Can I be hard? It sounds like he's fixing to go. The fact he is purring a lot might mean he is in pain. Cats purr when they're very ill. 19/20 is a very good age for a cat.
That's what I've been thinking too. But read on.
Is he sleeping in one particular place? i only ask because skoda has not been eating recently...just turning her nose up at food in her normal eating place, but this evening i took her bowl up to her and *huzzzah* she ate it! This was right next to where she sleeps.
Legs do get weak, any previous signs of arthritis in him? Has he had his teeth checked? An old fella like him, gum disease will take it out of him, as will any infection. my vet just gives skodas's teeth a bit of a scraping, also he recently clipped her nails which has made a real difference to her on carpets.
sigh, hope he's ok mysterygirl
Good news about skoda eating! I find it easier to get Rover's interest by offering food where he sleeps if he's uninterested. He sleeps where i sit on the sofa, when he can evict me. Otherwise he sleeps at the other end of the sofa - never in his bed anymore though.
I've never suspected arthritis in him, apart from maybe his creaky jaw? His teeth apparently are in excellent condition.
BUT - there is Good News.
I took him back to the vet yesterday, for a check up after the first week on his new drugs. He's been looking brighter, and stronger. And I thought he felt heavier.
They weighed him. He's put on 300g in a WEEK!
Thats like over 1/10th of his bodyweight, he's gone from 2.4kg to 2.7 in a WEEK!! Woooo HOOOOooooo!
The vet was absolutely astounded, I was just over the moon!
Overall, he's suffering from Old Age, so I realise Im just delaying the inevitable. But as long as his quality of life is acceptable, that's OK. And he's brighter, stronger, more alert. I live in a first floor flat and he 'patrols' the balcony outside when he finds the weather acceptable, the patrols had dwindled to going one or maybe two doors along but they've been extended again to almost the entire length of the balcony.
He hasn't eaten so much today, but it's amazing how much a cat who's not hungry will eat when confronted by fresh from the oven slightly cooled chicken breast. Personally I think he holds out for it but I don't mind so long as he's eating.
He's drinking heaps more too, we have a happier household here this weekend.
Cat Watch (with soaked & softened biscuits, rice & cat food, and chicken breast) continues, but with a lighter heart.
zippyRN - unfortunately his stomach doesn't seem to be able to tolerate the cat milk anymore, the last couple of times I gave it to him he was very sick and he stopped drinking it altogether in the end so I don't offer it anymore. The soaked bicuits are left out all day, I've tried leaving the dry out as well but he doesn't touch them.
And the tablets to make him hungry don't seem to make him terribly hungry, although I did wonder if he's just got a smaller tummy now and gets full up more quickly?
