16 year old cat not purring any more?

[allroundthesun]

My cat, Meeko, will be 16 in a few weeks and within the last few months he has stopped purring entirely. He purred on a regular basis before that.

He is having some health issues. He was diagnosed with a hyper thyroid at 13, and did very well on 5mg of Tapazole until this January when his levels went way up and the vet doubled his dose to 10mg. We've had difficulty getting him on the new dose because he vomits as a side effect, meaning he's not getting the benefits of the pills, which would stop the vomiting (which is the major symptom he experiences when his thyroid is out of whack) and with all the vomiting his weight is very low, of course. We have finally got things under control; he hasn't vomited in a week-ish, is eating (not as much as we'd like, but much more than he was) and seems more like his normal self.

Basically, I'm wondering if the lack of purring is because of his health (he still gives/wants affection, and show happiness/excitement over things he likes), or if it's something that just happens with some older cats. Does anyone know? Anyone have an older cat who stopped purring even though s/he was in good health? I'm not particularly concerned, moreso just curious.

Thanks!

 

[yayi]

Maybe his purring got so low that it's virtually inaudible?

 

[bastetservant]

Good point! A lot of cats do purr, but you don't know it unless you feel it on their necks. Are you sure he's not purring, or maybe you just can't hear it?

Of my 5 cats, curiously, the only 2 I hear purr are the 2 small, DSH, black, females - both very small at just under 8 lbs. But they both purr very loudly.

I've had a number of cats live to more than 16 and I don't remember that they stopped purring,

Robin