The vet was just here to pick up my 17.5 year old Orange tabby, Daffy (so
named because he walked like Daffy Duck.) Unfortunately, in recent
months, he had totally stopped using the litter box, for pooping and for
pishing. I'm disabled and my mother is elderly, so we can't clean up
after him, and cleaning the house of cat waste isn't part of the job
description of my aides (they do clean out the litter boxes, which is also
beyond their duties.) We've checked with his current vet, his past vet,
and other vets to see if there was anything that could be done to get him
back to using the boxes, but the consensus was that he's old, and he just
goes when the need hits him, wherever he is. It's a shame, but that's the
sad part of having pets.

He also may be in pain, as he does some extremely loud yelling many times
during the day. It isn't constant, but it is common. He has blood in his
stool, so there could be a problem in his bowels (could even be cancer.)
I've asked the vet to run some tests, in case there is something that can
be treated, which would then restore his box use, but she isn't
optimistic.

Daffy was a good kitty. Friendly to the family, and occasionally to
visitors (usually, he was a chicken, who avoided visitors, but compared to
our other cat Fagin, who runs under a bed at the sound of a doorbell or a
knock on the door - a Pavlovian response he developed - Daffy was super
brave. We don't know why these two are so chicken, as they've never been
mistreated in any way. Fagin, a traditional Siamese I got from a breeder,
started his life with us by spending his first two days here under the
sofa, and has been a chicken ever since. Daffy would sometimes come to
visitors to check them out, and let himself get petted.)


Alan

--

----------------------------------------------------------------------
** Please use address alanh77[at]comcast.net to reply via e-mail. **

Posted using registered MR/2 ICE Newsreader #564 and eComStation 1.2R

BBS - The Nerve Center Telnet FidoNet 261/1000 tncbbs.no-ip.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------