Hello all!
My resident cat, Delilah, is 7 years old, but a few days ago I also adopted a senior kitty, Wendy, who is 15!
She's a tiny little thing with a whole host of health issues that I haven't dealt with before, so it's going to be a learning experience for me. We have a vet visit on Tuesday so I'll hopefully get lots of answers then, but she definitely does have arthritis and mobility issues. I'm working on making everything more accessible for a senior kitty: more rugs, raised bowls, low entry litter box, steps, etc. What I'm curious about now is the best way to brush her.
She wasn't really brushed in her foster home, but I've discovered that she loves being brushed with soft bristle brush I have made for people. That's working well, except sometimes if she's standing I'll touch the brush to her fur on her back half, without even applying any pressure, and she shudders and her back legs collapse. Has anyone developed good techniques for grooming an arthritic cat?
She is on cosequin and I'm going to see what else the vet recommends. She can actually still reach most places herself to groom, it's mainly her back knees that have trouble. She is medium haired though and I do think she'd benefit from being brushed regularly. I guess I just want to hear from experienced senior kitty owners if there's anything I should be careful about that I haven't had to deal with in younger cats.
I'm so glad to have her though! She's clearly been through a lot in her life but she's such a good cat!
My resident cat, Delilah, is 7 years old, but a few days ago I also adopted a senior kitty, Wendy, who is 15!
She's a tiny little thing with a whole host of health issues that I haven't dealt with before, so it's going to be a learning experience for me. We have a vet visit on Tuesday so I'll hopefully get lots of answers then, but she definitely does have arthritis and mobility issues. I'm working on making everything more accessible for a senior kitty: more rugs, raised bowls, low entry litter box, steps, etc. What I'm curious about now is the best way to brush her.
She wasn't really brushed in her foster home, but I've discovered that she loves being brushed with soft bristle brush I have made for people. That's working well, except sometimes if she's standing I'll touch the brush to her fur on her back half, without even applying any pressure, and she shudders and her back legs collapse. Has anyone developed good techniques for grooming an arthritic cat?
She is on cosequin and I'm going to see what else the vet recommends. She can actually still reach most places herself to groom, it's mainly her back knees that have trouble. She is medium haired though and I do think she'd benefit from being brushed regularly. I guess I just want to hear from experienced senior kitty owners if there's anything I should be careful about that I haven't had to deal with in younger cats.
I'm so glad to have her though! She's clearly been through a lot in her life but she's such a good cat!