The Auld Warrior would immediately go outdoors and roll around to get the smell of the vet off. If it was raining he’d just sit in the rain til he was wet through.
I woke at 5:00 and lay awake with no clear idea about what had woken me. Then the quiet padding of paws and the proud leap onto the bed with the movements that make it obvious : he had a rodent.
Light on, specs on, just in time to see a baby rat half way eaten, only the hind quarters, legs and tail remaining. There was discernible crunching.
Big wet paw prints on the sheet, but not a drop of blood or a scrap of fur.
I’m thinking “How many of these feasts I slept through…?”
I wish he wouldn’t involve me.
Raedwald left me a perfectly decapitated mouse head in the middle of the kitchen floor one time.Oh yes! And if BD had brought-in a rat, a certain, "distinctive" smell.
Which TBH, I smelled more often than all the times I found dismembered rat bits laid-out beside me on the bed!
The cleanly dissected nose was probably the worst
My MIL's cat Oscar, who was a magnificent peach-coloured floof, always used to leave the arse. Also on the kitchen floor. Advisable to wear slippers when staying at theirs.Raedwald left me a perfectly decapitated mouse head in the middle of the kitchen floor one time.
I think he must have been watching The Godfather.
My MIL's cat Oscar, who was a magnificent peach-coloured floof, always used to leave the arse. Also on the kitchen floor. Advisable to wear slippers when staying at theirs.
The Auld Warrior would immediately go outdoors and roll around to get the smell of the vet off. If it was raining he’d just sit in the rain til he was wet through.
I woke at 5:00 and lay awake with no clear idea about what had woken me. Then the quiet padding of paws and the proud leap onto the bed with the movements that make it obvious : he had a rodent.
Light on, specs on, just in time to see a baby rat half way eaten, only the hind quarters, legs and tail remaining. There was discernible crunching.
Big wet paw prints on the sheet, but not a drop of blood or a scrap of fur.
I’m thinking “How many of these feasts I slept through…?”
I wish he wouldn’t involve me.
Part of what makes him such a fantastically great cat is that he loves everyone - if you met him, he'd be straight on your lap purring his little heart out and wanting to be stroked under his chin.Epona
I don’t think I’ve ever had such concern for a cat I didn’t know personally before now. My thoughts are with you and Jakey. And Nate too.
Aw, he sounds such a lovely cat. Our Paddy, who also has CKD, is very skinny now (despite having a good appetite) and looks 'old'.He is so thin now though - don't worry, I make sure he is happy, not in pain, I constantly go through in my head what is best for him.
But when you stroke him you can feel every bone in his body bless his little heart. When we first got him he was a chubby thing nearly 6kg, most of his life around 5kg, now just over 3kg
I don't know where he finds energy to run around, which he still does a bit.
I'd never try to keep him alive if I felt he wasn't still getting enjoyment out of life, which I am fairly certain he does. And he sees a vet regularly and all his care and welfare needs are discussed with the vet.
But he is skin and bones bless him.
Aw, he sounds such a lovely cat. Our Paddy, who also has CKD, is very skinny now (despite having a good appetite) and looks 'old'.
We had our neighbour round last Friday, who hadn't seen him for a while, and he commented that Paddy was looking old!
I wish I knew his real age. He should be 15 or 16 according to the age the rescue charity estimated when we got him, but he could be older. He's definitely aged in the last year or so, but still appears to enjoy his food, and a good old stroke, and being combed. In fact he parks himself at the end of the bed every night at a regular time, and starts shouting if my OH doesn't get the comb out and get to work
Like you, we make sure he appears OK as we don't want to prolong his life if he's not enjoying it. I do sometimes wonder if he's about 18 though.
That's very useful to know, thanks. Fortunately, Paddy seems to like the renal food!Some cats do get kidney disease younger - it's really prevalent in cats once they are over about 12 so if they get it at that age they can look really skinny by the time they are 15 - part of what makes them look old and skinny is once the kidneys start leaking protein, it gets to a point where the body starts breaking down muscle mass for protein to use. Plus being on a low protein diet (because eating protein will cause more damage to already damaged kidneys) and they can quite quickly end up looking very bony as their muscle mass just depletes, so it's normal to be able to see the femurs and parts of the pelvis in a cat who has had kidney disease for a while. There's not a lot you can do about it, because giving more protein will just damage the kidneys more and not go towards making muscle.
Jakey was incredibly muscular when he was younger and it's mostly that that's gone. Weakness around the hind quarters is also not uncommon as a result of the loss of muscle, and that can make them look very bony and a bit frail, can't jump as high or run as fast. It's really important to monitor how happy and content they are - my Jakey has always loved sitting on my lap for cuddles as one of his best things, and he's glued to me and while he mithers me for head rubs and kisses I feel like I know he's OK if that makes sense.
That's very useful to know, thanks. Fortunately, Paddy seems to like the renal food!
I wish he was as compliant at the vet as Jakey. He's a very gentle cat but the only time he gets a bit fighty is when the vet takes blood from his neck vessel.
Thanks, that's useful to know.My Sonic died (well we had him put down before he started to suffer but ykwim) of kidney failure that hadn't been picked up on blood tests 6 months before and came on suddenly and I would say one thing to look out for is really really bad breath - when they get to a point where they can't rid themselves of toxins any more, their breath starts to smell very faecal and it's really quite noticeable.
I would say as long as their breath doesn't smell too bad, they're not in end stage yet and there's a chance for some sort of maintenance regime, so just whenever Paddy is near your face try to get a whiff of his mouth, and if he develops very bad breath treat that as urgent.
Spud has picked a new sleeping spot, on the back of a chair.
Do you think they do the paw over the eyes thing because they know it looks cute.
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They must pay that kitten a lot to be a receptionist!Love meeting kitties on holiday. The hotel I'm staying in has several and feeds all the strays.
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They must pay that kitten a lot to be a receptionist!
Prince is very cutePrince the kitten welcomed to Downing Street
This tiny ball of white fluff is already helping out with "im-paw-tant" matters at the prime minister's desk.www.bbc.com