Aged cats

Great news absent hope she goes on for a good while longer.

Thank you everyone who sent supportive messages and good vibes to Fishpaste and me – they seem to have worked. Our vets are very good and today we saw the nice woman vet who addressed my lovely cat as "Fishy", while gently stroking her and probing her poor old skinny body. She reckons Fishpaste is not in pain (good news) but she is now completely blind (we thought that was happening). We all agreed that there wasn't really any point checking her liver, kidneys, whether she was diabetic and so on and so on because not much can be done at her age. We all decided to try steroid injections, so one that is effective for 7–10 days was given. We have an appointment for 10 days' time. If this one is good, she can have a 21-day injection so it's less disruptive for her.

All this happened between 4 and 4.30 this afternoon. This evening, while chopping shallots, chillies and chicken for tonight's Thai curry, I watched Fishpaste moving around while Mr absent was getting the cats' supper organised. She isn't skating with her back legs and no longer has a balancing tail like a beaver. I feel very optimistic about the next few months. Of course, you cannot turn back the clock, but perhaps she has a few more comfortable weeks/months ahead of her. Bless her dear furry face.

Will be thinking about you and Fishpaste tomorrow, Absent.

Absent (((hugs))) for tomorrow.

hope tomorrow is kind to you which ever route you have to take

All the best for you and fishpaste tomorrow absent

Will be thinking of you and Fishpaste tomorrow Absent, all the best.

Thanks for all the crossed fingers. Nanadog I don't know whether they'd work for MrDog – and as for perkier, the cat in question had been neutered, so it was a relative term.

Fingers crossed for Fishpaste

Dam this iPad! Perkier .....not Perrier!

Are those injections available for humans absent? I was thinking of MrDog. I'd like him to be less confused but not sure about the Perrier bit?

Think I'll try to wean Heidi off Iams. It won't be easy because she can be very stubborn about any change to her diet. She won't eat chicken, ham or anything else you would expect to be a treat.

absent good luck for tomorrow.

Such a hard decision, absent, will think of you tomorrow. It is so sad to see our friends getting older and weaker. I am down to only one cat now, having lost my poor old boy last year.

And petallus I wouldn't worry too much about what you feed them, the only difference between the cheap and the expensive foods is marketing. Iams is tested on animals anyway, and not in a good way, so not very ethical.

I have bitten the bullet to the extent that I have made an appointment at the vets tomorrow afternoon. We had a chat on the phone and I mentioned that another cat in the past had also become senile and while he didn't seem to be ill, he was doing strange things and was confused. My then vet gave him steroid injections for about six months which made him more comfortable, less confused and perkier. The vet agreed that this was a possibility and is going to give Fishpaste a thorough physical check up and then discuss the best course of action with me. Fingers crossed but I have asked Mr absent to come with me in case it turns out that we have to say goodbye to her.

I gather that cats like puddles etc. because they don't like the chlorine in tap water. One of our cats is about 16 and being treated for hyperthyroidism at the moment. It's costing about £28 a month but is very effective. We did it once before with one who lived to be 19, he went deaf and a bit senile but was very happy until he suddenly went blind. He was obviously so unhappy not knowing where we were or what was happening that the only thing we could do was have him put to sleep. Sadly he was soon followed our little old black and white lady who was found to have an inoperable tumour in her mouth. At least we didn't have to do any soul searching about whether she could have any sort of treatment because there was none. In the past I have found that invasive treatment tends to leave you with an astronomical bill and a dead cat.

petallus Mine – present and past –  have all gone well past the age of 12, apart from Mozzarella who went missing, and they have all thrived on cheap and cheerful commercial cat food.

I've had a couple of my cats put down in the past. Very sad. The last time the vet had to have two goes to get the needle in properly and Claudia gave one loud blood curdling howl and then just sort of collapsed, all life gone in an instant.

It was over ten years ago but I still feel a bit tearful thinking about it.

Also feeling guilty because none of my cats have gone beyond the age of twelve. I wonder if it is because I feed them on commercial cat food though they do have the best (iams).

absent you have my sympathies. I posted elsewhere about 'losing' all but one cat in a very short space of time. It's horrid isn't it!

I don't know what to say absent

It was round about this time last year that my lovely witch's cat Dylan collapsed and had to be put to sleep. Looks very much as if Fishpaste will be going the same way next week. So that will just leave the Fonts (so called because they were all born to Fishpaste in my office). Fishpaste is now the same age as Dilly was then and Dingbat (an accurate description), Helvetica Semi Bold (he's quite shy), Bodoni (she's a serif cat) and Fruitger Light Condensed (small but feisty) are only one year younger. We are planning to emigrate in April. It seems a lot to put the cats through to travel all that way and endure three months' quarantine, but I cannot possibly leave them behind. Oh, it's all so hard.

anno
Ten years ago in 2002 I lost all three of my little dogs, the last one just before Christmas. I still think of them

I had to do it twice in a couple of months, absent, but it wasn't far to go to the vet's. I was sad, but they were both very old and very poorly and I was able to stay stroking them up to the end. 15 years later, I still miss them.

I don't have a cat any more but in the past I've always preferred to pay a bit more and have the vet come to my house to do the deed.

Oh absent , I feel for you. I was sort of lucky that my ancient girl went at home, I did post about it, I think the title of the thread was "And then there were two"