Does your Cat (or any pet) misbehave since caregiving your loved one?
Have you been required to take care of your loved one's pet after they have passed? Does your pet have cute antics that entertain your loved one?
And finally, has the cat or dog transferred their loyalty to your Mother?
If they do fine with a bowl of water and the tray litter box, then the problem isn't health related, it's New Overload causing behavioral issues. And then I can introduce new things along with old things and give them time in between to adjust.
Today I saw puddle-trails of clear-looking spit-vomit in several places in my bedroom on the hardwood floor. I see a good size food vomit patch on the living room rug. I see there is poop (yeah, I think it is actually poop, not hairball, but dry poop balls) on top of my big desk in living room and some on the rug. There is a huge amount of urine (definitely urine) soaked into the upholstered bench where I had draped a towel to make a fort for kitties.
Seeing as there are 2 cats, I'm not sure which one is the offender. With so MUCH stuff going on, I suppose it could be both. I think it is the older one, though, for the urine and poop. I think he may not like new litter box. But I don't know WHY he doesn't like new litter box, and I don't know if he needs more time to adjust to it, or he needs a simple tray box back for good. The younger one is using the new box ok, it seems.
Also, I think older one doesn't like some of my offerings on my cat food buffet and puked them back up. He is very cranky pants today, but otherwise seems healthy. I went to store and bought the wet food he is used to and set it out, but he hasn't touched it today.
I don't know which one is over drinking the water, maybe the younger because I've seen her drinking it, but one of them is drinking too much because... I filled the fountain base up a few days ago, about 1.5 liters, and it was all gone today. That seems excessive to me. These are indoor cats and they don't exert themselves and need to drink a lot of fluids, right?
I wonder if they will both adjust to drinking out of the fountain and won't drink too much now that they're used to it, or do they need a small bowl that I can monitor. That seems weird, a lot of people have water fountains for pets, so I think their over drinking is temporary.
I thought I would put them in the crate to do some cleaning up and they both REFUSED this. I can force Delilah but Divo is having none of it. I'm not giving up on them, far from it, but the wind is definitely out of my sails as far as thinking this was going well.
Some eat dry food and wet food. One female cat loves catching mice/rats and eats them. My tomcat Fluffy who passed away a few months ago loved raw meat. I fed him ground chicken or pork. Occasionally he got beef as treats. Oh how he loved raw meat! He was always hanging outside my kitchen when I prepared meat waiting for me to share some pieces. I loved that boy.
Right now my old boy Charlie likes both styles of food.... his sweetheart only eats dry food I think, unless she is the one cleaning up the wet food in the middle of the night.
Charlie will eat people food, he does like potato chips. Rosie won't take any people food.
Of course we laughed and Kitty got his share. Jacques has always been a nibbler with kibble but loves his occasional treats. He enjoys hamburger and rotisserie chicken too. The gyro garlic made MY tummy growl (I can finally eat!).
Jacques used to have a ‘kitty bro’ who hogged the food and when Bodhi died at 13 years old, after Jacques greived, then he started putting on weight. We didn’t realize Bodhi was preventing Jacques from eating. Apparently the dominant cat will do this. Jacques was the runt of the litter too. He looks like a little bear now, he’s much bigger but is active. I’ve had him since he chose me to save him after Hurricane Katrina visited our area. Thirteen happy funny years.
I recommend older cats. They are calm and loving.
I bought them an upgraded litter box, one where they have to climb on top to get into it. I hope this works to keep them from spreading litter far and wide like they have been. The water fountain is nice. It wasn't expensive and I know cats prefer running water. I've yet to see either of them actually drink from it but the volume of urine in the box tells me they are utilizing it.
Divo is skinny and I try to give him his food but Delilah eats it. I put Delilah in the crate for a bit so Divo can eat uninterrupted but he wanders away from the food bowl after a few bites. Ok... so he just doesn't have much of an appetite. As long as he seems healthy, and he does, I'm not going to worry about it. Divo needs steps in between jumping up on things like window sills and the bed. Delilah can do it w/o step in between but Divo can't. So... now there are strategically placed things around windows and the bed do Divo can explore whatever, whenever. High-fiving myself for being an awesome cat accommodator.
The grooming gloves work well enough. Cats don't seem to particularly care for them, though. But when I give them a rub down with the gloves, it comes away with lots of hairs.
I think it's been a very successful week one!
I saw my trainer's cat today for first time. This thing is MASSIVE. It is so round and plump and I asked about the weight because... the cat looks morbidly obese, if adorable. Trainer said something about surgery and after that the cat gained weight. Hm. Maybe I'll ask about cat again if it's there on Friday when I go for workout. I've never known a cat that was so fat, but wasn't due to over feeding rich foods.
Moving on to my new-to-me old fella, Divo. He's quite skinny. I've been feeling along his sides as I pet him. He's thin, but not emaciated or anything like that. He does eat but doesn't seem to eat as much as the other one. I had a clear understanding with myself that in order for me to take in an 18 yo cat, I would have to be ready to draw the line if heath issues started to occur that would be too expensive. It's not a hard and fast rule, just an idea that I made clear with myself before I took them in. It's far too early to get worried about anything, but... I wonder if I should have Divo's teeth looked at...? He is quite old and he won't eat any hard food, only soft, and so I'm wondering if his teeth are ok. But what if they AREN'T ok? What am I prepared to do then, if I get that news? So maybe I'll just not worry about anything at all right now and wait a month or two and see if he puts on some weight with me. Former owner admits the cats were neglected due to having small kids to look after plus other pets in the household.
I like the idea of home made toilet paper tube toys for kitties. This seems easy enough. D & D mostly ignore the toys I bought them, but they were only few dollars.
All the other cats during my life time never put on any extra weight. I don't know if it is more so depending on what breed of cat, or not. The cat that did gain a lot of weight was a short hair tordi. She would only eat dry food, wouldn't touch wet food or people food.
It's really sweet of your husband to care about her so much too.
I will warn you though,Chloe may put on weight easily now.Mine are all fat now,with kitten heads and cat bodies.
And this morning game. I am still in bed with my kindle and you all. Ming races through the house then races back into the bedroom, flying leap onto the bed, over the top of me, races off the other side, all while doing this little growl like noise, a few times. She once landed on me leaping onto the bed. I wasn't as flat as she thought I would be. Took the air out of me. She hasn't landed on me since. Must have surprised her too. 😈
My kitten will play with anything. My adult cat (neutered male) doesn't really play. It seems to be beneath his dignity. He will lie down in bed with me at night or naptime, as long as I don't try to cuddle him too much. Oh, well....
Mine follow me everywhere,wanting me to constantly entertain them.I need all the ideas for any other cat games and things to do with them that I can get.
Another good cat game is to put a fake toy mouse under the oven or the dishwasher.They like to bat it under there and then watch you get a stick and a flashlight to get it back out for them.
And Ali,I'm SO happy for you getting two kitty cats to love on.They will bring you so much joy,I know.Besides the toys they have,I hope they have a scratchy scratch too.You can make them tunnels under tables covered with a sheet and they love houses made with boxes covered by a big towel and they love a pile of grass brought in from outside and they love to sit in the window sill and look out the screen and you'll probably find yourself singing to them,silly songs you just make up and you will talk to them and they will chew on your toes like Holiday end's did and mine do and I'm just SO happy for you!!!Have fun with your new babies~
Put things that small of you close to where they are hiding and feeling safe then when they come our they will see you as security. Enjoy being a Mama.
You've been at this caregiving business a very long time at this point, you need support. I'm glad you've joined us here on AgingCare.
Putting the cat to sleep will not really make your job of careing for hubby any easier so I would suggest getting more help careing for hubby so you are not so stressed. It has already been a long road for you and there is no predicting how long the rest of your journey will be. Do what feels right for you. No guilt involved. When the time has to come there will be not doubt in your mind what needs to be done. Many hugs.
I was both a "forum virgin" and a "communicator-with-other-caregivers virgin" until I wrote my post. I am dumbfounded by the kindness and warmth of your responses. It was worth the box of tissues! Thank you! Your understanding means the world to me.
I had to put blue sheets around the house, especially on the flooring. It made for much easier clean-up once I could see a pattern of where she was going. It was odd, she preferred the east side of the house. I even added more litter boxes for her but she couldn't always get to one in time :(
I can understand your situation trying to take care of two love ones which can be overwhelming. The cat does have a serious illness and you are doing the best you can. It is always so hard to know when to say "good-bye". What a tough decision.
Cats can also sense when its owner is ill, and they can stress about that which can also have an effect on their own well being.