21 year old cat - behaviour problems - howling too much

[Bonkcat]

Hi:

I have a 21 year old cat - she's a short-hair, tabby. For the past couple years or so (this has been gradually building up), her personality has changed and she has developed some bad behaviours.

She does go for regular checkups at the vet and we have mentioned the problems to her doctor. The doctor (who is a specialist in cats) said that everything seems ok for a cat her age - she has kidney problems, but we give her sub-q fluids for that. She also has slightly high blood pressure (she takes meds for that too), but otherwise everything is fine. The vet suspected that she has hyperthyroidism, but that is not the case - her thyroid is normal.

She has become extremely dependent on us and she gets extremely upset when she's alone (she used to be very independent). She likes to stay mainly in the den, and as soon as anyone sits down on the couch, she tries to sit on their lap and begs them to scratch her head. This is fine some of the time, but she insists on sitting on someone's lap and getting her head scratched 24-7! If she has been sitting on my lap, and I take her off, she keeps trying over and over and over again to come back onto my lap or to get my attention - I'm afraid she will hurt herself.

We did solve the problem temporarily by getting her an electric blanket, but she has gotten tired of that after a few months and resumed her bad behaviour.

The problem also lessens in the summer time when the weather is better because she likes to suntan.

The worst problem, though, is the howling. She screams extremely loud at random times, and especially when she is alone. Her voice has become so annoying - it is extremely loud and growly. Sometimes, she just sits and screams - staring off into space - until someone tells her to shut up - then she seems to act surprised that someone is talking to her and stops meowing, but then starts up again at another random time.

She also does not sleep very much (compared to her previous routine) and frequently runs up and down the stairs asking for attention.

Also, nearly three years ago, she suffered a pretty major stroke. She was unable to walk - her hind legs were very weak, and when we took her to the vet that same day, the vet told us that she was blind.

We took her home at that time, moved her bed from the armchair to the ground, and expected her to die soon. However, she recovered on her own within a week. At first, she dragged herself to her food bowl and around the room using her front paws, within a couple days she regained motion in her hind legs, and then she just recovered. Maybe she invented her own physical therapy or something.

I think that her personality change has something to do with the stroke - I don't think that she completely recovered her eyesight - but this behaviour has been a gradual development - there was no sudden change after the stroke.

Can anybody suggest anything? I expect that I won't have as much trouble over the summer because she will be busy suntanning, but I think the problem will get worse again in the fall.

Thanks!