# 17 year old cat issues :(



## saraaaa (Jan 6, 2010)

My cat is almost 17 years old, and over the last year or so she has been acting up. 

She is very picky in food. She was eating dry food up until last year, when she started to loose a lot of weight and we took her to the vet. Nothing was found to be wrong with her, and she was said to be extremely healthy for her age. It was just said that we should switch to can food, and experiment what she likes best. She tends to very much like it when I switched over to canned food, so I bought her a huge case of it. She than began to get tired of it and stopped eating it. So I switched from Friskies canned food to Fancy Fest. She loved fancy feast, then she grew tired of it. I then decided to give in and buy her Fancy Feast in seafood flavors, despite that her whole face and breath smells. She liked it at first, and now is begining to stop that. Any suggestions? She is very picky, and I prefer not to get her seafood flavors due to the fact they seem to really stink her up and my hand whenever I pet her. 

Also, I am no longer able to leave her unattended in the house, because she has started peeing on my bed and in my bathtub. She even went to the point as to pee right in front of me! I now I am forced to leave her in the garage (where her food, water, and litter box are). I feel so guilty leaving her out in the garage all the time, but my family has had enough of her peeing in the house. She started to pee more often in my room when I moved her food to my room to monitor her eating, because as I previously stated she was not eating well. However, I think maybe she got too comfortable in my room and decided to use my bed as her personal litter box? But she would still whine to be let out of my room and let into the garage for her litter box, which I do not understand. Maybe I should move the litter box in my room too? But I suspect she would still prefer to pee on my bed.

Also, she has stopped grooming herself like she used to. She now comes in the house with clumps of kitty litter and feces on her feet. And suggestions for that?

Sorry to write so much, I am just very concerned for her and I hate for her to spend the majority of her life by herself in the garage.  
Any response would be greatly appreciated


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

It sounds to me like you have a sick kitty on your hands. She needs to go to the vet and have a full blood test done. With the symptoms you describe I suspect you'll find that she has kidney disease or diabetes, which is very typical for a cat her age. Don't delay this, the sooner you get her treated, it may improve her prognosis. 

BTW...did they run blood tests when you took her in the previous time?


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

Agreed. She needs to see the vet right away and have blood and urine run. A cat that age should have it done every six months anyway but it does sound like she is unwell.
Best of luck!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

saraaaa said:


> I am no longer able to leave her unattended in the house, because she has started peeing on my bed and in my bathtub. She even went to the point as to pee right in front of me!
> I now I am forced to leave her in the garage (where her food, water, and litter box are). I feel so guilty leaving her out in the garage all the time, but my family has had enough of her peeing in the house.
> 
> Also, she has stopped grooming herself like she used to. She now comes in the house with clumps of kitty litter and feces on her feet. And suggestions for that?


Hi, and my apologies for being blunt...I am not meaning to come across that way, but this is simply the most expedient way for me to tell you the information you need to know.
First, she is not feeling well. Cats who do not feel well, do not eat well or groom themselves. I believe she needs another trip to the vet, specifically to have a comprehensive blood test to check her kidney function, possible thyroid function and general overall system health and a urinalysis to determine if she has a UTI.
If your family is fed up with her peeing in the house, think about how frustrating this is for *her*, a cat who has limited means to communicate to her family that she is having a problem ... and they have put her out in the garage without attempting to help her resolve her problems, which are most likely of a medical nature and require veterinary treatment to help her recover and become comfortable and feeling better.


Inapropriate Urination / UTI
*The NUMBER ONE REASON CATS PEE INAPPROPRIATELY = Urinary Tract Inflamation.* (UTI) 
Diagnosis is with a vet checking a urine sample. There is no other way to diagnose this medical problem. Depending on diagnosis (_infection, inflamation, crystals_) treatment can include antibiotics, anti-inflamatories and/or a diet change to help get more moisture into the cat to help the kidneys flush waste more efficiently.

Cats are naturally neat and tidy animals.
They *know* what a litterbox is for. They *want* to use their litterbox.
If a cat is *not* using their litterbox, they are trying to *tell you something* and you need to listen.

AFTER a UTI has been eliminated as a problem, then you can move on to examining other issues:
Has the home been stressful for the cat? _...cats can develop UTIs due to stress..._
Does the cat like the litterbox? _...open-tray, hooded, deep enough litter, large enough box..._
Does the cat like the location of the litterbox? _...is it in a quiet area, low traffic and no sudden noises..._
Does the cat like the litter used? _...some cats prefer different litters..._
Does the cat approve of how clean the litterbox is kept for it? _...many cats will refuse to use 'dirty', and especially *smelly* litterboxes..._

Cats WANT to use a litterbox to hide their waste. If they are not, it is because there is some sort of problem and avoiding the litterbox is The Only Way for the cat to tell you It Is Having A Problem. If you and your family are annoyed at this behavior, imagine how *frustrating* and *painful* this is for your cat, who is trying to tell you in every way she has available to her: _She Is Having A Problem_...UTI's are painful and the kitty tries to find places to pee where maybe it *won't* be painful, like soft piles of clothes, bedding and rugs. When the pain *still* isn't going away by peeing on soft things, they start to pee on 'smooth' things like floors, tables, stoves and countertops. IMO, when a cat reaches the point of peeing on your countertops AND/OR peeing *_right in front of you while looking you in the eyes_* ... please don't get mad, the kitty is simply trying to tell you she has something wrong with her.

After medical treatment, diet can play a large role in helping to keep UTI's at bay; more moisture, as in a wet food or RAW diet. Even a better quality dry food and not feeding "McKittyCrack" (_which is what I call grocery-store available dry catfoods_) can help the kitty stay healthy. There are plenty of topics in the Health/Nutrition Forums to help you find a good catfood and/or diet for your kitty.

Good luck, we really *want* you to be able to help your kitty. Please let us know how things go...the information you share could help other people in similar situations, too.
heidi =^..^=


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## saraaaa (Jan 6, 2010)

When I did take her to the vet, when she first started to act up with the peeing, her blood results came in fine. 
She has gotten better at not peeing in the house, actually she slept with me most of the last night fine, without needing to be let out to the garage-so I think that issue has subsided for now. I also clean it way more often. She really seems to like that  All I can think is maybe I did something to **** her off that month when she kept peeing on my bed? She has always gone through phases of peeing and pooping on my bed for the past ten years, it was just really bad at that one point. She can really be a weird cat. At one point she even had a spraying phase, where she sprayed all over things in the house and the garage. Weird.

But yesterday I did buy her another type of cat food, and she seemed to like it, but still doesn't finish the whole can of food. Is that normal? I'm just glad she's actually back to eating now. I guess she was just getting tired of the dry food. So I am am curious, what brand of food does your cats like best? My Mickey can't seem to stick to one for long :/

And as fir the clumping, I bought her a new brand of kitty litter that tends to clumps less to her paws...so we'll see how that goes.

Another question I had was, I bought her some cat steps to make it easier for her to jump onto my bed (she has started to try to jump up and falling), and she can't figure out how to go up the stairs. She knows how to go down them, but not up them. I live in a one story now, but she has lived in a two story house and did fine with the stairs, but that was awhile ago. Any one else have this problem? I even tried putting cat treats leading up the steps to get her to do it, still wont work.

Thank you so so much for all the feedback! I _*really*_ appreciate it!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I have to *trick* my cats into eating healthy. I feed Innova EVO canned chicken/turkey, but I have to mix it with a can of Friskies so it resembles the 'junk food' they love ... but they are eating Friskies *flavored* EVO because I mix more EVO than Friskies. 

I don't know what to suggest about the peeing. If her vet visit and blood test were more than 9 months ago, I think it would be a good idea for her to at least have another blood test right now to see how things are going compared to the last one. A blood test can tell a vet a lot about a cat and how it is doing. 

For the stairs, I would set her on them and keep my hands around her ribs to help encourage her to walk up them. Is she having trouble with motor-skill coordination? If so, that could cause her to be uncertain when going up and if she didn't feel confident that she could do it, she would avoid doing so.


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