Anyone with elderly cat experience?

[Amys Animals]

We have a cat who is nearly 21 years old. It’s been a while now but she continuously defecates outside of her box. She will do it right by my parents bed. It’s very soft stool and smells reeeeally bad. She does use the box sometimes though. She has lost some weight and is pretty skinny. I personally think its her kidneys since she had lost weight an drinks a whole lot. It’s not my cat so it’s not my choice to take it to the vet. It’s my moms cat. My grandma just passed away and my mom doesn’t want to deal with another death. If I have some other opinions on it maybe she will take her to the vet. I don’t know what is wrong with her but I don’t think the defecating outside the box is behavioral.

Has anyone else dealt with this?

[Monkeybun]

Is it easy for her to get in and out of her box? Often elderly cats can’t hop in a normal litter box like they used to. So its easier for her to go wherever. May want to look into a litter box that has a lower side to enter in.

[Amys Animals]

She does use the litter box. We have two boxes. One is low and one is high. She uses both on occasion…She doesn’t pee out of the box just poo. =/

I think we are going to make an appointment for her to go to the vet this week or next.

[meow1]

Is the cat eating normally? About this same time last year, i had to take our 14 year old family cat who lived at my parents house, to the vet because she wasnt eating and had lost a lot of weight. They did an xray and said she was full of tumors. We had to euthanize the next morning. It was either that or let her starve to death. I would definitely take the cat to the vet, because especially at that age it could be Nything. Or, health wise, the cat may be fine. Im not sure about the cat pooping right outside the litterbox. Maybe she is just confused sometimes (dementia?), or maybe she has some pain (arthritis?) and it hurts too much sometimes to jump in?

[LBJ10]

Elderly cats usually miss the box because they are in pain. Could be arthritis or something else causing the problem.

[Roberta]

My Twinkletoes is now 20, she has the same problem. I have several litter trays lined up but she still misses every now and then. She has arthritus in her back legs. She is not in constant pain but she is a bit stiff and finds it awkward to squat. Your vet would probably prescribe a mild anti inflammatory which does help, you could also try a larger low sided litter box and placing a matt or something underneath that is wider and can be washed off easily.

[Roberta]

Also if she is going in your parents room no where near a litter box it could be that she is waking up from a nap and not able to move fast enough to get to the tray. You might want to check her diet and make sure she is on a cat food that is designed for elderly kitteh tummies.

[Amys Animals]

She eats fine, she actually begs for food constantly and always has it.

We have two other cats that stay in my parents room a lot of the time as well so they eat the same food she does. Would senior cat food be okay for the other cats to eat too? One is about 7 or 8 and the other is 5 or 6.

[Huckleberry]

My grandma’s cat died recently from kidney failure. She was pooping outside her box as well. She had stopped eating and had become very lethargic. How is her breath? The vet that looked at this cat said that her breath was bad due to ulcers in the mouth that were related to the kidney failure. That could be a possible indication. If the cat is that old though, the vet may only be able to either put the cat to sleep or give it some fluids to keep it going a little while longer. Just be prepared for that, the vet may not be able to help much as far as healing the cat, he/she might only be able to ease the suffering.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Im sorry to hear your cat is unwell.

My beloved childhood cat, Tiggy, was 21 when she died. She had gotten very skinny and quite lethargic by this point so Mom brought her in for a checkup and it was revealed that her kidneys were quite far gone, even though she wasnt exhibiting any symptoms. We had to euthanize my baby. This was super hard because my Dad had given me Tiggy when I was 3 so she was a huge part of my childhood and teenage years.

Its my guess, by both the soft stools and missing the litter box that your kitty is having a hard time controlling her bowels. This is not surprising given her age. Weight loss and excessive thirst are symptoms of kidney failure so I would be concerned about that as well.

I think you should try to convince your Mom to bring in her kitty. Its never hard to deal with, but if its her time to go soon, its not fair to let her languish. The vet may be able to help her out and keep her comfortable for some time yet.

[Amys Animals]

Okay so we took her to the vet and it turns out she has hyperthyroidism. We are treating it now. She has to go back to the vet in a month.

She was really matted so we got the mats shaved off of her. She looks a lot better now. I am sure she is more comfortable that way.

[SmokeyBunnyRobinson]

I recently had a cat pass who had pretty much the same mannerisms as you.

Ziti was almost 11 years old and a pure bred Birman. She had lost a LOT of weight and was all skin and bones. Her feces started to smell SO bad. Her teeth were terrible looking. Her nails were brittle and would splinter whenever they were cut. But every time I took her to the vet, I was told she was just old and fine and this is normal. She was still eating and drinking, but not gaining weight.

Finally I took her to another vet and she said that she either had heart failure, kidney failure, or bone cancer. She did a blood test and she came up negative for kidney failure, meaning it was either heart failure or bone cancer. In order to do a bone cancer test, they have to do like a spinal tap, and not only would -I- not put her through that, neither would the vet. She said she was too old and weak and wouldn’t survive.

The vet prescribed some antibiotics since she had green mucus coming out of her nose, meaning a sinus infection. Within being on the antibiotics about a week, my mother found Ziti Mother’s Day morning under a cabinet. She had passed on.

The vet told us that Ziti had definitely had some type of heart failure because of the way she died, it was so sudden. It was terrible losing her, because she was my cat, but I understood that at least she wasn’t in pain or sick anymore.

I know it isn’t your cat, but you could try to talk them into taking the cat to the vet to just get an exam, if anything. 21 is really old for a cat, and they might say the behaviors are just due to old age, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad you found out whats wrong. What medication is she getting? My cat, Andy, also has hyperthyroidism. He was diagnosed a year ago. He gets med thats administered trans-dermally. We just rub it on his ear twice a day. It took many months of blood tests to get his dosage just right. He started to put on weight as soon as we found the right dose.

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