Our elderly cat (12-14 years) has gotten noticeably worse in the past week -- not in the 'should we put her down' way, but in terms of personality shifts and grooming troubles. The vet was unconcerned after testing and examination, but how do we deal with it? Current system:
Feeding 2x daily
Arthritis pills 2x daily
Brushing 2x daily
More water bowls
No stairs in house
Subq fluids 2-3x weekly
Change of diet etc. to help with the vomiting (which still comes and goes)
Regular blood and urine tests for her kidney failure (currently stage 2)
Steps etc. to help her get into bed with us
Lifting her into our laps, as she is reluctant to try to jump into our laps now
Not really plausible:
More litterboxes, unless she starts having accidents. We're in a tiny downtown condo.
Problems:
-Extreme neediness: yowls angrily if I shower when my husband isn't home. Always on our laps (was previously a "I might let you cuddle me for 30 seconds" cat). Which is fiine, except that I need to do things and she gets so angry and upset and it breaks my heart.
-"Failures of personal hygiene": Dandruff (not much we can do here). Bits of (non-poopy, dry) litter, dust in fur. Increase in dingleberries being left around house. Smeared... something... on the bed (probably vomit? less pleasantly, possibly poop from her butt). We can wipe her before bed, but that doesn't help with whatever she did in the middle of last night to smear on our bed (again, probably the vomit my husband cleaned up at 2am, but generally she doesn't wake us up when she expels bodily fluids).
Feeding 2x daily
Arthritis pills 2x daily
Brushing 2x daily
More water bowls
No stairs in house
Subq fluids 2-3x weekly
Change of diet etc. to help with the vomiting (which still comes and goes)
Regular blood and urine tests for her kidney failure (currently stage 2)
Steps etc. to help her get into bed with us
Lifting her into our laps, as she is reluctant to try to jump into our laps now
Not really plausible:
More litterboxes, unless she starts having accidents. We're in a tiny downtown condo.
Problems:
-Extreme neediness: yowls angrily if I shower when my husband isn't home. Always on our laps (was previously a "I might let you cuddle me for 30 seconds" cat). Which is fiine, except that I need to do things and she gets so angry and upset and it breaks my heart.
-"Failures of personal hygiene": Dandruff (not much we can do here). Bits of (non-poopy, dry) litter, dust in fur. Increase in dingleberries being left around house. Smeared... something... on the bed (probably vomit? less pleasantly, possibly poop from her butt). We can wipe her before bed, but that doesn't help with whatever she did in the middle of last night to smear on our bed (again, probably the vomit my husband cleaned up at 2am, but generally she doesn't wake us up when she expels bodily fluids).