It makes me so sad to think about but I don’t want her to suffer because of me. She’s about the only thing keeping me sane these days.
I rescued her from an extremely abusive situation about 2 years ago. They didn’t feed her so she was on her death bed and completely deaf due to untreated ear infections. She lost a lot of muscle mass in her legs and even today only weighs about half of what she should. That said, I feel like I’m not giving her a good life anymore because of my current situation.
I’m supposed to be moving soon so all of the furniture is now is boxed up and it’s really stressing her out. And between work and school I’m not home much. She won’t eat. She’s getting thin again and it terrifies me that she won’t even eat half a can of the good stuff she used to love. She has also started urinating outside of her box. Possibly because everything looks different around the house so she can’t find it? I dunno.
She’s a very old girl (they estimated 10+ years when I first got her) and I’m sure has arthritis so she doesn’t groom herself. Her undercoat is matted. I have an appointment at the groomers in 7 hours but I am absolutely terrified they will see how thin she is and report me for neglect. But she just won’t eat! Wet food. Dry food. Nothing. I wonder if she is dying sometimes. I’m crying just writing this.
Should I give her away?
I don’t know what to do.
Should I keep the groomer appointment?
Phone the vet?
They’ll take her away too because she isn’t groomed.
My poor girl. Please help.
I haven’t recently. She went through a period of recurrent bladder infections but she’s not showing the signs. She goes to the box when she feels like it. Her urine is normal colored. She’s not licking the area. Those were all the signs she was showing when she first had infections.
Yes, but that’s precisely why you should have the vet evaluate her. Older cats can develop medical issues that can result in weight loss and other stuff.
I’ll call in the morning. I don’t know what to tell them when they ask about her fur. She’s been wearing sweaters because I tried to trim the mats off of her but I know cats have very thin skin and I didn’t want to hurt her so only her flanks are short. I called the groomers so they could shave her. But now I’m panicking because they might phone the police especially because without her fur she looks emaciated. In reality she’s lost about 1 pound in 2 years but because her former owners starved her that’s a substantial amount of weight. She should weigh between 7-10lbs to be healthy and right now she weighs just over 5lbs. When I got her she was 6lbs.
I have to take her in. If they are concerned that I’ve been abusing her then I’m sure she will be taken to a home where they brush her daily and are home more often. I’m so incredibly sad for her and angry at myself for letting her fur get knotted up like this.
I don’t think give her away. Old/timid animals are very scared by change. We have an old dog and she hates it and acts very similar to your cat. When we moved here she basically stopped walking, my mom had to carry her to her foodbowl to eat (extremely weird for her!!) carry her outside to go potty (if she didn’t she’d go right on the floor), etc. My mom thought she was dying…but then after a while once we got settled in, she was her old self again! Then later we got some work done on the house and she became lethargic again…but after the work was done she was fine!
If the change of the move is stressing her out now imagine how awful it would be for your cat if you gave her away and she changed owners too! She’ll make it through this, it’s just a hard time for her and you may have to help her out until it’s done. See if the vet has any suggestions. They recommended Prozac for our dog We never ended up needing it though
It’s actually not uncommon for cat’s fur to get knotted up, especially if it is a long haired cat. You should be able to get the knots and mats shaved at the vet.
Also, it’s possible your cat could have hairballs which could be why she’s not hungry.
This makes me feel so much better. I’m still going to call in to the vet tomorrow. She’s a short haired domestic but she quit grooming when I was suddenly admitted to an inpatient unit halfway across the country and was gone for 6 months. My boyfriend of the time took care of her then. When I came back she was happy to see me but that boyfriend of mine ended up moving out and she never got back to grooming properly. I bought a dematting tool but it causes her too much pain so I quit using it. She’s got little bundles of tangled up fur near her underarms/belly and some on her sides.
Hopefully they understand. She is my whole world I wake up to her sleeping on me and when I come home she is always there to greet me (or more likely to tell me she wants exactly 3 bites of food).
I’m glad to hear your pup never ended up needing the meds. I hope the same will be true for kitty. Do they make that for cats?
Thanks for putting that into perspective for me. She sure would be more stressed with a new family.
Hair balls!!! Those are hard to remove from her tummy, aren’t they? She hasn’t groomed in at least a year and a half now so I’m not sure it’s that. I’ll be sure to ask. I try to keep up with brushing for that reason but I haven’t had a day off in months so I brushed her less and less. Now she’s got little knots on her underbelly and her under coat is tangled on her sides. I really hope the vet tells me she’s okay and they let me keep her. Maybe they can give me some advice on how to fatten her up to a healthy weight.
I just love her so much. I can’t wait until this semester is over so I can cuddle all day with my lovebug.
It seems that you love your cat. Why should you give it away? I also have an old tomcat and after I treated him and the vet told me that there is nothing he could do I kept the tomcat in my house till he died. It was painfull for me to see him suffering. But what could I do? Giving him away and let him dying between stranger was not an option…
You wouldn’t give away a cat you love, because you never know if they’ll treat them as good as you.
Take her to the vet, do what they recommend, and give her lots of love.
That’s all you can do, and make her comfortable too.
You can take care of this cat, it’s counting on you.
You wouldn’t give away a cat you love, because you never know if they’ll treat them as good as you.
Take her to the vet, do what they recommend, and give her lots of love.
That’s all you can do, and make her comfortable too.
You can take care of this cat, it’s counting on you.
I really do love her. She’s everything. The reason why I thought another owner might be a better choice is because I’m never home to love her or train her. I work everyday, and the days I don’t work I’m in class. She’s been urinating everywhere and I’m not always home to clean it up before it dries and I dont see it. I can’t let her sleep in my room anymore unless I’m only taking a nap because she will pee on the carpet. So she sleeps in other parts of the house with no carpet. Ive gotten her three beds now, all of which she peed on so I threw them out. She sleeps on old towels now. I can sanitize those but it breaks my heart to know she doesn’t even have a real bed. That on top of the grooming and all the change in the house. You all have made me think twice about this though.
We never ended up needing it though