He looks like one of the rabbits that periodically munch on my back yard. Those things freak me out. It would be fine if they’d just munch and move on, but occasionally one of them will just freeze. I’ll look out there an hour later and it’s still in exactly the same place. I then have a fit about how I’m going to get rid of a dead rabbit and then, hours later when I look out again and, its mission accomplished, the rabbit is gone.
I believe that “let’s go over to Wolfpup’s back yard and play dead” has to be the #1 most popular game among all wilderness rabbits in the area.
I really do have to ask, from which creature does one have most to fear, this one:
… or this one:
I trust that this settles the never-ending discussion of dogs vs cats, and the alleged altruism of the Cat, and which species could be safely accommodated into one’s domicile.
Thanks! It’s our third and final flooring surface in that space. Used to have waterproof LVP flooring until the fridge water dispenser sprung a leak and soaked the floor bottom up. A disaster!
Kitchen is in the lower level of the walkout with a concrete floor. We wanted an impervious surface and were considering ceramic tiles but to answer your question, it’s a metallic epoxy. Feels good underfoot, softer than tile. Can be Slippery when wet but there are tiny fibers added in the mix that prevent it.
Hmmm. My last dog was large even for a male Bernese Mountain Dog. At his peak he weighed in at 120 pounds, so he was nearly as big as I was. But he was a total sweetheart.
Now imagine the following. Ordinary house cats are presumed to be “cute” when they sit staring into space or having their little dreams, but the real reason they’re so pissy and aloof is that they want to kill you, and they know they’re just too damn small to do it. The life and dreams of the Cat are just an endless series of murder plots.
Now imagine that you have a 120-pound cat on the premises.
Here’s a blast from the past: Stelli, whom I adopted in her midteens when her owner died. She’d been declawed [boo!] and I suspected her reluctance to jump higher than a low chair came from her learning as a youngster no front claws meant no way to grab hold when leaping higher.
She was on prescription renal food (which she didn’t much like) and twice-weekly subcu fluids when I got her. I weaned her onto Fancy Feast and Friskies, which she loved, and she did so well she no longer needed the subcu fluids.
She had a cyst on one hip that needed draining a few times and finally surgical excision. Also had few teeth left. She lived with me to age 19.
Ahhh. My Atilla is over 17, born 4/30 07. He is starting to fail I think, so I’m giving him whatever he seems to like, soft catfood in his prescription, or little crumbs of the ham and gravy from Christmas dinner.
More than once, when one of my senior cats has been showing signs of decline, not eating well, my vet has said feed whatever s/he will eat; the important thing is to get those calories into the cat.
Have you had the vet work him up? There may be some medication that would help him, or something underlying his decline that can be ameliorated. A couple of times I’ve had elderly cats looking awful that perked right up with subcu fluids, for example.
This makes me wonder whether he might be arthritic. Not only would it restrict his movements, but the discomfort could also affect his appetite.
When I adopted Bruiser a few months ago, he was moving stiffly and had a hard time with stairs. We’ve got him on monthly Solensia shots and he’s a different cat now.
Beautiful picture of old cat feeling happily comfortable.
Yup, that’s the thing to do. Feed them whatever they’ll eat for as long as they’ll eat it. – Try a bit of cream on their regular cat food. I’ve had quite a resurgence of interest in food from old cats with that technique.
And also have his thyroid levels checked, if you haven’t already. Thyroid problems are easy to treat, and can look a whole lot like failing from age. – as others have said, a general vet check is a very good idea. I wouldn’t do anything majorly intrusive or massively upsetting to a 17 year old cat; but thyroid meds or subcutaneous fluids or something else along those lines are things both the cat and you will get used to surprisingly fast.
17 is indeed a good age, and some cats won’t make it older, or even get that far. But I’ve known two who got into their twenties, and at least one who made it within a few months of that.
Thanks to those who have expressed concern for Atilla. He has seen the vet recently. Surprisingly they said his kidnews are not bad, but he does have a heart murmur. So he gets pills for that. I cruch half a pill and sprinkle it on the food and he doesn’t seem to notice it.
I give both my seniors a daily dose of B12. It comes in a cat-dose capsule and I sprinkle it over and mix it into a pouch’s worth of Delectables Bisque for each. I also mix a capsule’s worth of Cosequin into the arthritic cat’s bisque. They both lap it right up.
Here’s an article about B12 deficiency in cats. I’ve seen a change for the better in both cats since I started them on it. Since it’s water-soluble there’s no danger of giving them too much.
