getting
    grouchy.  
    
    meg

    
    Thanks Meg
    
    That sounds about right - he is "shrinking and getting very grouchy!"
    
    Oh the joys of parenthood!
    
    Sharon

    
    My Merlin, who is 21+ (roughly 100 in "human equivalent years") has
    definitely "shrunk" (he's now the smallest cat of my family, smaller
    even than little Robin), and he's not so much grouchy as uppity/fussy.
    He is least tolerant of Floyd, which is a shame, because Floyd tries
    so hard to ingratiate himself with the Old Man (licking his head, head
    butting him and side swiping him), only to be rebuffed with a growl, and
    if that's not enough, a whack.  He tolerates the ladies (Robin
    especially), and ignores Rocky.
    
    Merlin will now only eat fresh food (he wants to see it come out of the
    can), drink fresh water (he wants to see it come out of the faucet) and
    drink fresh milk (Lactaid, he loves the stuff, but he has to see it come
    out of the carton).  He gets what he wants, he deserves it, but
    sometimes it's hard to figure out what excatly he wants - he'll walk up
    to me and meow (he still has quite a compelling voice, deep and
    resonant), and it's either food, water or milk, or "hold me".
    
    Every morning I check to see if he's stil with us, and every day when I
    get home I check again.  Some days he's a little wobbly, and always
    he's slow and deliberate, but he can still jump up and down to/from
    wherever he needs to go.
    
    len.
     

    Len, that reply made my eyes sting!  I know there are lots of us out
    here who love Merlin without ever having met him, just from your
    loving, perceptive accounts.
    
    Thanks and pats,
    Leslie

    
    	excatly?
    
    	;)
    

    Sharon, it sounds like you've perhaps already done this, but if not, I
    would have Dillan checked by the vet, in case he has some medical or
    dental problem that's causing him discomfort, so that he's feeling
    grumpy.  Maybe a tooth needs attention or something.
                                              

Sharon, I agree with Karen.  We've gone through two episodes of shrinking/
cranky older cat in the past couple of years.  The first time, we thought it 
was just her bad temper getting worse, but it turned out to be a bad tooth. 
After her dental, she filled back out again and was less cranky.  The second 
time, we went looking for a medical problem first and sure enough, she had 
developed an allergy to flea bites.  After Fleabusters and lots of spray to 
get rid of the existing adult fleas, she filled back out again and was less 
cranky.  It would certainly be a lot easier if they could just tell us what's
wrong!

				SQ

    I've got a 14 year old, Scuff, that only has to look at the other three
    and they know; to get out of the way, get off the chair, not to jump on
    the bed (he was there first of course!) basically get out of his space.
    Scuff is the king of the household the others abide by his glaring
    stares.  He sleeps on the threshold of the homestead, his head resting
    on the stoop, his body on the rug on the porch, sort of 1/4 in, 3/4
    out.  In order to do this, the door must stay wide open, the other
    three pass to either side and monitor the neighborhood on the window
    sills of the porch.  3 windows, 3 cats, all the kids get a kick out of
    this.  He has his grouchy days or moments, I find it is usually when we
    are out of synch with feeding schedules.  Easily remedied, you're right
    Len, it's got to be fresh out of the can, or faucet or he curls up
    right in front of the feeding area and will wait for hours.  I always
    comment that he's got the patience of Job, I should learn from him!!!
    Similiar to the others, he is shrinking with age, his only draw back is
    that he is toothless, but otherwise all working parts are functioning
    just great!  He sometimes wakes me up by chasing his tail on my bed
    using me as a bumper guard to bounce off of.  If after 14 years he
    still hasn't figured out that his tail is attached, I'm not going to
    tell him, I enjoy see the kitten emerge every so often.  Sometimes we
    all act a little childish don't we?

    
    re .4
    
    It is not possible for me to express in words just what this cat means
    to me.  He has been my constant companion, my devoted buddy for twenty
    one years, since he was just a little grey kitten.  Over all those
    years he has asked so little of me and given so much.  Every day now
    I make it a point to hug him for a while ("quality time"), and because
    he's deaf, "purr" on his head so he can feel me telling him how much I
    still love him.  I think of every day with him as if it might be my
    last, because someday it will be, and I won't know that until it's too
    late.  So the hugs are often tearful, tears born as much of the joy he
    has given me as of the ache his passing will leave me.
    
    My Dad died about five months ago, and I was lucky enough to have spent
    "quality" time with him weeks before he died (unexpectedly, though in a
    hospital), and to have held his hand a only a few hours before he died.
    Losing my Dad has really put a lot of things into clearer perspective.
    
    Merlin is "just a cat", but he's a living thing that's as much a part
    of my life as any person has ever been.  Each additional day he lives
    is a priceless gift, even the days when his cryptic demands try my
    patience.  If we're lucky, he'll die in his sleep and won't have to
    make that last heart-breaking trip to the vet.
    
    Celebrate your loved ones' lives while they're still with you; after
    they've gone, your love will mean little to them.
    
    re .5 et seq. -
    
    My vet's opinion, which I concur with, is that even though Merlin might
    have some medical problems, he's so old that it's not worth stressing
    him with a visit to the office for any condition that's not life
    threatening.  So, he's been spared his routine immunizations (since none
    of the other cats go outside and they're all up to date on their shots),
    and while he probably "needs" some dental work, as long as he's not
    uncomfortable or disabled, it can be "postponed" indefinitely.
    
    Note that it's one thing to come to this conclusion for a 21 year old
    cat, another to do so for a 14 year old.
    
    len.
     

         Oh, Len, I can't agree with you more.
    
         Bigfoot just turned 18 yesterday (my Labor Day kitty) and, since
    he's been fighting cancer for 8 years, it is especially poignant for
    us.  He has another mass growing which is involving the intestinal area
    and now the bladder, but he keeps going and going and the vet feels
    that we shouldn't shorten his quality time by going in early.  The
    chances are that the surgery, if we do it, will be his end, but there
    is a small possibility that he can conquer again.  Having had 4
    surgeries in the past 8 years, we just don't know what to do.  I wish
    we could ask him.
    
         We don't take him to the vet any more unless he gets sick, and
    have had the vet come to our house to do the kids' vaccinations.  He
    did have to go in last week for an abscess (how he got this no one
    knows, as he doesn't go out and doesn't fight with the others).  It
    used to be that if he got sick, he'd get growly; this time, he was just
    quiet.  Scary, as we just didn't know until I happened to feel his chin
    and feel the lump.
    
         I try to make sure that Bigfoot has quality time every day too. 
    He is shrinking and getting slower, though his hearing and eyesight are
    still good.  In a way I hope that if he can't make a surgery, that we
    would find him gone at home; I'd hate to make "that trip" to the vet. 
    But we just don't know.  So like Len, every morning and every evening I
    brace myself in case, then rejoice when he's still with us.  He's not
    suffering, he's just slowing down.
    
         It's going to be very hard when he's gone ...
    
    					- Andrea
    					  Bigfoot, Loki & Midnight
    

    
    Thanks for the replies.  We have had him checked out by the vet and
    they can find nothing other than the after effects of the key-gaskell
    which he has had for many years.  He had all but 4 teeth removed quite
    a few years ago due to gingivitis and he shows no signs of that
    anymore.
    
    The other trait he shows lately is to just wander round the house,
    meowing, almost shouting, at everyone.  He also constantly craves
    attention - I mean reaaallllly craves it.  He is only happy/quiet if
    you carry him around the house or sit down rubbing his tummy!
    
    Perhaps he's just feeling insecure and thinks that Sammie is getting
    more attention than him - not true of course!
    
    Sharon

    Did the vet check out a thyroid problem?  My vet once told me that
    in older cats one symptom of a thyroid problem is a lot of
    vocalization.
    

    
    I think vocalization in old cats may also be a symptom of "I'm old and
    I don't feel much like a cat anymore so I want you to hold me and stroke
    me and tell me that you still love me anyway".
    
    Merlin follows me around a lot, looks up at me and asks to be picked
    up.  Apart from that he's pretty quiet.
    
    len.
    

    
    The vet did check him out pretty thoroughly although there were no
    specific tests for thyroid - he does not seem in any pain at all, I
    thing maybe Len's reply is nearer the mark.
    
    Thanks
    Sharon