My sister Quest seems to be exhibiting some of the signs of cat dementia. From what Momma found on the internet, those can include:
- Spatial disorientation or confusion – getting trapped in corners or forgetting the location of the litter box.
Yes! Yes! :-/ - Altered relationships either with their owners or other pets in the household – increased attention seeking or aggression.
She seeks almost constant attention during her waking hours when one of the humans are around. - Increased irritability or anxiety, or decreased response to stimuli.
- Changes in sleeping patterns.
Sleep? Does she sleep? She just paces and paces…Okay wait, she will sleep if one of the humans is holding her. - Inappropriate vocalization such as loud crying at night.
Yes! Yes!! - Loss of memory, such as forgetting commands or breaking house training.
Oh boy, yes. - Changes in activity – aimless wandering or pacing, or reduced activity.
She wanders aimlessly most of the time, unless she’s standing still in one spot….for half an hour at a time. - Lack of interest in food, although some cats actually want more food.
She has the increased desire for food. - Decreased grooming.
She has stopped grooming altogether. - Confusion about time, such as forgetting that they have just been fed.
Yep.
Surely someone out there has experience with this or words of wisdom or something that perhaps helped you with the situation?
We had this with our Georgia during her last couple of years. She tended to be a sleeper and not a pacer (except for short periods late at night) and so we were able to work around it. We got piddle pads as she sort of knew the area of the litter box but didn’t exactly manage to get IN it. As it got worse the number of piddle pads expanded until towards the end she had a little penned area covered with piddle pads. We also made sure to brush her more as she also stopped grooming. It was very difficult as the Woman kept thinking that she was being cruel except that Georgia was so clearly happy so much of the time.
Has she had a test to see if she has Hyperthyroidism? Some of the symptoms are very similar to that of dementia and Hyperthyroidism is quite common in older pusscats. Hyper T can usually be controlled with medictation.
Yes, we wanted to suggest she be checked for hyper-t, because some of those symptoms can be caused by hyperthyroidism. It’s easily managed, if her kidneys and liver are okay, with meds (either pills or transdermal gel applied to the inner ear tips).
Poor baby Quest. We’ll purr extra hard for her through this difficult time.
Aw man…
I got nuttin’ of any help, just head butts for Quest…
Quest sounds so much like my kitty Missy in her last year. It was so sad to see such an intelligent, lively cat change so much. The last few months I had her were so hard and sad:-(
It sounds as though you’ve received some helpful comments. All we can say is we’re sorry you and Quest are going through this, and we send comforting vibes and purrayers….