My cat is sabotaging my health page

[JackieKessler]

It's not my cat's fault. Really. But she's sabotaging my health. She'll be 19 (yep) in mid-July. She's become senile, so she meows A LOT, especially overnight. By 5 am, she's ready for me to be awake and feed her. Canned food, not dry food. Fresh canned food, because her sense of smell is kaput, so if it's been out for more than 1 hour, she won't touch it. If I put her into a room overnight (with her litterbox, food, water, and favorite chair to sleep on), she DESTROYS the room -- pees on the chair, on the floor, poops on the floor, etc -- and she meows so loudly that she wakes my son, even when I muffle the door with a towel. If I don't put her in the room, she wakes me constantly in the middle of the night, and then starts going full assault around 5 to get me out of bed. And it's not enough for me to feed her -- if I go back to bed, she keeps meowing. Even louder. What she wants is for me to feed her, then go into my home office so that she can sprawl on my lap, where she purrs loud enough to wake the dead.

Sigh.

I love my cat. I really do. But I haven't slept well in...wow, it has to be years. My stress is high; my sleep is poor.

My cat is sabotaging my health.

Not looking for advice; I just needed to vent. :P

[patrickh]

^This is why I'll never own a cat. Everyone I know that owns a cat is always complaining about how crazy they are. My lab/datschund mix has never pooper or peed in the house, has never woken us up in the middle of the night, and never destroys things when we aren't present. Given, we have an unusually well behaved dog.

[JackieKessler]

To be fair, my cat **is** almost 19. Basically, she's ancient. Her sister died three years ago. She's gotten...insistent...only in the past two years. Well, two-ish.

[Jen AlcesAlces]

Sorry to hear about the senile feline. I've got one too - he's 18 and cries out in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. He luckily is still ok with his litter box, but I've had to keep him in his own room many nights to get sleep. I know you weren't looking for advice, but maybe you could do that a couple of times to catch up on sleep? Good luck to ya

[magnolia1973]

I hate to say it, but a humane end is not the worst thing. The cat is probably not exactly happy either. The other thing to check for is hyperthyroid. My cat was pooping, peeing, howling, wanting food constantly- it was a simple blood test and he is medicated for it.

[JackieKessler]

Sorry to hear about the senile feline. I've got one too - he's 18 and cries out in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. He luckily is still ok with his litter box, but I've had to keep him in his own room many nights to get sleep. I know you weren't looking for advice, but maybe you could do that a couple of times to catch up on sleep? Good luck to ya

Thanks, Jen. Glad your guy is still happy with his box. My girl doesn't use it only when I keep her in a room overnight. Then she destroys the place. Sigh...

[JackieKessler]

I hate to say it, but a humane end is not the worst thing. The cat is probably not exactly happy either. The other thing to check for is hyperthyroid. My cat was pooping, peeing, howling, wanting food constantly- it was a simple blood test and he is medicated for it.

I'm concerned that she's coping more and more. She's getting a checkup next Tuesday; I'll be sure to ask about hyperthyroid. Thanks.

[Sora]

I'd definitely tell the vet everything you've mentioned too. I know when one of my grandma's cat was having problems adjusting to his new home after being rescued they were able to give him some sort of kitty prozac, so maybe that would be an option here, too.

[Jen AlcesAlces]

Thanks, Jen. Glad your guy is still happy with his box. My girl doesn't use it only when I keep her in a room overnight. Then she destroys the place. Sigh...

Oh geez sorry I missed that - lack of sleep I guess

Def check on the thyroid. Mine has an ok thyroid but has kidney disease which makes him need 2 huge cat boxes, when he used to get by with one normal one. Anyway, good luck!

[Graycat]

I adopted my gorgeous gray baby after he showed up at my patio door couple of years ago. He was almost starved to death.
Anyway, I can only kind of empathize with your situation, because he usually wakes me up one or twice during the night. To be let out and sometimes he meows at the door to be let back in.

I truly hope you find a solution soon.