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Elderly cay -. Need advise

  • 08-04-2020 1:38am
    #1
    Rubberchikken
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,083 ✭✭✭


    We have a cat, 13 years, outdoors but her house is a very dry, warm comfortable garden shed, plenty if duvets blankets etc, and she has her daughter,12, as company.

    Issue is she had become I'll in the past 5 weeks. Perfect health up to that then suddenly a clot in her rest leg.

    We obviously brought her straight to the vet who worked wonders. She said it was touch and go but puss pulled through.

    She's on a direutic, a heart tablet and asprin daily and had been eating as usual and taking her meds in prawns every day.

    Now to the issue, 3 days ago she stopped eating. Refuses everything and we've bought a lot of different tinned fish, cat food even got high calorie cat food from vet.

    Every sniffle we bring her to be checked. She's had low temp, has been kept overnight to be observed and was last there Monday and other than poor teeth, the vet said vitals were good.

    But she's still not eating. Is drinking water. And we put some high calorie food mixed with water in a dropper into her but are not happy doing this for her sake.

    She's also wandering off in our garden which is large and we're afraid she'll wander off, get muddled and we won't be able to find her.

    Any advice please. She is so very special to us and we want to do all we can for her.

    Edited to add,

    Would we be wrong to restrict her movement when we can't be watching her i.e. night, by keeping her in her house? We can't have her in our house, my son is seriously asthmatic and allergic to cat fur. But we can keep her in our back porch during the day to keep a close eye.

    Sorry for the length, we're just very worried and hope the good people on here can help.


Comments

  • #2
    cocker5
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,274 ✭✭✭cocker5


    Rubberchikken wrote: »
    We have a cat, 13 years, outdoors but her house is a very dry, warm comfortable garden shed, plenty if duvets blankets etc, and she has her daughter,12, as company.

    Issue is she had become I'll in the past 5 weeks. Perfect health up to that then suddenly a clot in her rest leg.

    We obviously brought her straight to the vet who worked wonders. She said it was touch and go but puss pulled through.

    She's on a direutic, a heart tablet and asprin daily and had been eating as usual and taking her meds in prawns every day.

    Now to the issue, 3 days ago she stopped eating. Refuses everything and we've bought a lot of different tinned fish, cat food even got high calorie cat food from vet.

    Every sniffle we bring her to be checked. She's had low temp, has been kept overnight to be observed and was last there Monday and other than poor teeth, the vet said vitals were good.

    But she's still not eating. Is drinking water. And we put some high calorie food mixed with water in a dropper into her but are not happy doing this for her sake.

    She's also wandering off in our garden which is large and we're afraid she'll wander off, get muddled and we won't be able to find her.

    Any advice please. She is so very special to us and we want to do all we can for her.

    Edited to add,

    Would we be wrong to restrict her movement when we can't be watching her i.e. night, by keeping her in her house? We can't have her in our house, my son is seriously asthmatic and allergic to cat fur. But we can keep her in our back porch during the day to keep a close eye.

    Sorry for the length, we're just very worried and hope the good people on here can help.

    You mentioned the vet said vitals are good?

    But has your vet run fresh bloods / urines sample? Not eating can be a sign of kidney issues


  • #3
    aonb
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,277 ✭✭✭aonb


    Did the vet have anything to say about WHY cat isnt eating?
    3 days is a very long time for a cat not to eat, so I would be worried about that.
    As cocker5 says... kidneys
    I wouldnt worry a bit about restricting her movement - certainly, keep her in your porch where you can keep an eye on her. If shes not feeling well, there is a good chance that she might wander off, leaving your very worried about her.
    With the lockdown there is probably very little you can do about getting her to your vet?
    In any case, I would set a bed, maybe a cardboard box with a blanket in it, so she can be in the dark/private, and a litter box up in your porch and install her - and her daughter too if thats their routine (you can let the daughter cat out during the day?) I would phone your vet to see what s/he suggests.
    Try warming tiny bits of food, to release the aroma. Maybe some cooked chicken breast chopped very finely? If you have a grooming brush, you could try grooming her - they enjoy that, and it might stimulate appetite! Good luck, keep us posted - horrible when a pet is off its food


  • #4
    Rubberchikken
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,083 ✭✭✭Rubberchikken


    Wednesday morning she suddenly decided to eat. Somecat food, half a ton of mackeral and a good portion of the high calorie food we bought in the vets. She never fails to surprise us:)

    The vet is going to take a look at her teeth in the morning and see if that's an issue that can help solved.

    We did keep her and her little one overnight in the porch but they didn't seem to settle so we sorted out the door on their house to be able to let them out regularly but that they and specifically her, can't come out without us knowing.

    I realise she is probably not too fond of this but we don't want her wandering off and coming to any harm.

    Thank you all for your insights. So grateful:)


  • #5
    aonb
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,277 ✭✭✭aonb


    Rubberchikken wrote: »
    Wednesday morning she suddenly decided to eat. Somecat food, half a ton of mackeral and a good portion of the high calorie food we bought in the vets. She never fails to surprise us:)

    The vet is going to take a look at her teeth in the morning and see if that's an issue that can help solved.

    We did keep her and her little one overnight in the porch but they didn't seem to settle so we sorted out the door on their house to be able to let them out regularly but that they and specifically her, can't come out without us knowing.

    I realise she is probably not too fond of this but we don't want her wandering off and coming to any harm.

    Thank you all for your insights. So grateful:)

    great news - what a relief!
    Good idea to have the teeth checked. Going forward, you might check out a product called PLAQUE OFF - my cats and dogs are all taking it - a seaweed/natural product, that you add to their food, causes a reaction in their saliva helping with plaque buildup.
    They will soon get used to any changes that you make to their routine - as long as they have a nice cosy bed, plenty of fresh water, and their food, they are safe and secure


  • #6
    cj maxx
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,538 ✭✭✭✭cj maxx


    What's the average life span of a cat ?


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  • #7
    Stratvs
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 958 ✭✭✭Stratvs


    cj maxx wrote: »
    What's the average life span of a cat ?

    Indoors only, indoors/outdoors, outdoors only, rural,urban, lots of factors affect this. However on average 15 years would not be unusual given reasonable conditions. We’ve had an indoor/outdoor who lived to 16.5 and it was medical reasons that took her not misadventure. Outdoors only could be a lot shorter but as the OP described theirs has good living conditions and an obviously caring family. A neighbour had one that lived to 22.


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