Senile Cat?

15:38:54

Question

Chloe I have a cat that's about 18 1/2 years old. She has recently started up some behaviors that make me wonder about senility.
First, for about a year or so she is crazy - and I do mean CRAZY - for ice cubes. She sits at the fridge and begs for them the whole time I'm in the kitchen. She doesn't play with them when she gets them she just drinks the water in their immediate vicinity. She won't lick ice cubes that are not in water.
Secondly, she eats weird now. First she'll lick all the food in the bowl (knocking quite a bit out of the bowl in the process) and then she'll eat some. Her teeth are fine; in fact the last time she was at clinic, the vet was amazed when I told her that the cat has never had dental work done. She said she has the teeth of a much younger cat. I feed my cats only dry food.
She also quite often eats while standing with her two front feet in the bowl. Recently I think she has started doing this with the water bowl too - I keep finding little wet paw prints on the floor all around her food and water bowls.
Her vision seems ok - she tracks treats tossed on the floor with no difficulty at all, as well as toys.
Finally, she no longer grooms herself at all. Her fur is in terrible shape - oily, clumpy, tending to matted if I don't keep at it. What worries me about this is that she hates to be combed or brushed and I'm afraid that I'll stress her to the point of injury if I push the grooming thing too much.
Physically her health is good - clean bill from the vet in the not distant past. I'm worried that senility is an issue now. Does it sound like it to you?

Answer
Elizabeth,

Yes, Chloe is, clearly, geriatric and may be having some issues. I would not be overly concerned about her idiosyncrasies with the food, water, and ice cubes. However, when a cat stops grooming themselves, this is usually a sign that there is a health issue.

I would take her into the clinic with the question about the grooming. This is not normal! The health issue may be more subtle than is obvious.

Anyway, what she may need more than combing and brushing, at this point, is a bath. You can check with your clinic to see if they will do the job for you if there is nothing they can find.

As to senility, so little has been studied about aged cats, there is little known about whether they get senile and what the symptoms may be. I am giving you a couple of links to excellent articles on senility in cats and care for the older cat:

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/elderly/senility.html

http://www.2ndchance.info/oldcat.htm

The latter article suggested that arthritis may be a cause of poor grooming in older cats (it also suggested dental, but we can rule that out in Chloe's case).

Please let me know what you find.

Best regards... Norm.

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