**UPDATE** Need some cat advice from our cat experts!!

[Momof3Labs]

Update:

We did bloodwork yesterday, and his kidney values were slightly elevated; everything else was normal. So they want him to go on the special kidney food, and for us to give him sub-q fluids for a couple of weeks. Then we'll have him rechecked. Hopefully he'll feel better and start sleeping better at night!!

__________________________________________________ __________________

I'm at the end of my rope. I am so flippin' exhauted. I have a 14-15yo neutered male cat who I adopted back in 1997. He's a sweetie pie, but he's getting old. For the last couple of months, he wakes me multiple times during the night meowing to get lifted back into our bed (he can jump out but not in). Last night we had three wakings, plus one more when he nipped me on the shoulder while I was sleeping (not usual behavior for him). I am a zombie, and everyone thinks that it is because I have a 5.5mo baby - nope, in fact both of my DSs sleep all the way through the night!!

He's also had problems with his coat for the first time. He is a short hair and doesn't have a thick coat, but I found all kinds of mats in his undercoat. I have been working on combing those out (which I'm sure didn't feel good, but this behavior dates to long before the mats), and they are pretty much gone now. But it seems to me that he's having problems with grooming, too, to develop this problem.

Locking him up isn't an option - we've tried it and he just meows alllll night long. Even more miserable.

We've always taken a "quality of life vs. quantity of life" view on our pets. But his quality of life isn't really compromised right now (I don't think), ours is! We also just lost one of our labs last week to bone cancer, and DS1 is attached to this cat almost as much as he was attached to the dog we just lost. So I'd love to hear any suggestions to curb this behavior AND get more sleep!

TIA!!!

[Jacksonvol]

Lori,

I too had an older cat who began to have the same issues. DH built "cat stairs" that would go from the bed to the floor. You can buy these, but it did not seem like that big of a project. That seemed to ease the frustration and put an end to the sitting on my chest/pawing at face/meowing issues. (He also got to the point where it hurt him to jump down). He also got less able/interested in grooming. So we brushed every day, used somekind of dry shampoo for cats wipes from Petsmart and really made sure he had access to lots of water.

It was hard to watch a kitty we had loved for so long go through the end stages of life, but he actually had a few good years after the adaptations.

I am sorry about the loss of your Lab. Even when you know it is the right thing to do, it is never easy to make that choice.

good luck!

[lilycat88]

My parents have a 22 year old cat who has had some of the same issues. I've got a 16 year old and a 12 year old. As far as the matting goes, even short haired cats can get the matting if they aren't doing the grooming they did when they were younger. And, as cats get older, the don't groom themselves as well or as often. You just have to take over some of the grooming activities. I couple of swipes with the brush a little more often than usual should take care of that. As far as the howling thing, is it possible for you to put a chair or something next to your bed to act as a stepstool for him? My parents have a few of those floor pillows stacked in a way that their cat can get up to the bed. Some cats also start having anxiety issues especially at night. So far, we haven't had that but my parents have. They give their cat a dose of prozac every few days and that seems to do the trick. The vet said to give it every day but every few days seems to do it for them. Whenever the meowing starts, they give a dose.

Jamelin
DD Susanna 6/29/04

[holliam]

We got a lightweight ottomon at Cost Plus that works as a step for our elderly kitties and toddler on to our high bed. It was way cheaper than the pet stairs they sell!

Holli

[Radosti]

I'd get the Doggie Steps:
http://www.petco.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=651796&cm_ven=biz&cm_cat=34&cm_pla=651796&cm_ite=651796

[Momof3Labs]

I'm going to look into the step idea. We don't have much room around our bed for this, and so far the cat ignores our cedar chest at the end of the bed (which would also be a lower step into the bed) so I don't know if it would fly with him or not. The Prozac idea is pretty darn tempting; can you give a cat a sleeping pill instead *yawn*?

[Fairy]

Silly qu, but have you been to the vet recently for a checkup? Might be worth the while. In the meantime, if you can get a cat to 12 or 13, they're probably gonna live to 20, and in this time, they are simply old and stop grooming, and jumping is hard on them. Definitely do whatever you can to get the doggie stairs to work in your room, and spend some time every couple of days to groom. Keep your kitty litter especially clean since they're not grooming as often, and absolutely, positively, look into cat anti-anxiety treatment for the night-waking issues. Our cats are only 5. But they're gettin' ornery.

[Momof3Labs]

We've spent a small fortune at the vet lately, but for our dog that just died. I know that I need to get kitty in but want to get the most recent credit card bill paid off first! I need just *one* night of uninterrupted sleep!

[Jacksonvol]

Lori,

I have never used kitty prozac, but I have bought some kind of kitty pheremone (sp?) spray at Petsmart to deal with the anxiety related grooming behaviors and it worked pretty well. You don't spray it on the pet. We sprayed it on the carpet where the younger cat excessively groomed. It seemed to work pretty well.

[tbriese]

from a medical point of view...i would worry about hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure, and cognitive dysfunction. sounds like cbc/chemistry/t4 and a blood pressure are in order.

cats just get lazy when they get older and don't groom as well. there's a red handled comb i really love (can't think of the brand right now, i'll try to remember to find it) that gets the undercoat out. arthritis can also make a cat reluctant to groom especially if they have it in their back (less flexibility).

the kitty stairs might buy you some time to pay off the credit card bills :-) .

[shilo]

when our big applehead siamese was in his last year, he started having some of these issues. we didn't have our DS at the time, so not sure how well this would work for you, but we went with a ramp in stead of stairs. i bought a long 2x4 and some sisal rope. wrapped the 2x4 with the sisal (gives them something to sink their claws into more easily), using a little hot glue to keep it in place as i wrapped. then we just used an L bracket type thing to secure it down at the foot of the bed (it ran from the foot of the bed up at mattress level, down to the floor at the head board). only takes up 4" of space when you run it lenthwise with the bed like this.

hth,
lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[Momof3Labs]

I'm still tired, but have slept better the last two nights. We tried building some steps out of some stuff here and he wanted NOTHING to do with them. Didn't just ignore them, but wouldn't put his feet near them (we've left them there for two days). I guess it doesn't surprise me since the only furniture he would ever jump/get up on was our bed and our couch.

I've locked him in a small room with food/water/litter the last two nights and it has cut *my* disruptions down to about 1x/night (but I don't consider it a long-term solution - what kind of life is that for him?). So, for now, we'll do that until we can get him into the vet in the next week or so.

[denna]

Lori-

I didnt see this post earlier... I just had to put my older cat to sleep about a month and a half ago now. He was 14years old and having pretty similar problems. He actually stopped grooming himself about 3 years ago, and when I took him to the vet we found out it was b/c his teeth were infected, so we had to get most of his teeth removed (it came from feeding him too much moist food over the years, which we only fed him about twice a week).

Then for the past year he has been having cases of vomitting and severe weight loss. We took him back to vet and it turned out he had diabetes and his kidney's were failing! We were so upset and it was so hard, especially since we have taken him to the vet regularly and they never found the diabetes. We had to put him too sleep :(...

It sounds like you have gotten great advice here, the grooming issue (like ours) may be more than meets the eye (kwim). Please fill us in and I wish you the best of luck it is a tough situation... especially w/ a new baby and another DS that is attached to the pet.

((HUGS)) and good luck...

[Momof3Labs]

Denna, that's interesting about the weight loss - my cat has also lost a fair amount of weight (down from 11lbs to about 8lbs) over the last 1.5y but the vet couldn't find a a reason. Vomiting has always been a problem with my cat, so not sure if that helps with a diagnosis!

I'm sorry that you lost your furbaby; it's never easy!!

[mudder17]

Lori, did they check the kidney functions? All three of our cats lost weight before the behavioural issues started coming out. It turned out all three did eventually die from the kidney issue. I hope that's not what your poor furbaby has!


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 29 months...

http://www.tickercentral.com/view/6wrn/1.png

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev317pp___.png

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah

[Momof3Labs]

Eileen - I just updated my OP, and yes, it is his kidneys. Not too elevated (they said that normal was up to 34, and he is at 43 - I don't know which value that is) so I don't know if it is the driving force here or not. The vet also suggested an x-ray to see if there is a mass of some sort; we'll probably do that in 2 weeks when he goes in to have the kidneys rechecked (after 2 weeks of sub-q fluids at home).

[DebbieJ]

Lori,

I was just thinking of your cat today as I cleaned up some cat vomit off the carpet. :)

We had to do the sub-q fluids thing for a while a number of years ago. NOT FUN! Well, at least not with our crazy cat.

Glad you're getting some answers. We have never really gotten any answers with our cat, so we just keep on cleaning up vomit. (Well, DH does that mostly). Oh joy.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[denna]

Lori-

Im glad it wasnt anything too serious. I hope the lil guy starts feeling better soon. Please let us know how it works out.

Take care...

Denna

[mudder17]

Doh! I completely missed the update! I hope the sub-q fluids do the trick! We were able to do it with one of our cats, but overall, I think we caught their conditions too late. :( My current kitties send him lots of healing vibes and love snuggles!


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 29 months...

http://www.tickercentral.com/view/6wrn/1.png

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev317pp___.png

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah