Concerned: Cat tries twice to climb on cupboard

[silvio]

Hi,
Today I have notcied that Casper has to try twice to jump on top of the kitchen cupboard when he used to do it so smootly. I also saw him trying to jump on the table and he did manage but he did not clear the edge as he used to do but rather he did it "clumsily".
He usually gets on the kitchen cupboard so he can have a drink from the kitchen tap or sometimes from the bathroom sink or the bathtub taps as well.
It has been very hot here, around 34/35 degrees in the shade and we live in a topfloor apartment so the heat is felt a lot. We thought that it is because of the heat but we're not sure.
He is also very choosy about food and we had to stop giving him dry becasue he wouldn't eat it so we switched to canned food but after a while he also started not eating it. We tried to make it more appetitising by putting in some canned tuna (in brine not in oil) and he enjoys that. We also give him and our persian Shaza a piece of boiled saithe fish that they really like.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to why he may be off drinking water or whether too much heat makes a cat more lazy than usual that it makes them loose their spark?
Right now we have a problem with vets because the ones we go to are on holiday for the summer and won't be back until the end of this week.

[catloverami]

It's possible the heat and dehydration are making him feel weaker than he normally would and that's why he has less strength in his hind legs. If you pinch up his skin between thumb and forefinger above his shoulders, if he's well hydrated it should snap back, but it it doesn't he's dehydrated. You might try mixing in some water with his canned food, or giving some water directly in his mouth with a syringe. Sometimes "Fancy Feast" canned food will entice a finicky cat to eat. Cats can get into trouble with liver problems if they stop eating anything for more than 3 days. You may have to forcefeed. If he's not eating by 3rd day, do take him to another vet, rather than waiting for your regular one.

[Two Siamese]

First, I'm jealous that you are in Sunny Malta!

Of course, your best resource is a vet, but is your baby aging? When my cats got older, they started to have more difficulty guesstimating their jumps and sometimes took a few tried. My vet blamed it on a combination of eyesight decreasing and just general aches & pains of getting older. Interestingly enough, I was watching a special on large cats (tigers, I think), and they had the same issues as they aged.

I keep my house a/c on all the time, but I do remember that on the times that the a/c temporarily was broken, my cats laid around and did nothing except look at me like I was persecuting them! They were very lethargic and laid on the a/c vents as if hoping they would miraculously come on. 35 celsius is really warm, I'm thinking like approx 95 - 100 and you're on the top floor, so I wouldn't discount the heat. Still, it never hurts to get a vet's opinion if it doesn't resolve itself.

[cooncatbob]

Samantha quit jumping to her favorite spot on top of my armoire, she quit going up there and I found scratches on the front.
I concuded that she failed to make the jump due to age and quit trying.
I was kind of sad she used to lurk up there like a predator and would leap onto the bed with a resounding plop.