Watching "Questions for you guys to answer" it looks like I am the only one with a cat rather old. My Tammy is 17. Does anyone else have a cat in that age range? I saw at the vet that 12-15 is normal "death age". Last Christmas, I didn't think Tammy would make it to this one, but she keeps on chugging. She's just a lot slower and steps very gingerly.
Do I have the oldest cat here?
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The longest kitty I had was 12 years. I grew up with him, had him since I was 5 until I was 17. I always thought he'd go off to college with me. My new kitty is only about 1 1/2 now. My boyfriend's dad has a cat that's 18 years old...but he's getting really slow. Any my uncle had a cat that lived to be 20. Wow, I hope Angel lives that long, or longer!
Melissa & Angel
Melissa & Angel
Sabby's 14. He's also sick. I would be thrilled if he lived another 5 or 6 years, but I don't expect it. I'd always assumed that the accident he had 6 years ago took a few years off his life. I didn't expect him to live this long. I'm glad he's still around. I've had him most of my life and I've known him longer than I've known any of my friends.
Thank you for the compliment. I find it hard to resist him when he looks at me like that.ioana said:What kind of accident has Sabby been through?
I just love that look on his face..I could eat him up.
Several years ago Sabby lived with a friend of mine for a few months. One day she called me and said something was wrong with his legs. So I drove over there (over an hour away) to see him. When I got there his back legs were pulled up at a funny angle. Think of an inchworm; all hunched up...that's what his back looked like. His tail hung straight down and dragged on the floor and it was caked with mud. He could barely walk. Lisa told me that he'd gotten a little better. A few hours earlier he hadn't been able to walk at all. I took him directly to the vet's office. They said he had either fallen or gotten hit by a car. He had no feeling in his tail. If he started to chew on it, it would have to be amputated. The vet said that his hips were dislocated but that they would heal on their own. They did, but they didn't heal properly. He still can't jump very far. He has a hard time getting on the bed and he can't get to the top perch of his cat tree without help (top perch is about 3.5 feet). His tail wasn't amputated and he's got a little feeling in it again. At least, he knows when I'm touching it or holding it (and he doesn't like it!).
At that same visit, the vet found he had an abscessed tooth. Two dislocated hips and he stays at the vet for a tooth-pulling. I add this part on because after the tooth-pulling he was very sweet-natured again. He'd been kind of nasty for a few weeks before that.
It's nice to have someone who will watch your pet for you if you're going through a time where you're unable to keep him, but it's really horrible to be away from him. I never intend to do that again.
Thank you, Jeanie. I hope I can have him for many more years. I've never considered him my child. I've always considered him my friend.
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Annissa, I was going to pm you about this, but then others wouldn't benefit from what happened. One of my black cats from years ago must have had his tail run over, because when I came home from vacation it was totally dead, just hanging. Blacky looked thinner also. His tail was dead and had to be amputated.
The vet said there might be a leg problem, but there wasn't. Instead, Blacky kept gettiing impacted in the intestines. I took him to the vet several times that year. I should have kept baby sized glycerine suppositories or a fleet enema in the house, because late one night he was really straining. (The vet had me use a fleet enema the first time he got impacted. ) My sister is an R.N. and she said she would try glyerine in the morning and if that didn't work we'd take him right to the vet. Well, by morning he had died. He was very special to me. I don't want this to happen to your cat. Please ask your vet his thoughts on what I have told you.
The vet said there might be a leg problem, but there wasn't. Instead, Blacky kept gettiing impacted in the intestines. I took him to the vet several times that year. I should have kept baby sized glycerine suppositories or a fleet enema in the house, because late one night he was really straining. (The vet had me use a fleet enema the first time he got impacted. ) My sister is an R.N. and she said she would try glyerine in the morning and if that didn't work we'd take him right to the vet. Well, by morning he had died. He was very special to me. I don't want this to happen to your cat. Please ask your vet his thoughts on what I have told you.
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My oldest cat is about 13. Had her since i was in 5th grade and now I'm out of college! She has diabetes and gets a shot every day and might have kidney failure. Her back is swooped in and her back legs don't work well. But she still eats, drinks, and uses the litter box which is all the way downstairs and she lives upstairs mostly. She still purrs too! I can't put a purring kitty to sleep. She's the cat that purrs when she gets to the vet!! If things get worse, we'll probably consider putting her down but I think she is handling herself right now. She's my old baby!
-Heather
-Heather
I'm so sorry! I'll talk to the vet and see what he thinks. This accident was six years ago, so I'm not sure much will come of it, but it never hurts to ask.Jeanie said:
Heather102180, I understand where you're coming from. I got Sabby when I was in 7th grade and now I'm 25 and looking to get married.
Sabby was diagnosed with diabetes in August of 2002. He gets three units of Humulin L twice a day (7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.). I understand what you mean by the swooped back, Sabby's got that too. Does your cat have diabetic neuropathy (weakness in the back legs) or is it caused by something else? I think Sab's at the beginning stages of diabetic neuropathy. He'll support himself with his backlegs to get some catnip from his cat tree, but then he sort of collapses.I found a lot of good information and a supportive group (and I truly hope no one minds me posting this here) at http://www.felinediabetes.com.
To paraphrase a line from Lilo & Stitch. He's my kitty. He's a little broken, but still good.
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Yes, Ginger has bad back legs too. Usually it's when she's eating on the slippery floor in the kitchen...her legs tend to keep sliding underneathe of her. But she does okay on the carpet. She was diagnosed with diabetes around the same time my cousin was and we didn't want my cousin to think we put cats down when they have diabetes so why not put humans down!
Don't get me wrong, if she wasn't doing well, we'd put her down. But everytime we take her to the vet, he never says to. I wouldn't want to keep a cat alive if she's in pain. When the time is right, she'll pass or we'll know it's time to put her to sleep.
Don't get me wrong, if she wasn't doing well, we'd put her down. But everytime we take her to the vet, he never says to. I wouldn't want to keep a cat alive if she's in pain. When the time is right, she'll pass or we'll know it's time to put her to sleep.
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