Old Cat New Behavior

Question
Hi Jessica

This seems like such a great service, and your advice pretty knowledgeable, so I really appreciate you taking time to answer our questions.

My cat Minka is 17 years old, and a mixed breed tortoiseshell (from a vicious feral mother who would actually chase people into their homes!).

Anyway, she is remarkably healthy for her age, and, strangely, seems to have gotten healthier than she was for a while. Up til a year or two ago, for a period of a few years, she vomited frequently, squeaked as if in pain when we picked her up around her belly (we quickly learned not to do that), was grumpy, sometimes bit when overstimulated, slept all the time, and no longer hunted - simply stared at the birds or mice that sometimes got into our house.

A vet examined her and said, "she's just getting old, there's nothing wrong with her belly (couldn't figure out why she reacted as if in pain), just feed her anti-hairball food for the vomiting." Well, the anti-furball food didn't seem to help, but at least it didn't dye the carpet.

So... fast forward to the present - she's become more active (even gets hyper right after using the litterbox - such a HAPPY girl!), never acts in pain, no longer bites, likes to go outside for short explorations, chases a squirrel that comes on our deck, rarely vomits, and so on.

And then, there are 3 brand new behaviors she has never engaged in in her entire life - she's suddenly interested in human food, jumps up on counters, and constantly licks us... our hands, arms, faces, so on. Even when we're asleep. She's always been affectionate, but I think she's more obsessed with being around me (and all humans) now.

Her urine and water intake seem normal, her teeth healthy, and I think she's actually grooming MORE now than before (she seemed to have stopped completely earlier).

Any ideas on what is happening? And, also, should I start feeding her canned cat food? So far we've only given her very, very small pieces of meat from our leftovers (now that she's started being interested in them), but i'm worried about changing her food at this age. I sort of wonder if she's simply bored with the same ol same ol dry cat food she's eaten for 17 years, or if she's needing some nutrients that aren't in her anti-hairball food.

Answer
Hi Valerie.  Very strange.  I can't say I have any idea what's going on with all these behavioral changes!  To me it sounds as though she's regained some healthy curiosity.  If you feel she's getting TOO active, though, I'd say to get her back to the vet.  This can be a sign of high thyroid, which is extremely common in older cats.  And this would also explain the sudden increase in appetite and interest in new foods.  Hyperthyroidism is very dangerous.  It causes malnutrition and increased heart rate, which can lead to high blood pressure, blindness and fatal blood clots or cardiac arrest.

I thought for a moment that perhaps she may have had bad teeth that finally fell out (you'd be amazed how grouchy they can make a cat and cause loss of appetite), but you had the vet check her over, so I assume that was ruled out.  The only other thing I can think of would be emotional depression that she finally came out of on her own.

It does remind me of a 9-year-old cat I have.  He seems to go through this lull from time to time, loses weight, stops grooming, gets irritated easily.  He's had every test imaginable and been on antibiotics, but nothing shows up or seems to help.  Just when it seems we're going to lose him, he miraculously recovers.  An internest I visited during his last bout believes it may be a pancreatic insufficiency, although he was on the upswing by this time, so we decided not to test.  Enzymes are not produced by the pancreas in sufficient amounts to digest his food, so of course he loses weight and energy and just feels under the weather altogether.  And pancreatic insufficiency is often transient and fixes itself.  I wonder if this might be the case with Minka.

As for canned food, I am personally a big fan of it.  I think it will depend largely on who you ask, but most vets recommend a combination of dry and canned.  My own preference is to feed mostly canned because I see too many allergies, digestion problems and urinary tract problems with dry food.  However, any change to her diet should be made slowly.  Start adding canned foods in small amounts if you decide to do this.  Meat is also fine to make up about 10% of her diet, as long as it's not cooked with onions.  If your vet says to stick with the hairball diet, then that's fine, but some seniors require special diets.  The intestines begin to lose their ability to absorb nutrients in some older cats, so a higher protein and calorie diet that's easily digestible may be needed.