This is Kita. If he makes it to Easter, 2016, he will be 20 years old.
He most definitely has dementia. I work as a nurse with predominately seniors, & cared for a family member with dementia, and Kita behaves exactly the same.
He has good days and bad days. On every day he is clearly confused about whether he just came in from the outside, or if he needs to go now. (More so than that in/out game all pets seem to love to play.). If the weather is bad he forgets, and will ask over and over for you to open the door, and acts surprised every time that it's raining.
Did he just eat? Don't remember but he loves to eat and being hyperthyroid, he's too skinny, so we put him in front of a plate of food 20-30 times a day, and he eats a few bites each time...only to ask again in that special meow that 19 years has taught us both that someone needs to feed him. Of course, we go through the motions of feeding him again, and again, and again. I'm happy to do it all day long.
Wheres the litter box?! Well, we moved it closer, (who needs a dining room anyway?), his nose leads the way.
He will go into one room, and clearly have no idea why he went in there, only to turn around and wonder why he's in that room. Sometimes he cycles like this & I'll redirect him. Food works.
But he remembers many things too. Like a human, his long term memory is very much still intact. (Last 2 go). He knows me, my husband, our 3 dogs, but that pesky new cat confuses him. She looks like a cat he knew and loved, but this new one smells different. Fortunately he has always been a mellow cat, so most of the time he just goes with the flow, but he is clearly often surprised by her smell. Many other of his long term behaviors remain intact. Lap time, nail clipping, poke you in the face for attention time. He's been doing those for years. It's only the new stuff he has trouble with.
Before anyone suggest he's suffering, rest assured, this cat has a better life and better health care than I do. It's our family's choice to repay this guys long years of service as a foot and bed warmer by doing every thing we can to ease his golden years. If you can't understand that, 1) why have you even read this far?, 2) I pity you.
Well, he made it to 20! His dementia continues, perhaps a bit worse. We cook for him weekly, and he mostly eats only roast chicken and a rich stock made from that chicken. But the weather is warming, that warm spot by the back door is still all his, and we are still grateful for every day he is still with us. All is well.
Thank you all for the kind words, for sharing our joy, and especially for his many birthday wishes. He's still a cat, so he doesn't care, but my family and I are deeply touched.
We went to the vet today, fearing bad news, but the news was not as bad as it could have been. We have a wonderfully caring and understanding vet. Today he made it clear we are 100% into hospice care now. Whatever will make him comfortable, whatever will improve Kita's quality of life, that's what we will do. So he has a few more meds to take, and this vegetarian will still be cooking a chicken every week because my buddy likes chicken. We are lucky that Kita's dementia is the pleasant kind, but the end of dementia for cats is the same as people. It will take a miracle for him to see 21, but every day is a miracle here. He's happy. That's what matters most.
Kita has passed. Like many older cats, his kidneys wore out. I was there when he came into the world, and was there when he left. Thank you all for his brief burst of fame. I hope have inspired some, and given others the examples they need to do what their heart already knows. Some people just can’t understand, and I do still pity them.
Kita was one hell of a good cat.
Read other related questions on Quora:
- My cat goes from pure sweetness to attack mode out of nowhere. Why does this happen and what can I do?
- What goes through a cat’s head during the day?
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from Quora http://ift.tt/21ex2e2
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