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I just woke up to my old geriatric cat standing on my head meowing in my face. It was 1:30 am and I had fed her last at about 10 pm. She is completely bonkers lately, and I call her my old lady since she has seemingly lost her mind. How the hell do I deal with this poo poo and not beat her or toss her into the wall? I'm kind of losing my poo poo, I'm not sure I can deal with this anymore. 24 hours of crazy and senile cat is making me loving hate her. I've had her for 13 years and she was an adult when I got her. I'm typing this and she is sitting on the ground below me meowing. I don't even know what she wants, she is just meowing and bitching, and while I love her; I loving hate her. This has been going on for awhile but she is just getting to be more and more of an rear end in a top hat. Over the last 6 months she has been a complete nutjob. I've been dealing with her crazy poo poo for a few years, but she is really driving me nuts at this point. Here is a picture of the rear end in a top hat cat when she wasn't insane: 
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Apr 4, 2015 10:48
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| # ? May 13, 2024 22:21 |
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I picked her up and she is sitting in my lap and hiding her head under my armpit.  She can't even jump on my lap anymore without climbing up my leg. Dammit you old lady. This is breaking my heart.
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Apr 4, 2015 11:19
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What exactly is she doing? Just following you around meowing obnoxiously and at inappropriate times? Some crazy senile cat stuff is legit cat going senile in old age and/or is deaf, or it could be a medical thing.
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Apr 4, 2015 12:36
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Feline senility is a thing. What are her litter box habits? What is she eating? Where are these things located? Indoor or does she have outdoor access? What are her favorite toys and hiding/sleeping places? How much time do you spebd with her? Any major changes in routine lately? For feline senility, you want to start limiting her activities to just a few rooms. Food and litterbox in one area, play and snuggle space in another close by or the same medium traffic room. Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Apr 4, 2015 |
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Apr 4, 2015 17:51
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Also recommending getting her checked out by a vet. She could have feline hyperthryoidism, which is common in older cats. If she has it, this could make her hungry all of the time, causing her to yell at you at all hours of the night, yet not gain any weight despite if you increase her caloric intake. Basic senior blood panels usually include it I believe. I'm totally not a vet though, so go talk with you vet.
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Apr 5, 2015 02:51
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Tamarillo posted:What exactly is she doing? Just following you around meowing obnoxiously and at inappropriate times? Some crazy senile cat stuff is legit cat going senile in old age and/or is deaf, or it could be a medical thing. She can't even jump on the bed anymore, which is strange because she looks great. She is just annoying as gently caress, all of the time. I love her, I want you to know that. I love her, but she is so drat annoying I don't know how to deal with her.
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Apr 5, 2015 05:20
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Suspect Bucket posted:Feline senility is a thing. What are her litter box habits? What is she eating? Where are these things located? Indoor or does she have outdoor access? What are her favorite toys and hiding/sleeping places? How much time do you spebd with her? Any major changes in routine lately? She is an indoor cat, she is senile as hell. EDit: I'm home 24 hours a day. We moved recently. She left a scare on my arm. Eh, that should read scar obviously. She flipped her poo poo and bit and scratched me horribly in the process of our move. Pohl fucked around with this message at 10:17 on Apr 7, 2015 |
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Apr 5, 2015 05:26
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Pohl posted:She can't even jump on the bed anymore. Arthritis maybe? I reckon you should probably get a vet to take a good look at her. Maybe she's being an annoying poo poo because she's in pain or at least uncomfortable (or maybe just because she's senile).
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Apr 5, 2015 07:01
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Pohl posted:She is an indoor cat, she is senile as hell. If you've moved recently she's probably still a little confused and unsettled and looking to you for reassurance. Again, I am going to recommend shrinking her world down to just a few rooms. Food and litter box in one room, play and interaction in another. Also, take her to the vet. There are options for pain management. Do you have a Feliway plugin? That can help a lot.
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Apr 5, 2015 12:55
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Limiting her rooms is a great suggestions. We've limited our resident grimalkin to the main floor, excluding her from our bedroom, basement and guest room. I've given her a heating pad on a place she can still get to and she loves it. You can make homemade "stairs" for her if you wish. It can be a stool to hop on or a board with carpet glued to the surface. Watch out for your toes. Yes she occasionally still sits outside our room and makes a horrendous noise, but she eventually goes back to her heating pad and leaves us in peace.
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Apr 6, 2015 15:53
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My apt. is basically 700 sq feet and 3 rooms. It is pretty tiny. She is sleeping right now, which is the first time I have seen her sleep in a few days. I appreciate everyone's comments and help. You guys and gals are great. Thank you. I've got a lot to think about, because she really is important to me and I named her "Grace" for a reason. I'm just struggling with the fact that it might be time to put her down. I don't intend on spending a ton of money on her at this point, she is old as hell and has had a great life. I'm not going drug her up just so I don't have to face the fact that she is probably dying. She is my Grace, but she is also old and sad. She doesn't really wash anymore and I've had to intervene on a few sores that she has developed. I keep her clean and brushed, but she is just going downhill really fast. I have to just accept that it is probably time and call out a traveling vet. I can't even take her to the vet because I don't think she would react well to the kennel and the drive. This just loving sucks and I feel like I'm losing my best friend.
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Apr 7, 2015 09:22
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Suspect Bucket posted:If you've moved recently she's probably still a little confused and unsettled and looking to you for reassurance. Again, I am going to recommend shrinking her world down to just a few rooms. Food and litter box in one room, play and interaction in another. Also, take her to the vet. There are options for pain management. By recently I mean 6 months ago. Before that we lived in the same place for ten years. During and after the move she actively attacked me and my other cat, whom is also an elderly lady. My other cat is pretty much the same age as her, but Grace is a dick and attacks her sometimes like she doesn't know who the other cat is. They have lived together ten years....
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Apr 7, 2015 10:12
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I would buy something like this or some other cheap step ladders, so she can climb up to be with you. i own a few of these stools, because i live in a small rented apartment. They add a cheap (removal) level off the ground my cat can travel (like crazy) across my unit.
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Apr 7, 2015 12:59
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^^That looks great. I also cannot recommend a heating pad enough. Just pop 'round to you local drug store and get the cheapest one they have. Put it where she is sleeping and maybe put a towel over it to keep it hair free. My cat loves her's so much I think she married it.
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Apr 7, 2015 13:03
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We have an arthritic cat who is older than time itself. Since we have a dog, the cats are fed on a table, and he can't get up there any more. He will meow until we put him up there, which is every 2-4 hours. At night he goes in the guest room with the door closed so his food, water, and litter box can be nearby on the floor, otherwise he is waking us up all night long. He does well in there and doesn't seem to mind. During the day it's just a matter of putting up with his super obnoxious meowing and sometimes being right in our faces. We haven't put him down because apart from some mild kidney disease and stiff legs, there's nothing wrong with him and he still purrs and seems happy when he is getting attention or has found a nice warm spot to sleep. Sleep deprivation from something super irritating like a needy cat can make you feel really bad and stressed, before we routinely put him in a different room at night I had the exact same thoughts, that we needed to put him down. Part of me felt guilty because I almost wished it so I could get one night of solid sleep. But since he has been allowing us to sleep, it's a lot easier to deal with. Try getting a heating pad and putting her in a different room with food, water, and a litter box at night. If you can't close something off you could get a baby gate. If she seems distressed or scared that's one thing, but if she's able to still enjoy herself when she's not hungry or lost, you might need to just remind yourself that she's just a little old lady and she can't help it. Definitely have her checked by a vet, but if there's nothing physically wrong, try to get a good night sleep and see how you feel. Ear plugs also might be a good investment. I sleep with foam ones and they drown out animal noises but I am still able to hear my phone alarm just fine.
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Apr 9, 2015 04:23
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[EDIT] I like cats, cats are cool.
Bareback Werewolf fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Apr 9, 2015 |
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Apr 9, 2015 04:54
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How's cat?
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Apr 11, 2015 22:23
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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang posted:How's cat? Still alive. She bounced back a bit and is not so crazy. Just to clarify, she can't jump on the bed or me on a chair, but she can climb! She does a funny little jump, then grabs and claws her way up. This is not always good when she is climbing me, because ow. She couldn't bother me in bed if she couldn't get on the bed, but she does get up and stick her cold wet nose and whiskers in my ear while she meows loudly. She doesn't sleep in bed with me anymore, which I find odd. I think I move around too much for her. She is totally crashed out on my bed right now, but I'm going to go in and take a nap and I know she is going to get up and leave. Her personality has changed so much I sometimes forget how goddamn awesome she was. She is still awesome, and yeah, I was completely frustrated when I wrote some of my posts. I'm more chill now and while I have a lot to think about, I'm going to get a vet out here and have her looked over. I love my stupid cat, and the last thing I want is to lose her. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang posted:
Hair free doesn't exist in my world.  I will give this a try. Thanks. Pohl fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Apr 12, 2015 |
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Apr 12, 2015 20:03
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When my old cat was around Grace's age, she had the same kind of personality and behavior changes. She was grumpier and picked fights with the younger cat more often, and stopped jumping up to the windowsill (which was really sad as she used to make the most amazing vertical leaps when she was younger). She got in the habit of wandering around the hallway yowling instead of coming to bed at night. The vet diagnosed her with severe arthritis and put her on painkillers and some additional supplements; thankfully we could grind up the pills and hide them in her wet food so it wasn't a major ordeal. As soon as the meds kicked in, she was back to jumping onto her favorite windowsill and spending her time cuddling with us instead of being grumpy. It was clear that she had been in a lot of pain simply from being an arthritic old lady, but that was by no means a death sentence.
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Apr 15, 2015 08:37
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| # ? May 13, 2024 22:21 |
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Yeah, very often when a cat has a real personality/behavior change there's an underlying reason for it, one way or another... Myself, I think cat-owners are, in general, way too cavalier about getting a new kitten when they already have an adult cat. Not that's always a bad thing, but it could potentially be really tough on your adult cat. I mean, that's what happened to Jackie, my cat - my parents got two energetic rambunctious little kittens, and Jackie was 4 years old and set in her ways and liked the way things were - peaceful and quiet and with people paying attention to her and her being allowed free reign of the house. Then these kittens show up, and suddenly Jackie has to go into the basement with the kittens at night because the kittens are too noisy, and Jackie came to despise the kittens just because they were acting like rear end in a top hat kittens, and Jackie's not a confrontational alpha-cat type. So her personality just totally changed, and she got grumpy and would walk around yowling, she would overeat constantly because she shared food bowls with the kittens and was always scared they would eat all the food before she got any, I think, so her weight went up. You couldn't approach her without hearing a low pitcher growl and if you tried to pet her you risked serious danger to your hand. And now she's the gentlest cat in the world 
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Apr 15, 2015 14:44
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