Living with a cat with dementia

[metalblue]

Anyone got any experience of this?

My cat is getting on a bit and has, I fear, succumbed to senile dementia. He will often go outside, come back in a while later then obviously forget why he came back in and go out again. If he is inside at around 4am he starts meowing incredibly loudly at the ceiling. We have on a couple of occasions found him walking into the corner of a room not and not being able to walk forward or turn left or right he has become distressed until I picked him up and turned him around.

 

[dan_bo]

Bless him.

 

[kaz7]

My late cat was 20 and i was told to start with she had dementia but she had a brain tumour
The getting stuck in corners is a key symptom as is walking round in circles,time to keep him indoors and get a proper diagnosis.Sorry it doesn't sound good

 

[BlueBearBoots]

That's so sad MB I have a dilemma with my mums cat at the moment he's an old rat AG with arthritis and looks like my mum will be going into a home after breaking her hip not sure what to do with the cat

 

[XxRachXx]

Awww thats heartbreaking :(

 

[Stuuuuuu]

Sorry to hear this. It's so frustrating when you're helpless in a situation like this. I don't know much about cats, but I can only suggest doing whatever you can to comfort him or her as much as possible (if that isn't stating the obvious).

 

[Tbilisi]

I had 2 cats Howard and Fergie (got them from Ashton Cats Home after the 5 - 1 in 89)but when they got to 21 had to have them put down as they were piddling in their beds and everything.

Was awful having to do it but sometimes its the kindest thing to do.Hard though,I probably put it off longer than I should.

Got 2 more now,not called them Pelle & Moysey though,Wife woudnt wear it this time.

 

[DelToro]

I had 2 cats Howard and Fergie (got them from Ashton Cats Home after the 5 - 1 in 89)but when they got to 21 had to have them put down as they were piddling in their beds and everything.

Was awful having to do it but sometimes its the kindest thing to do.Hard though,I probably put it off longer than I should.

Got 2 more now,not called them Pelle & Moysey though,Wife woudnt wear it this time.

Howard?

 

[nedums noodles]

I had 2 cats Howard and Fergie (got them from Ashton Cats Home after the 5 - 1 in 89)but when they got to 21 had to have them put down as they were piddling in their beds and everything.

Was awful having to do it but sometimes its the kindest thing to do.Hard though,I probably put it off longer than I should.

Got 2 more now,not called them Pelle & Moysey though,Wife woudnt wear it this time.

Howard?

Fergie?

 

[Tbilisi]

I had 2 cats Howard and Fergie (got them from Ashton Cats Home after the 5 - 1 in 89)but when they got to 21 had to have them put down as they were piddling in their beds and everything.

Was awful having to do it but sometimes its the kindest thing to do.Hard though,I probably put it off longer than I should.

Got 2 more now,not called them Pelle & Moysey though,Wife woudnt wear it this time.

Howard?

Good spot,think I might have a touch of it myself.

It was after the 1 -1 that same season,my bad.

 

[kas_tippler]

We have a cat with diabetes, requires 2 injections a day

 

[Bozzie]

Sorry to hear this metalblue. Our female cat, Becky, was diagnosed with dementia a year or so ago. She's 19 so getting on a bit, the first sign was the 'howling' during the night which got so bad that we are forced to keep her in the lounge at night just so we can get some sleep. The one thing I would say is that you will know if he's suffering, certainly at the moment our Becky doesn't seem to be in any pain and is eating fine, if that were to change then, as upsetting as it would be, we'd have to do something about it because it's not fair to let them suffer needlessly.

 

[metalblue]

Thanks folks. He seems happy enough much of the time and in no pain and eating well. I worried about taking him to vet a little for fear they would suggest putting him down and at the moment he doesn't appear to be distressed the majority of the time. It's weird how he has his "howling" episodes about the same time every night.

Selfishly, I hope he goes naturally before I have to make that decision.

 

[Tbilisi]

Thanks folks. He seems happy enough much of the time and in no pain and eating well. I worried about taking him to vet a little for fear they would suggest putting him down and at the moment he doesn't appear to be distressed the majority of the time. It's weird how he has his "howling" episodes about the same time every night.

Selfishly, I hope he goes naturally before I have to make that decision.

For your sake so do I....im 6ft 2,15 and a half stone and I was a blubbering wreck for both of them...not cried since I was a nipper but it was like taking a member of the family.

 

[BlueBearBoots]

Thanks folks. He seems happy enough much of the time and in no pain and eating well. I worried about taking him to vet a little for fear they would suggest putting him down and at the moment he doesn't appear to be distressed the majority of the time. It's weird how he has his "howling" episodes about the same time every night.

Selfishly, I hope he goes naturally before I have to make that decision.

For your sake so do I....im 6ft 2,15 and a half stone and I was a blubbering wreck for both of them...not cried since I was a nipper but it was like taking a member of the family.

Aww it's so cruel our pets do become family members so sad x

 

[Bozzie]

metalblue...wifey got a device from the pet shop called 'pet remedy'. You plug it into a socket and it supposedly calms and de-stresses the cat naturally. It's not particularly cheap, about £20, and lasts about 6 weeks and, obviously it has to be in the same room the cat sleeps in but my wife thinks it has helped our cat. I should mention it doesn't have any effect when it comes to dealing with Hungarian referees who make dodgy penalty decisions late on in CL games, our Becky was fucking fuming!

 

[Tbilisi]

metalblue...wifey got a device from the pet shop called 'pet remedy'. You plug it into a socket and it supposedly calms and de-stresses the cat naturally. It's not particularly cheap, about £20, and lasts about 6 weeks and, obviously it has to be in the same room the cat sleeps in but my wife thinks it has helped our cat. I should mention it doesn't have any effect when it comes to dealing with Hungarian referees who make dodgy penalty decisions late on in CL games, our Becky was fucking fuming!

At least Becky has seen the good times,Howard and Fergie never saw us win fcuk,they stuck by City all through the bad times.

The 2 new cats we have have never known anything other than trophies.

 

[Bozzie]

metalblue...wifey got a device from the pet shop called 'pet remedy'. You plug it into a socket and it supposedly calms and de-stresses the cat naturally. It's not particularly cheap, about £20, and lasts about 6 weeks and, obviously it has to be in the same room the cat sleeps in but my wife thinks it has helped our cat. I should mention it doesn't have any effect when it comes to dealing with Hungarian referees who make dodgy penalty decisions late on in CL games, our Becky was fucking fuming!

At least Becky has seen the good times,Howard and Fergie never saw us win fcuk,they stuck by City all through the bad times.

The 2 new cats we have have never known anything other than trophies.

I was going to say, someone on here's bound to call them Pussies Come Lately, but it just doesn't sound right

 

[johnny on the spot]

My mum's cat Thomas is 18 and is completely gone, mentally. He meows for food, eats four bowls full, throws up and yowls for more food. Other than that, he's a lovely cat and we couldn't bear to put him down. He used to batter the living fuck out of cats in our area, a true Rambo bastard and we owe him a pension.

 

[Aphex]

This is a joke, right?