My 17 y/o cat has CRF (creatinine and BUN are a smidge outside of the normal range) and possible IBD, and last month she was diagnosed with having a UTI.
Last year she had a few episodes of falling over after vomiting (this led to the IBD diagnosis). She had an abdominal and chest ultrasound which didn't show anything of any significance. The vet didn't know what caused the falling over and she hasn't done it since then. I did wonder if she had a mini stroke or something similar because she hasn't been acting right since then.
She seemed to develop vision problems shortly after. I think she can see, but maybe not well or maybe it varies by the day. In the last six months or so, she appears to have developed partial hearing loss. When she wakes up, particularly from a deep sleep, she seems confused. Sometimes it's almost as if she's "spacing out" and other times her behavior is just plain crazy. She reminds me of an elderly person who has Alzheimer's. In the last month, I've noticed a slight loss of balance or uncoordination very briefly after she gets up and takes a few steps away from her bed.
What's particularly bothersome is that she sometimes urinates in the room she stays in rather than going to the litter box. I did end up putting a litter box in her room, but I don't want the other cats to use it so I kept the door shut. That didn't work out so well because the room began smelling like a filthy hamster cage and she ended up having loose stools outside the litter box. I'm not sure what's going on here, but the vet hasn't been helpful. I'm not sure if the younger cats are bothering her, but they've been in the house for the last 20 months or so and if there's a problem it's only just recently shown up.
Does anyone have any advice or thoughts? The whole family is feeling very frustrated over this. It's not just the urinary and possible cognitive problems, it's the IBD and her not wanting to eat that also makes things exhausting. This is worse than when I took care of my great grandmother who had Alzheimer's. At least with people you can put them in adult diapers.
Last year she had a few episodes of falling over after vomiting (this led to the IBD diagnosis). She had an abdominal and chest ultrasound which didn't show anything of any significance. The vet didn't know what caused the falling over and she hasn't done it since then. I did wonder if she had a mini stroke or something similar because she hasn't been acting right since then.
She seemed to develop vision problems shortly after. I think she can see, but maybe not well or maybe it varies by the day. In the last six months or so, she appears to have developed partial hearing loss. When she wakes up, particularly from a deep sleep, she seems confused. Sometimes it's almost as if she's "spacing out" and other times her behavior is just plain crazy. She reminds me of an elderly person who has Alzheimer's. In the last month, I've noticed a slight loss of balance or uncoordination very briefly after she gets up and takes a few steps away from her bed.
What's particularly bothersome is that she sometimes urinates in the room she stays in rather than going to the litter box. I did end up putting a litter box in her room, but I don't want the other cats to use it so I kept the door shut. That didn't work out so well because the room began smelling like a filthy hamster cage and she ended up having loose stools outside the litter box. I'm not sure what's going on here, but the vet hasn't been helpful. I'm not sure if the younger cats are bothering her, but they've been in the house for the last 20 months or so and if there's a problem it's only just recently shown up.
Does anyone have any advice or thoughts? The whole family is feeling very frustrated over this. It's not just the urinary and possible cognitive problems, it's the IBD and her not wanting to eat that also makes things exhausting. This is worse than when I took care of my great grandmother who had Alzheimer's. At least with people you can put them in adult diapers.
