emanday wrote:Hi David.
.....snipped...............
I have, quite literally, known Tosh all her life. I'm not looking forward to that day that I know must come. I hope she will just slip away quietly but, if it seems that she might suffer, I know that giving her peace will be the last good thing I will be able to do for her, as you did for Gilbert.
Bless you.
Hi Mary
Our sincere thanks to you and everyone else for their condolences.
As far as Tosh is concerned keep a very close eye on her weight. Anything more than a 10% loss for a cat of that age is regarded by vets as indicative of a problem. It might just be bad teeth, or something else, but, if a treatable condition is involved, the earlier the better that it's detected.
Regular blood tests are also advised for old cats to check on thyroid and kidney function, as well as any tendency to diabetes, and a potassium deficiency. Does Tosh eat any significant amount of fresh liver?, - in which case, there's a significant chance of too much vitamin E as a result leading to a problem...........
Does Tosh like tuna? (very probably a daft question!), - in which case she should be restricted to one tuna feed every other week, due to the risk of mercury poisoning, believe it or not. Mercury (Hg), still widespread as a pollutant, tends to concentrate in fish such as tuna, and human beings are now recommended to have quite a low intake, - so given the much lower body weight of cats and that the effect can be linked to dosage/kg of body weight, this also has to be considered (biochemical engineer speaking here!)
As I wrote previously, cats are expert at "concealing" a problem until it has become serious. Don't be concerned about going to the vet based on behavioural differences, - the vet will very much respect the fact that you are the expert on your cat's behaviour, and it's quite amazing from chatting to vets how many behavioural differences have a link to a physical condition, however insignificant such behavioural changes might seem, - the important aspect here is that there have been such changes.
When Gilbert originally adopted us as suitable set of humans, to be followed quite soon by Sullivan, then a bit later by D'Oyly and Angus, and, lastly, Oliver a couple of years ago, I had no real understanding of the responsibility that we were taking on !!
Sullivan was an unusual cat in that he hadn't been abandoned. Instead, his aged lady owner had died. No-one else was interested in taking him in, but we came along and he decided to adopt us. The Cat Protection League reckoned that he'd never been outside the apartment of his owner and had never met another cat.
It was obvious how he'd previously been fed..... when he was hungry, he simply parked himself in front of the fridge and looked expectant.
The partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan will always remain in our memory for for their joint break-in to the fridge when we were out one day, and their demolition/consumption of a complete pot of mince .............. after which we had to put a padlock on the fridge, - honest, cross my heart ..............
David & Joanne
) But my mother called her a prostitute as she would sleep with anyone. She liked to sleep curled up against yer bum. So when my youngest brother got out of bed she would nick off to the next bed