Severely Ill Cat - Broken A/c

[sivyaleah]

Hi everyone.

Our cat Casper is currently living with more than a few illnesses: Chronic Kidney Disease, Hyperthyroid and, most recently diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma. He also has a heart murmur, and some breathing difficulties periodically.

To say his health is precarious is not an overstatement.

Today, our central a/c broke and won't be repaired until tomorrow afternoon. My husband and I booked a hotel room for an overnight stay, as it's hot and humid where we live and will remain that way until tomorrow.

While we happen to still have a large in-wall a/c unit downstairs (which luckily works) upstairs is brutal. And Casper has not wanted to come down where it's more comfortable, he keeps heading back upstairs to our bedroom. I found him earlier laying in the hallway, perhaps the wood floor felt better to him, IDK.

Anyway, we're going to head to the hotel as late as possible and, will be back very early in the morning to take care of the cats needs so they will not be alone more than about 8 hours. I am, however, very worried about Casper as I just can't imagine that the heat upstairs is good for his health.

I'm going to leave a large bowl of ice water in the hallway for him, downstairs is fountain his filled already but I'm wondering if there's anything else that can be suggested to keep him cool overnight. All suggestions considered and appreciated!

(and we'll be buying a large air mattress to have on hand for any future a/c breakdowns!)

 

[Pjg8r]

My cats didn’t have health issues, but when I’ve lost power from hurricanes for multiple days I’ve been miserable and my dogs were miserable but it didn’t seem to bother my cats much. I think your plan is the best solution unless you could bring your cat with you and your cat would be ok in a different place with you there.

 

[sivyaleah]

My cats didn’t have health issues, but when I’ve lost power from hurricanes for multiple days I’ve been miserable and my dogs were miserable but it didn’t seem to bother my cats much. I think your plan is the best solution unless you could bring your cat with you and your cat would be ok in a different place with you there.

Unfortunately, there are no pet friendly hotels anywhere in my area
I seriously thought about calling our vet to see if we could board him overnight, but they were already closed by the time I got home.

 

[babiesmom5]

Can you "wall off" your stairs with a large piece of cardboard? This is what we did in a similar situation?

 

[jen]

If that is where he is most comfortable I would let him go up there. Cats have very high tolerance to temperature, their coat is insulation (this is why you shouldn't shave a long haired cat in the summer!) He can come downstairs if he wants. As long as you see him going up and down. I worry with arthritis that he might not physically be able to use the stairs. But you see him going up and down right? Maybe put a few extra water bowls upstairs so he can stay hydrated. Especially being in kidney failure!

 

[sivyaleah]

If that is where he is most comfortable I would let him go up there. Cats have very high tolerance to temperature, their coat is insulation (this is why you shouldn't shave a long haired cat in the summer!) He can come downstairs if he wants. As long as you see him going up and down. I worry with arthritis that he might not physically be able to use the stairs. But you see him going up and down right? Maybe put a few extra water bowls upstairs so he can stay hydrated. Especially being in kidney failure!

Everything worked out ok, thankfully. I made sure he knew that the bowl in the hall was filled with ice water before we left. When we got home this morning (6am!) he was upstairs, sitting in a window. I know he came downstairs at some point because we found some bile with a couple of pieces of kibble in it in the hallway upstairs. We don't usually feed them kibble except under dire circumstances, this was one. Keeping him fed at this stage more important than him going hungry as he's been losing weight rapidly from the cancer. Couldn't leave out wet overnight, so kibble it was.

His arthritis is the least of his problems - he manages pretty good still, it's not advanced. He just moves a bit slower but not all the time. He can still tear through the house like a kitten when he chooses!

We will be much better prepared for the next time this happens though. We easily could have slept in the living room if we'd had a mattress of some sort. Well, there sure will be one if this happens in the future. Thank you to everyone who offered ideas, very appreciated