Old and Long Term Homeless

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CatFlappery+
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Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by CatFlappery+ »

Hi, I am hoping someone out there might give me some advice about our Nigel. We adopted Nigel, who is an old cat from a rescue centre about 7 weeks ago. He was in a shocking state, thin and deeply distressed. After 3 weeks under the bed hissing and sitting in his own poo, Nigel made a complete turn around. He followed us every where and he was just a sweet, quiet gentle old boy. Eventually he was quite happy to lie out stretched, stomach on display, right in front of the fire in the kitchen. Beautiful stuff. Nigel enjoyed a bit of a head scratch and tentatively joined us in the evening to watch TV. That was then...We took him to the vet to get de-matted 2 weeks ago, because he smells like a tramps trousers. The vet said Nigel was between 15 and 18 years old and expressed concerned about his low body weight. (We were advised to bring him back to be weighed in a month). It was not long after that, Nigel seems to have had a total personality change. He is resentful of any form of interaction with us. He has no time for head scratches and if you speak to him he turns away. Nigel will never instigate even the a basic close proximity or communication, unless he wants his bowl filled. He can be aggressive, he swipes if you try to interact with him. Conversely, he lies out stretched in the kitchen like he is the happiest cat and needs nothing else. However, he also does nothing else. He does not explore his environment, purr or talk. Any attempt to engage him is met with irritation. Of course he is an old boy and likely to have an underlying health problem. But, I did some detective work about his past. I found out that he was probably homeless for over 2 years, with people in the neighbourhood feeding him when his owners upped and left him behind. We give Nigel lots of space, nice voices and hope he will come round to how he was before but somehow, I am not convinced. There is another dreaded trip to the vet on the horizon, to address any underlying health issues and he absolutely must to have a bath because he really smells bad. The big question I have, is why might his character have changed so much, so suddenly? How do we sort him out without distressing him further and Is this the real Nigel, now he feels secure!
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Kay
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Re: Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by Kay »

I would suspect his behaviour almost certainly stems from a health problem, one which accounts for his bad smell - and I would further suspect that his kidneys are failing, and most of the time he feels rotten

perhaps his initial enjoyment of finding himself in warm and loving surroundings made him feel better, but that couldn't last

I think he urgently needs blood tests to see what is going on, and any essential treatments started asap
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Re: Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by booktigger »

I took a similar kind of cat in once, he smelt so bad I had to drive home with the window open, his was down to a dental issue, but I would also get full bloods including thyroid done, as that can stop them wanting affection. Good on you for taking him in, and fingers crossed for him
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Mollycat
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Re: Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by Mollycat »

Yep I second (or third) both of the above, bad teeth can go with kidney problems, thyroid commonly goes with thin, both can produce a bad temper and all of it can be easily controlled to improve his quality of life.

If I were you I'd have the vets or a pro groomer do the bath thing, if he's any kind of decent cat he will hate you forever for giving him a bath this soon after taking him on. I'm not being medodramatic, he needs time to build trust, and wading in too soon with invasive unpleasant experiences will not help you, even if he doesn't realise how much it will help him - let someone else be the bad guy.
CatFlappery+
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Re: Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by CatFlappery+ »

Thankyou so much for all this advice. I think he is a poorly old boy and we will definitely move the vet appointment foreword. No one wanted him at the shelter. He sat there for months whilst all the other cats found a home. They did take him to the vet were he had some teeth and a cyst removed but that was it. When I see Nigel spread out over his blanket looking so relaxed, his feet almost in the air, I hope and hope that he has some happy time left to enjoy himself at home. I will let you know what happens at the vet and all about his progress. Thankyou lots again.
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Kay
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Re: Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by Kay »

Nigel is such a lucky boy to have you looking out for him, whatever the outcome

giving an oldie in poor health comfort and care in whatever time they have left is so worthwhile, and the years of living rough and then sitting unwanted in a rescue makes him such a deserving case

if only there were more kind-hearted folk like you
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Re: Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by booktigger »

I'm quite disappointed the rescue didn't do bloods on him. You'd hope having had a dental would rule that issue out
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Mollycat
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Re: Old and Long Term Homeless

Post by Mollycat »

Surely a vet would have run basic bloods pre op to check if the cat was fit to be put under for a dental. I could understand him not having a lot of care if he was thought unlikely to be rehomed, not that that makes it right, but surely you pay adoption fees because they have been checked over and any obvious common issues at least known. Otherwise you could go pick up a random cat off the street with unknown health issues.

If he was there a while they could also have bathed and dematted or even shaved him if needed, and given him flea and worm treatments and vaccinations. Otherwise, just what did they really do other then put him in a cage and shove food under the door?
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