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My cat is getting old.Follow

#1 Dec 27 2011 at 5:56 PM Rating: Good
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He's around 12 or 13 years now. I have lost count.

In the first 8-9 years we owned him, we never had to worry about his claws. They grew but they seemed to wear themselves down naturally through his normal use. Now they are growing like wild, and growing thicker and curling more. Last weekend I looked at them and noticed that three of them had widened and curled so much that they were cutting into his pads. Oddly enough he didn't seem to care. He walked around without limping, and didn't even chew or lick at them.

Took him to the vet to get fixed up. The vet says that his age is causing the different nail growth and now I need to trim them ever 6 weeks to make sure they don't cut into his pads. Apparently he is too old to be sedated and unless it's something life threatening they won't do it. They used to sedate him when he was young to give him his shots and the various once a year things. So I'd imagine he was not too happy when they were cutting his claws out of the pads of his feet.

I also need to spoil him and feed him canned tuna to make him gain weight.

Everyone I talk to seems surprised that my cat is this old. But he seems pretty healthy. I imagine it's going to be tough when he goes/has to be put down. I've had him almost half my life.
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#2 Dec 27 2011 at 6:06 PM Rating: Excellent
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My fiance's cat is 20. Smiley: eek

They're not sure what to make of it...its weight fluctuates a ton, it seems to throw up about once a day, it has cataracts, it loses its balance, and it's totally deaf. Yet it seems to enjoy living, all the same. It travels around in and outside, it hunts, it enjoys attention and petting, and it purrs contentedly. They debate about putting her down, but it doesn't seem to be suffering, and the docs haven't advised it.

Now, I know next to nothing about cats. But my fiance has been preparing for this thing to die for what seems like about 5 years now, and it's still hanging in there. Could be the same with yours...ya never know.

Edited, Dec 27th 2011 7:07pm by Eske
#3 Dec 27 2011 at 6:07 PM Rating: Good
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At least magilsoro's cat isn't dying.
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#4 Dec 27 2011 at 6:23 PM Rating: Good
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My cat throws up about 1-2 times per week. When ever we pour food in his bowl he would coming running and just eat til he (occasionally) hurls. The vet says that is why he is losing weight. So we have to only give him very small amounts of food and tuna to help him bulk up without puking.

It never fails, if my brother went and poured food in his bowl, he'd hear it, go running, and scarf it all down. Then about 10 minutes later you hear him heaving out in the living room and leaving a pile of wet (used to be dry) cat food sitting on the floor.
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#5 Dec 27 2011 at 6:42 PM Rating: Good
Cats do well until they are very sick. Ours was 17 when she finally had kidney failure. It was fast because we had no clue. We had 3 cats previous to her that lasted to decent years and succumbed to cancer. Best!
#6 Dec 27 2011 at 6:59 PM Rating: Good
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TirithRR wrote:
My cat throws up about 1-2 times per week. When ever we pour food in his bowl he would coming running and just eat til he (occasionally) hurls. The vet says that is why he is losing weight. So we have to only give him very small amounts of food and tuna to help him bulk up without puking.

It never fails, if my brother went and poured food in his bowl, he'd hear it, go running, and scarf it all down. Then about 10 minutes later you hear him heaving out in the living room and leaving a pile of wet (used to be dry) cat food sitting on the floor.


And my fiance wonders why I'm so adamant about not getting a cat (though I said "her cat" before, it's really her mothers). All these things seem to do is puke! Smiley: tongue
#7 Dec 28 2011 at 1:34 AM Rating: Excellent
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Hey YOU try living with hairballs.


At least they don't roll in it, afterwards.

Edited, Dec 28th 2011 2:34am by Aripyanfar
#8 Dec 28 2011 at 2:03 AM Rating: Good
My dog is the best thing god invented.
#9 Dec 28 2011 at 2:37 AM Rating: Excellent
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If your cat is throwing up on a regular basis then my suggestion is to not let it binge drink while you are at work.
#10 Dec 28 2011 at 3:53 AM Rating: Decent
It's best to feed your cat a low ash diet. Also using the newer anti-hairball foods is a good idea.
Nearly all my cats have lived to 18 years old. It seems that 18 is the magical year that they just
give up and pass on. Perhaps their internal clock winds down. Like the vet said you need to keep
an eye on their claws and trim as needed. Often they get arthritic and they can't retract them
and they keep growing. (Nothing like your loved cat poking holes in your lap because of long
untrimmed claws.)
#11 Dec 28 2011 at 8:23 AM Rating: Good
For our cat, we use this stuff called "tuna goo" (more formally, it's a cat laxative.) Basically, it's tuna flavored vasoline.

Lahurah the Vet says: Chronic vomiting may be an indication of inflammatory bowel disease. Look for prescription cat foods that are designed to be more easily digestible on their stomachs. She recommends seeking veterinary attention if it's a big issue.

(Currently in FL visiting Lah, btw.)
#12 Dec 28 2011 at 10:41 AM Rating: Decent
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My first cat died of old age at around 18. He started having seizures and eventually we put him down. It just seems that around that age their bodily functions start to whither/shut down.
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#13 Dec 28 2011 at 10:53 AM Rating: Good
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You mean that around that age they run out of telemeres on the ends of their DNA strands.
#14 Dec 28 2011 at 10:53 AM Rating: Good
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My 3 legged cat is the oldest cat we have now at almost 13 years old. She's a bit of a nutter. She was really bonded with the cat that passed away over the summer and now she seems a bit lost. Smiley: frown

I wish that she would have a bit more sense of balance. She can't get down the stairs without falling head over heels and I'm afraid she's going to break her neck so whenever I find her upstairs, I take her back downstairs. And whenever she tries to groom herself, she falls over because her 4th leg isn't there to prop her up anymore.
#15 Dec 28 2011 at 4:02 PM Rating: Good
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When he does get near the end make sure to do what you need to do.
#16 Dec 28 2011 at 5:26 PM Rating: Excellent
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My cat goes crazy for the rings from the tops of milk jugs. He'll bite down on them, it will flip up and smack him in the face, causing him to fling it across the room. At which point he'll go chase it, grab it again, it will flip up, smack him, and cause him to toss it. Rinse/repeat for about half an hour, til it finally rolls behind something he can't get to them he'll trot off and go sit on one of the beds/chairs.

As far as chronic vomiting, he only vomits when he gorges himself. When we feed him small amounts he doesn't throw up. The vet told us to give him some tuna and the water from the tuna can. And to make sure it's tuna in water and not tuna in vegetable oil. I don't imagine tuna-flavored Vaseline would be a good idea. He's super happy when I give him a spoonful of tuna in the morning before I go to work. He's always out in the kitchen begging for tuna if I am ever opening a can. He can tell I'm opening a can even when I just grab the can out of the cupboard, don't even have to touch the can opener and he'll come walking out to the kitchen.
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#17 Dec 29 2011 at 10:57 PM Rating: Excellent
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TirithRR wrote:
My cat goes crazy for the rings from the tops of milk jugs. He'll bite down on them, it will flip up and smack him in the face, causing him to fling it across the room. At which point he'll go chase it, grab it again, it will flip up, smack him, and cause him to toss it. Rinse/repeat for about half an hour, til it finally rolls behind something he can't get to them he'll trot off and go sit on one of the beds/chairs.

As far as chronic vomiting, he only vomits when he gorges himself. When we feed him small amounts he doesn't throw up. The vet told us to give him some tuna and the water from the tuna can. And to make sure it's tuna in water and not tuna in vegetable oil. I don't imagine tuna-flavored Vaseline would be a good idea. He's super happy when I give him a spoonful of tuna in the morning before I go to work. He's always out in the kitchen begging for tuna if I am ever opening a can. He can tell I'm opening a can even when I just grab the can out of the cupboard, don't even have to touch the can opener and he'll come walking out to the kitchen.


Word of advice from someone who broke his cat from this gorging problem.

Put a big *** rock in their dish (if its dry food). The first few times they're going to be pissed something they can't really do much about is in their dish, but eventually they learn to slow their eating because they have to eat around the rock. It's really helped with my cat and definitely made my wife happy because she always ends up feeding him in the morning.

If I had premium I'd post a pic of my little monster, mustache and all.
#18 Dec 30 2011 at 6:42 PM Rating: Good
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ArexLovesPie wrote:
TirithRR wrote:
My cat goes crazy for the rings from the tops of milk jugs. He'll bite down on them, it will flip up and smack him in the face, causing him to fling it across the room. At which point he'll go chase it, grab it again, it will flip up, smack him, and cause him to toss it. Rinse/repeat for about half an hour, til it finally rolls behind something he can't get to them he'll trot off and go sit on one of the beds/chairs.

As far as chronic vomiting, he only vomits when he gorges himself. When we feed him small amounts he doesn't throw up. The vet told us to give him some tuna and the water from the tuna can. And to make sure it's tuna in water and not tuna in vegetable oil. I don't imagine tuna-flavored Vaseline would be a good idea. He's super happy when I give him a spoonful of tuna in the morning before I go to work. He's always out in the kitchen begging for tuna if I am ever opening a can. He can tell I'm opening a can even when I just grab the can out of the cupboard, don't even have to touch the can opener and he'll come walking out to the kitchen.


Word of advice from someone who broke his cat from this gorging problem.

Put a big *** rock in their dish (if its dry food). The first few times they're going to be pissed something they can't really do much about is in their dish, but eventually they learn to slow their eating because they have to eat around the rock. It's really helped with my cat and definitely made my wife happy because she always ends up feeding him in the morning.

If I had premium I'd post a pic of my little monster, mustache and all.

Better yet, they sell food dishes now that have that obstruction already built into them. It's typically marketed for dog owners.
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