|
Post by tonib on Jul 17, 2015 12:05:26 GMT
As a number of you will know our Penny (16) has recently been diagnosed with kidney & thyroid issues & is on a nice mix of drugs. However recently she has taken to going out the catflap (in the back door), having a wander & then coming back to sit at the front door until someone lets her in. There's a recycling crate by the door & she sits/lays on that, keeping an eye on the door & the window. I suspect she may find the catflap coming in a bit heavy now she's lost the weight so not worried about the waiting by the door. My main concern is that she's also started wandering down the close & into other peoples' back gardens. I must put a collar back on her (it was removed as it rubbed her neck & she didn't go out except into our garden). Today she had been out 3 times by 10:30 but just know she vanished for a while & I eventually found her in 2 door's down back garden, although I have seen her go further down the close. My question is has anyone any experience/knowledge of this sudden surge to wander around either as a result of age, weather (although this hasn't really happened in previous summers), illness or drugs? Her meds are listed in this post yourpetforums.co.uk/post/110835/threadOn a preventative measure I think I'm going to have to shut the gate to the back garden. Its permanently open as the handle doesn't work from the front & its high & with Roman having been diagnosed with signs of arthritis where his tail joins his hips & Osiris having a couple of vertebrae a bit close together in his long back we wanted to stop them having to jump down from at least 6 foot onto hard concrete paving slabs. Our plan is to replace the gate (& fence post) with something as solid but with more of a gap underneath (or a simple catflap built in) so that the cats can get out. Edit: I should say that I'm not over panicked other than having to find her as she's not so outdoor savvy as the others. Its more a case of if any meds etc are affecting her then I probably need to speak to the vet.
|
|
|
Post by migsy on Jul 17, 2015 22:41:23 GMT
Sorry can't help you regarding this tonib.One of my daughters late cats had an overactive thyroid and was on meds,she was in her 20s,so a great age.She was a beautiful adorable silver tabby and became very very skinny.My daughter used to worry when she found Lara wandering outside incase someone called the rspca mistaking her for a starving cruelty case.
|
|
|
Post by spider on Jul 17, 2015 23:06:30 GMT
cant be any help as iv not ever had a cat on meds for long but it might just be the weather has her out of sorts i see little tom going for a wander for himself the last few days but today was colder and wet for most of the day so he never left the place
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Jul 18, 2015 0:30:16 GMT
|
|
|
Post by gypsy on Jul 18, 2015 21:02:32 GMT
Hi tonibA couple of suggestions. Penny could be developing a form of 'feline senility' which can involve wandering around, vocalisation, altered sleep patterns, staring into space etc. As cats get older, organ function becomes impaired so blood supply to the brain can be affected. Endocrine conditions (thyroid etc) can alter behaviour. Also medications can affect different animals in different ways so its also possible this may be a side effect of Metacam.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Jul 18, 2015 23:06:37 GMT
Thanks gypsy. I'd heard of feline senility but not sure that's the case as she's fine indoors just seems to want to go out a bit more & wander further when she does. She's usually looking for some grass of which we have plenty & even some indoors, she always used to go into next doors front garden (we've open plan front gardens here!) as they often had a bit of longer grass now its a bit further down the close. She's always vocalised & stared at things we can't see - that's nothing new. But you're right it could be although I'm more inclined to the thyroid being the cause, or the stopping of her Metacam or her new drugs especially as it seems to have started after she started on the kidney ones although I think it was before the thyroid meds. We're due to see the vet on 31st so I'll mention it to him.
|
|
|
Post by puddycats on Jul 25, 2015 8:22:07 GMT
Molly until elderly and before she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism would sleep through the night, so I am not sure if it was one or the other or both her age and the thyroid but she would start wandering around indoors and crying at 3am until I got up and reassured her, then she would have something to eat and go back to sleep. I do think she got confused.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Jul 25, 2015 9:22:22 GMT
Thanks puddycats, Penny has always been a night time vocal player with her toys (in particular balls of paper she's nicked from the waste paper bin!) but although she is more aware of when I get up in the night (a couple of times potentially), as she can often come to see me when I get back into bed, she (luckily) doesn't seem to be distressed. I remember you saying about Molly's 3 a.m. crying hadn't remembered that it was possibly linked to the thyroid problem. Out of interest, I know she was on meds for HCM what did she get for her thyroid? It was quite funny a couple of days ago. Penny went for a wander outside before breakfast & disappeared. After a while I went looking for her & eventually I saw a black cat coming from around the low wall between our neighbours 3 & 4 doors down the close. Realised it wasn't 3 doors down's all black boy but our Penny! She was coming home at a low, fast trot! The funny bit was that a second or two later a head appeared around the same corner peering up the close in her direction with a rather bemused expression on its face. It was Tango, the 4th house down's cat & Roman & Osiris's nemisis. Not many cats tangle with him I think he was thinking "who/what had the nerve to come into my & the 2 dogs garden - I can't believe it!!!!!" Must admit not many would although Lexie has considered saying "hello" to him but thought twice about it
|
|
|
Post by chantel on Jul 26, 2015 8:13:35 GMT
Well that is a change in behaviour, I don't really know if I can be much help to you but I do know that my late dog (phoebe) developed the early signs of dementia that made her restless and wander around.but like the others have said the medication could I suppose be having a effect on her a little. Has long as she dosen't wander to far. Keep us informed.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Jul 26, 2015 17:49:10 GMT
she always used to go out just in the garden or next door but stopped being so regular with it when she kept being chased in by Osiris or Lexie, changing it to the occasional first thing in the morning before they surfaced! last year she'd go out the front window on to the box in the (open) porch & enjoy the sun but never far, so it could just be summer (but no sun) but you could be right about the confusion but she always knows where to come home to (thank goodness)
|
|
|
Post by lotsofcats on Jul 27, 2015 10:10:24 GMT
Poor Penny - a bit worrying for you. I hope that the vet has some answers for you on your visit on the 31st.
|
|
|
Post by puddycats on Jul 27, 2015 13:51:43 GMT
tonib Molly was on aspirin and hypercard for her heart and 2.5mg dose of felimazole tablets for her thyroid. Twice a day to begin but that brought her thyroid levels down too low so changed it to once a day and that suited her perfectly and for years it never changed. Sadly it was her HCM that took her.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Jul 27, 2015 22:28:30 GMT
How much aspirin did she get puddycats & how did you give it as its quite a large tablet? The vet hasn't blood tested Penny except when they diagnosed the kidney problems back in & that was done under ketamine sedation which took a long time to clear out of her system. Did Molly have to be sedated for blood tests, I didn't get the impression she did?
|
|
|
Post by puddycats on Jul 28, 2015 13:45:16 GMT
Molly was on 75mg per day. What I did was buy the 300mg tablets and then they can be cut into 4 making it smaller easier for swallowing.
No no sedation. She was normally quite good at having blood tests apart from the last tests she had where they took her away from me and when she got home she ran and hid (never done that before )and was in a very sorry state. She had such a large area shaved and cut and I was furious. I knew instinctively what they had done. I was suspicious from the start when they took her into another room for the test when normally it was done in front of me and I think that reassured Molly, they were gone for quite sometime and I was getting concerned and I should have questioned it - a trainee vet had taken the bloods and apparently couldn't find her vein. They did this on an elderly cut with heart disease. I think that was dreadful. She was upset for hours. They should at least have told me what was going to happen. Sorry for going on Toni - it still upsets me now. The vet has since left the practice.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Jul 28, 2015 17:51:53 GMT
Sorry I brought back such a bad memory puddycats but thanks for telling me. The idea of a quarter of the 300mg might be a better idea for Penny as the 75mg tablet is quite large for a cat & she obviously doesn't like the taste. She took her other tablet this morning in the pill pocket but wouldn't touch any treat containing aspirin which she gets 75mg every other day.
|
|