- Joined
- Feb 8, 2019
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First time posting here and I wasn't sure if this should go under Behavior or Health This will probably be a long post!
Anyways, we have an 18 year old cat with some health issues and I'm not sure what to do at this point. For about the last two years she has refused to use the cat box. Partially due to arthritis, and partially due to the fact that the other cats, all younger, harass her when she does. I have been using pee pads in my kitchen for two years and generally she's been good about using those.
Lately, however, her issues have worsened. She has diarrhea at times (long history of suspected food allergies) and the food that used to control it is no longer working. She has gone in her bed a few times now. I am trying a new food with a single protein source to see if that helps. She has also ventured out of the kitchen to go on my area rugs
I should mention that she spends most of her time sleeping and hiding under a microwave cart in the kitchen. We have tried confining her to a single room, but she doesn't seem to enjoy that at all. Plus our house is very small, we need access to that room frequently, and we have a floor furnace (no central heat/air) so it's kind of cold back there.
She has been to the vet. We have had bloodwork done annually only to be told that she has "early kidney disease" for the last 10 years or so. To be honest, at her age I am not interested in spending a lot of money on diagnostics. But I also don't think she is ready to be put down since she is still quite the little eater, enjoys being brushed and pet, and she can move around pretty well when the mood strikes her.
We thought about confining her to the kitchen with a gate, when someone suggested crating her. The idea has some appeal She might use a cat box in a crate. She'd be closer to the AC and the furnace than in the kitchen or the back room, and she'd also be able to watch everything going on around her. The other cats would not be able to harass her, and any messes would be confined to the crate.
Is this an awful idea? I've never had a cat just get this old and arthritic and somewhat senile. The two cats I've had to put down before had very obvious quality of life issues (renal failure in one and cancer in the other). Same with our dogs. She would have more room in the crate than where she spends her time now. We could add a small cat tree (it's a huge dog crate) and we would of course let her out when we are able to keep an eye on her.
Thanks in advance for anyone who read through all of this!
Anyways, we have an 18 year old cat with some health issues and I'm not sure what to do at this point. For about the last two years she has refused to use the cat box. Partially due to arthritis, and partially due to the fact that the other cats, all younger, harass her when she does. I have been using pee pads in my kitchen for two years and generally she's been good about using those.
Lately, however, her issues have worsened. She has diarrhea at times (long history of suspected food allergies) and the food that used to control it is no longer working. She has gone in her bed a few times now. I am trying a new food with a single protein source to see if that helps. She has also ventured out of the kitchen to go on my area rugs
I should mention that she spends most of her time sleeping and hiding under a microwave cart in the kitchen. We have tried confining her to a single room, but she doesn't seem to enjoy that at all. Plus our house is very small, we need access to that room frequently, and we have a floor furnace (no central heat/air) so it's kind of cold back there.
She has been to the vet. We have had bloodwork done annually only to be told that she has "early kidney disease" for the last 10 years or so. To be honest, at her age I am not interested in spending a lot of money on diagnostics. But I also don't think she is ready to be put down since she is still quite the little eater, enjoys being brushed and pet, and she can move around pretty well when the mood strikes her.
We thought about confining her to the kitchen with a gate, when someone suggested crating her. The idea has some appeal She might use a cat box in a crate. She'd be closer to the AC and the furnace than in the kitchen or the back room, and she'd also be able to watch everything going on around her. The other cats would not be able to harass her, and any messes would be confined to the crate.
Is this an awful idea? I've never had a cat just get this old and arthritic and somewhat senile. The two cats I've had to put down before had very obvious quality of life issues (renal failure in one and cancer in the other). Same with our dogs. She would have more room in the crate than where she spends her time now. We could add a small cat tree (it's a huge dog crate) and we would of course let her out when we are able to keep an eye on her.
Thanks in advance for anyone who read through all of this!