Middle age femal feral

Question
Hi there,

I have an 11 year-old female tabby who was born feral but socialized and spayed as a kitten.  She has always been skittish but bonded with me well and is very loving (on her own terms!).  I brought her overseas to Asia with me a few years ago and she did fine over here, but when I moved to another country 3 years ago that had strict quarantine laws, she had to move back to the US (Los Angeles), and lives with my brother-in-law.  Recently she was taken to the vet after she started peeing outside the box (she has ALWAYS used the litter box before).  She was treated for fleas (possibly from my brother in law's dog), but she is still peeing outside the box, and her behavior is becoming bizarre - hiding in small spaces for hours at a time, and of course the peeing.  She has actually been peeing on the dog's bedding; they've lived together for years so not sure why the sudden change in behavior.  The dog and cat are alone all day as my brother in law is at work (my sister lives overseas as well - weird family, I know!).  The vet didn't seem to find any medical reason for her peeing - what else could it be??  I am probably going to bring her back overseas - I know she's older, but the vet seems to think she will make the trip ok, and maybe being with me again would be good.  Do you have any tips on the recent strange behavior?  Thank you!!

Answer
Karen,

Her actions are probably age related. Your cat is approximately 60 years old in human years. It possible she may have a urinary tract infection or urinary crystals. Both are very painful and the cat associates that pain with the litterbox and goes elsewhere. They are common and can be treated with medication. She may also have a kidney related problem.

Cats can get arthritis which makes it painful for them to get into the litterbox causing them pee other places. They also get a form of Alzheimer's which causes them to behave in a bizarre manner which could be the cause of her hiding, or it could be caused by pain. Cats try to hide from pain.

Also cats that age do not take stress and change as well as a younger cat. It can cause emotional, behavior (such as inappropriate peeing), and health problems.

You should have an "older cat checkup" done by a vet that specializes in geriatric cats and their problems...not all vets do. She needs to have her thyroid, liver, and kidney function checked, and blood tests done. As a cat ages this checkup should be done about every 6-8 months. In doing that, a lot of age related problems can be caught early. They can be given treatment or medication that can continue their quality of life and ease any pain, and give you more time together.

Being prepared and knowledgeable about elderly cats will make things easier for the cat and for you. I am including some very good links about elderly cats. Copy and paste, or type, the whole links into your address bar:

http://www.sniksnak.com/resources/geriatric.html

http://www.messybeast.com/towards-end.htm

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

Tabbi