General Chat

Our old cat Mirabelle is now just about 18 . Last week we had our step grandson with us on Monday/Tuesday and Friday .
She keeps well out of his way because he so full of energy and never stops talking etc . She is used to a quiet life with us .

We knew why she wasnt her usual self but she ate well but didnt want her evening treats

She was Ok over the weekend if a bit subdued ,ate OK tho

Monday she still the same but didn't eat as much . We both did say on Tuesday she looked as though she had lost weight and she didn't tuck in as normal .

This morning she wasn't interested in eating ,normally she is in the dish before I have finished putting the food in ,

Problem is the vet doesn't do a Wednesday evening surgery .you would have to go to the main surgery some way away but its difficult to get parking near it and I can't walk to far with my arthritic knee and she is heavy in her basket .

In the morning hubby has his weekly clinic that we can't cancel so looks like its tomorrow evening before I can get her to the vet .

Really think at 18 she may be on her way out and it's very worrying .
We both love her bits and will be devastated although we are aware time isn't on her side .

I feel guilty am not able to get her to the vet any earlier

At 18 she has had a good long life.
Animals do seem to know what they need to do, so it may just be that she is feeling like eating.

If it is her time to go before tomorrow evening,do not feel guilty, better for her to go quietly & naturally in her own home with her people who love her.

xx <3

Thank you Carol that is comforting x

as Carol says, 18 is good and not many cats go well beyond that - I sometimes think cats know - some go off to die when they know their time is up

can imagine how you feel, I love my cat to bits - he's a rescue job coming up to ten years old, can't imagine life without him but I know it will come and I think I'll be too old to get another

my thoughts are with you Shirley <3

Last week our 19 year old wanted food but wouldn't eat. She had been losing condition for months so it was a visit to the vet - which both she and vet hate! He plus assistant were unable to hold her for an examination, she escaped from being wound in a towel and spat and slashed at them. We were told that she most likely wouldn't survive an anaesthetic so we accepted the inevitable.
Tough but necessary.
B

Our dog Ella will be 17 next week and at the vets last week she was weighed as normal, she was11.5kg. She used to be 17/18 kg when she was younger. The vet asked if she was eating, she eats what she wants to. Some days hardly anything and others it all goes. She said that as long as she has a quality of life then there's no problem, She still wants 2 short walks each day,

Animals tend to eat what they want/need.

Well, my cats are only 7. I will put down canned/sachets of 'wet' food for them, they will look disdainfully at it, then at me - whereupon I will look disdainfully at them - and then at the dry food that is permanently available :-|
Sometimes one won't eat any wet food, but another one will demolish all 3 bowls (after their 'owners' have left).

18 is a marvellous age Shirley, and I agree with Carol.

I took in a neighbours cat once, a year after the neighbour had left.(They moved and 'forgot' her). After a year living wild, she lived in my house for 8 years, then, one hot summer, when she was about 15, she wouldn't come in - despite there being a cat flap. She slept in the unused guinea pig hutch.

I used to take a picnic blanket into the garden and sit on it. She'd come up to me, we'd have a cuddle and I'd try to tempt her to eat.
I knew she was dying, but she seemed so happy doing what she was doing, I didn't feel it was right to make her suffer the trauma of going to the vets.
We'd sit there for an hour or two in the dark, listening to the hedgehogs working their way up the borders. One baby always went the wrong way and had to run across the garden to find his mum. We'd listen for this, then watch his panic.
This went on for the whole long, hot summer.
One night it rained.
I went into the garden the following morning to find her dead in the garden. I was extremely sad, but glad she'd had a full life, felt loved, and died when and where she wanted to.
When the sun stopped shining.

Mirabelle has had a long happy life, Shirley,but I can understand your anguish and worry over her losing her appetite. I hope the visit to the vet won't be too awful, maybe she is having problems with her teeth that puts her off eating, or maybe she is just coming to the end of her time here and is ready for Rainbow Bridge. Whatever happens you will be doing your best for her and that's all you can do and all she will expect of you.

I have had to give up my cats and my dog to the vet's ministrations over time, and always felt sad and guilty but knew the poor creatures couldn't go on the way they were.

Will be thinking about you and all others who have had to say au revoir to well loved pets and companions.

Maggie, what a gentle end your rescued cat had, and what lovely memories she left with you.

Lizx

She ate a little yesterday but not all of one pack of wet food .her usual through the day is 2/3 plus a little bit of treat in the evening
She spent most of the day sleeping in her bed in the lounge diidn't even go upstairs where she normally camps on the top landing during the day . She did eventually make her way up about 4 am and came on the bed behind my legs . Her usual at about 7 am is to cry at me to get up and go down to feed her. This morning she stayed on the bed when I got up.

She has now come down and is napping on my lap as I write this on my I Pad .

No interest in food at the moment

Hope the vet visit later isn't one where we come home without her.
:-(

I hope so too, Shirley, bless her. She doesn't sound in pain or discomfort tho which is a good thing.


Will be thinking about you

Lizxx

If you can get some Brewers Yeast and sprinkle a little on her food it might revive her appitite,has she got a Furball?that could be the reason. The oldest cat we had wasTabitha she lived untill she was 28,her brother till he was 24 so don,t despair yet **M**.

I feel for you Shirley, our beloved pets are a worry when they are not well. At the moment we are just digesting the news that our 11 year spaniel has a malignant tumour in her mouth; we won't know for a week the nature of the malignancy, but the vet (who has been brilliant) is not pulling any punches and has prepared us for the worse news. As you can imagine this has been a major blow for us as she has given us so much joy over the years and parting with her will be very hard, but all we can realistically do is make life as comfortable as possible for Millie and help her when the time comes, probably 4/6 months.
My Granny had a ginger cat and he lived to be 19, and then was put to sleep because she was moving and the move was considered too much for such an old cat' Can't quite see that, but perhaps there were other issues.

Well we spent nearly two hours at the vets . Some was waiting time too go in but we were in with the vet for a long time

Seems Mirabelle has an infection that is affecting her liiver . She has a high temperature and high bilirubin in her water . They took blood too

She was dehydrated which was why she looked as if she had lost weight which she had .she was given a water infusion and three antibiotic injections.

She has to go back tomorrow and for the results and if she is still dehydrated she will have to be hospitalised .

Vet says liver infections are a problem especially in older cats

Oh bless, Shirley, I hope Mirabelle can fight back from the liver infection.

I was told the same re the older cats and liver problems, some of it comes from giving cats dried food apparently. Years ago cats seemed to thrive on any old foods, before all these fancy morsels came into being.

My aunt fed her cat rice cereal, that dried stuff with no flavouring in, can't recall the name but it smelled horrible, no idea how humans ate it! She also gave it cows milk as did many people yet now we are told cows milk is bad for cats. Her cat did get meat as well but not sure what it was. I am talking about the sixties.

Magpie, hope your Millie will be as comfortable as possible and that the tumour is not malignant. So sad to see our pets suffering.

Lizx

just remembered what the cereal was, Puffed Rice! Ugh!

Thank you Purple, as you can imagine we are still a bit shell shocked, but today Millie is much better after her day at the vet on Wednesday, and is pretty perky and eating properly again. I know this is a false dawn, but seeing her feeling herself again has cheered us up at least for a while. We have talked to quite a few people as to how to handle Millie's situation, including our Dentist(!!) who I had to go to this morning! Everyone says the same, that all we can do is keep her comfortable, and when she's not, then the time will have come. We shall be glad to know how aggressive Millie's growth is as this will give us some idea of how long we've got with her. Do hope all the ill pussies/? are responding well to treatment, and that those of you who have lost your pets are feeling just a little better.

Well we have been to the vet this morning

Her temperature was down to normal although she is still jaundiced.

She had more antibiotic jabs and a vitamin jab too as well as another Saline infusion cos she is dehydrated.

We have to go to the main vet surgery tomorrow morning for more jabs. Our vet has said we dont need to think she is an old girl but that she has got an infection that is affecting her liver.

They are now hoping for more improvement in her health as at her age dont want to stress her out by hospitalizing her .

She does seem brighter in herself. even had a PEE in her loo !! she isnt that into eating but was told they can forget how to eat if they have been off their food.
I did put some cat tinned pate on my hand and she did lick it all off . a second attempt though she only did a couple of licks and then walked away

Hubby has got himself all stressed up with worry about our little girl. He has been unable to go with me to the vet cos he is so worried about her.

Logically he does know at aged 18 she is an old girl but losing her is stressing him out

Magpie, one of our cats was about 17 when she had a growth in her mouth. After about 6 months the kindest thing was to have her put to sleep as she wasn't eating and was obviously not going to recover. It is so hard but there comes a time when we have to be the adult human and know what is best. I do feel for you though.

I want to cry at the thought we may lose her
Logically though though I do know her life span is shorter than ours


We got her form the Cats Protection local branch aged 7 months. she was sent there for re homing from the breeder.

She was 6months old when we saw her but 7 months old when we able to take her home. Think she had only known home as a cage cos she had no idea of a house environment . PLUS too she had been bred at her first season cos she has a droopy belly indicating she have had kitties
My question to the Cats Protection on why a breeder gets rid ?? was toid various reasons!

Well their financial loss was her and our gain . She is the most loving girl who has given us so much Hopefully we have given back to her what she has given to us

Hubby is now getting all stressed up that she maybe going over the Rainbow Bridge

I remain optimistic we will see her get over this and she will be with us for some time yet

Know she will go at some time but not ready yet to let her go

With each and every cat or dog we have had, we have dreaded letting them go.

However, the day comes when you can see in their eyes that they have had enough and that gives us the courage we need to love them enough to let them go :-(

<3

That's the hardest part about having a pet, that someday we will have to say goodbye to them, but the love and pleasure we get from them before that sad day is worth all the pain I think.

Let's hope your lovely cat will recover her appetite and be with you a while longer Shirley.

Sometimes when cat's know they are reaching their end, they go off somewhere quiet and secluded to die, so if your Mirabelle goes outside keep an eye on her so she doesn't disappear. That's even worse than having to do the deed as you just don't know where they are and if they need help.

it happened to me just before my daughter was born, my cat Selena disappeared. I had already lost her sister who disappeared and was found dead a couple of days later, believed poisoned. Selena would have been a comfort to me when my baby died but all I kept hearing were 'phantom' miaows outside, it was awful. Everytime I looked out on hearing what I thought was a cat crying, there was no sign of anything search as I might. Never did find her or her body.


Lizx