I don't know how to go about this without a lot of back story, so bear with me. My 17 year old cat, Wayla, had a rough start to life. The vet said she got vaccines when she was too young, and they ruined her immune system. When she was a younger, she almost died from worms that we couldn't get rid of for years. We have to keep her inside because the vet said she couldn't handle more vaccines, and she picks up every little thing and almost dies from it. The past ten years, she has been the healthiest that she has ever been. We keep her inside the house and safe. We've been feeding her wheat germ ever since the vet said she needed some fiber to stop her anal sacs from getting abscessed (about 10 years ago). The wheat germ seemed to really help her eyes, which we were told about 14 years ago would go blind soon after she almost died from toxoplasmosis. Once, she become bug infested with something that was not fleas (the vet had no idea what the bugs were) and we gave her a bath. The stress from the bath gave her seizures. She completely recovered from this as well, this happened about 13 years ago, I think.
What I'm getting at is, my cat is very old, and had 10 very good and healthy years that we didn't think she would have. The vet is extremely traumatic for her, and exposes her to germs that she probably couldn't fight off, especially now that she is so old. We have decided that unless she seems completely uncomfortable and miserable, we don't want to put her through a vet experience. If you all think she should go to the vet, please say so, however, I would also like your thoughts on ways to help her be comfortable and what you think might be going on.
So this is the current problem:
Yesterday, Wayla did her normal routine of telling us all good morning, getting hugs, eating treats, and then going into her cat house to sleep. The past few months, her age seems to have finally caught up with her. It is harder to get her to eat, and she sleeps most of the day and night. So, when she wouldn't come out of the cat house to eat, that seemed normal. When she slept the whole day in the cat house, that, too, was normal.
Last night, when she finally came out of the cat house, she acted like her left hind leg wouldn't hold her weight. That has continued to today. She walks fine for a few steps, then she stumbles to the left. She can jump on the furniture, but she has to try a couple times because her left leg gives out. She acts like she sees okay, she can see our other cat across the room, she finds odd crumbs on the floor she wants to check out. She doesn't act like she's in pain, at least not much. She has always gotten annoyed with me easily (part of her cattitude), and as I was following her around last night to make sure she didn't hurt herself, she got mad at me and huffed off like she thought she was fine. She wants to sit on the back of the couch, but as she tries to get settled, her leg gives out and we have to catch her before she falls off.
All kinds of thoughts have gone through my head. Is it more seizures? But she hasn't had a seizure since that once when we gave her a bath, and then one of her pupils were dilated and fixed, and now both of her pupils look normal. She has seemed a little arthritic for the past year or so. Does she just have a stiff joint from sleeping in the cat house all day?
For the past five months or so, I've noticed her drooling just a little bit when she sleeps. Her left eye waters some, also, but it is clear. I thought both of these were normal signs of a very old but generally healthy cat.
Other than being a little scared to walk, and falling over from time to time, she seems fine, content, and happy.
What do you guys think is going on? Do you know of anything I can do to make her more comfortable?
What I'm getting at is, my cat is very old, and had 10 very good and healthy years that we didn't think she would have. The vet is extremely traumatic for her, and exposes her to germs that she probably couldn't fight off, especially now that she is so old. We have decided that unless she seems completely uncomfortable and miserable, we don't want to put her through a vet experience. If you all think she should go to the vet, please say so, however, I would also like your thoughts on ways to help her be comfortable and what you think might be going on.
So this is the current problem:
Yesterday, Wayla did her normal routine of telling us all good morning, getting hugs, eating treats, and then going into her cat house to sleep. The past few months, her age seems to have finally caught up with her. It is harder to get her to eat, and she sleeps most of the day and night. So, when she wouldn't come out of the cat house to eat, that seemed normal. When she slept the whole day in the cat house, that, too, was normal.
Last night, when she finally came out of the cat house, she acted like her left hind leg wouldn't hold her weight. That has continued to today. She walks fine for a few steps, then she stumbles to the left. She can jump on the furniture, but she has to try a couple times because her left leg gives out. She acts like she sees okay, she can see our other cat across the room, she finds odd crumbs on the floor she wants to check out. She doesn't act like she's in pain, at least not much. She has always gotten annoyed with me easily (part of her cattitude), and as I was following her around last night to make sure she didn't hurt herself, she got mad at me and huffed off like she thought she was fine. She wants to sit on the back of the couch, but as she tries to get settled, her leg gives out and we have to catch her before she falls off.
All kinds of thoughts have gone through my head. Is it more seizures? But she hasn't had a seizure since that once when we gave her a bath, and then one of her pupils were dilated and fixed, and now both of her pupils look normal. She has seemed a little arthritic for the past year or so. Does she just have a stiff joint from sleeping in the cat house all day?
For the past five months or so, I've noticed her drooling just a little bit when she sleeps. Her left eye waters some, also, but it is clear. I thought both of these were normal signs of a very old but generally healthy cat.
Other than being a little scared to walk, and falling over from time to time, she seems fine, content, and happy.
What do you guys think is going on? Do you know of anything I can do to make her more comfortable?