Advice on caring for a blind cat

[JulieJulie]

Just a quick update on Lucy in case this helps anyone else looking after a cat with oral cancer.

She's only really eating chicken and fish now, I guess her sense of smell is going.
She will eat freshly cooked chicken which i tear up into small strips for her. She has been eating shop bought ready cooked chicken too, breast, again cut up small. She definitely eats better if she gets the better quality packets too. The other cats are having a field day on her cast offs.

She likes the hilife sachets, the fishy ones. She was eating the chicken / chicken liver ones but they seem to be out of favour at the moment.

She was eating the Gourmet Gold paté tins really well (again she favours the fish flavours and the liver). I've been syringing water into her mouth after meals to flush out sny bits hopefully that might get stuck as her mouth roof is being eroded by the cancer. However our top food success consistently has been from Sainsburys The Delicious Collection in a purple box which are tuna and sardine so I'm guessing strong smelling.

When she was just eating human tuna and chicken she started eating gritty cat litter which is apparently a sign of nutritional deficiency so she's had a B vitamin injection and being steered back to cat food as that has lots of added nutrition. No longer eating cat litter.

I don't know if its coincidence but the day after our outing to the vet where she had the B vitamin injection and her Convenia antibiotic injection she was very ill. Her back legs became very weak and she stopped eating. Obviously vet trips are a big trauma for her luckily we only have to go every month.

Now I know the convenia injection gets a lot of bad press and I'm not a big fan of it myself. However in this case Lucy is having it every fortnight and it's been the only successful treatment to stop her mouth bleeding, the Zodon didn't. She's also been on Zodon for 2 months as well as Metacam and vetergesic so there's a lot there for her little body to cope with. Her toilet that evening was like tar as well. She went off and hid so eventually I just left her be and prepared myself for the worst. Even had the vet on standby (I've asked them to come out when it's time.)

Anyway, over the course of the following couple of days she has picked up again. I've stopped the zodon. She's eating again and doing lovely poos.

She's getting back up onto the bed and I've put blankets around the bed as she's still a bit wobbly when she lands.

Right now she's in the garden which she has become obsessed with (anyone else had this ? ) just had late breakfast (she seems to eat a few hours after her metacam) and just sitting there 'being' and has a walk around now and then. Her ears prick up when the tiny birds sing and she sometimes eats grass.

Can't post a pic but she's basically the exact likeness of the bw Felix cat.

[Kay]

I'm so pleased that Lucy seems to be enjoying her life despite her illness

You've done so well to keep on top of it

As for being obsessed with the garden, my Tosker has taken to sleeping for many hours every day in the Mr Snugs kennel in the patio, having ignored it totally for two years

[Crewella]

It might just be coincidence, as Alpha's last couple of months were in high summer like this, and she also started spending hours sitting out in the sunshine, as you say, just at peace and 'being', but all of mine are out doing just the same this afternoon. Alpha used to love sitting on gravel, where (being blind) she could clearly hear anyone approaching.

I'm really glad to hear Lucy's swung back again and seems to be doing well. xx

[JulieJulie]

Yes I guess there probably is an element of it being weather related but funnily enough my cat Alice was the same a few years ago during her last few weeks. I sometimes wondered if it was the instinct of going off the way elephants do...))-:

Every day is a blessing but also very fraught, it's like living on a knife edge, sometimes I have to just absorb myself in something else just for a mental break from the anxiety and to allow me to regain my strength for her. She's finding it harder to eat now too so mealtimes are difficult and frustrating for both of us. I feel selfish saying that because she's so brave. Every mouthful i say a little thankyou to whoever is up there watching over us.

Thanks for also sharing stories, it's good for the support and also interesting re the behaviours.

[Crewella]

Have you tried blending her food? In her last few weeks I would add water and blend pate type foods for Alpha, which she managed more easily than straight out of the tin. I used one of those hand-held blender thingies in a deep bowl (do use a deep bowl or it goes everywhere!).

[JulieJulie]

Thanks I'll definitely try blending thanks for the tip xx

[JulieJulie]

So here's a weird thing. I've noticed that Lucy is more willing to eat if she can hear one of the others cats eating nearby too....not sure of the cat psychology behind this but it's come in useful a few times (-:

[Crewella]

How strange! I wonder if that's a comfort thing (other cats are eating so all must be well), or a competitive thing (I'd better eat this before greedy guts over there gets it) .... or possibly something else entirely. As you say, whatever it is, it's a good thing if it encourages her to eat. Give the lovely lady a fuss from me. xx

[JulieJulie]

Lucy is still with me, but definitely slowing down. Getting her to eat is getting harder. I am frustrated. Not with her, but with the cruelty of this situation.

Tried blending the food and sometimes adding some hot water to make it smell stronger but she turned her nose straight up at that. I think perhaps she is better with slightly lumpy soft food so the bits don't get stuck, she likes the jelly bits. I've been sometimes syringing water into her mouth after eating, if she looks like she's aggravated by bits of food, to rinse it out.

Seems like we are down to her only eating fish / fishy foods now. Things she will eat are: freshly cooked cod, salmon, prawns, hi-life fish with prawns, tuna sachets. I'm trying to get her to eat cat food as obviously it has added things that cats need. She's not interested in chicken at all, even straight out of the oven and sliced up tiny (or blended.) Any other suggestions well received...

My happiness each day is completely dependant on whether or not she has eaten...a few times I have thought 'this is it, she won't eat' and then she chows down a bowl of food. She seems to eat best a few hours after her metacam dose. The vetergesic doesn't seem to have any impact on her eating. She still gets to the litter tray and the water bowl. She spends a bit of time downstairs, and will sit at the open door, just feeling the breeze, or sometimes still have a little wander into the garden, but increasingly I have to bring her downstairs. She always lets you know when she's had enough, or if she doesn't want to do something. She still has enough fight in her that I know she would resist the vet putting a needle in her paw....this is what is holding me back from making that final call....but it's day by day now....

She doesn't get up onto the bed anymore. I've pulled out my bottom drawer (the towel drawer conveniently enough) and she has nested in there. I guess it's just snuggly enough that she feels safe, but she can get in and out without either of us panicking. I had previously put blankets on the floor around the bed as I was scared she would fall off. She's still a bit unsteady, but not as bad as she was. Mouth hasn't been bleeding but she's due her antibiotic injection tomorrow, to keep on top of any infection.

Summer holidays have been cancelled, friends and days/nights out cancelled. My real friends understand, the others don't matter. Lucy has been there for me throughout everything, and now it's my turn to be there for her.

[Lilith]

Bless her. The way you write about her is so moving.

A while back there was a member on here, Faerievenstar, whose cat Lila was terminally ill with mouth cancer. Lila used to go mad for haddock fish fingers, which sound like junk food but as all the junk was in the breaded coating, which was taken off before Lila ate it, it was a convenient portion for a poorly cat with a small appetite, whose vet had said, let her eat what she likes. It would be nice and smelly and tempting while grilling too, get the old tastebuds going...if a cat needed tempting, a naked warm fishfinger could be added in with conventional cat food?

All very best wishes and hugs to you and Lucy x

[JulieJulie]

Thanks, I'll will try that if all else fails. She is having Cod for dinner tonight, I hope, but I've just been out to get Salmon as a back up. My vet has never told me what to feed my little girl, in fact sometimes I tell him what I'm doing and he says 'oh, that's a good idea'. I guess because he knows of my involvement with the cat rescue and I've been going to him for 14 years. I like to share things with him that go well, so that he can share with anyone else he comes across in the same position as me, so that it may help others.

Funny thing is, I have been a veggie (no meat or fish) since I was 14 so I've had to learn to cook it for my cats! I'm never quite sure if I've done it right, but they definitely aren't fans of microwaved fish.

The other great thing about having other cats is that if Lucy rejects it they can a) tell me if it's edible or if they are rejecting it too, so I can then try her on something else and b) hoover up whatever she doesn't want - they are doing pretty well at the moment.

[JulieJulie]

Meant to say, yes, you make a really good point about the smell whilst the fish is cooking - definitely best to cook slowly so the aroma goes throughout the house as this has been known to get her downstairs and to start circling me in the kitchen and she always has a better appetite then ((-:

[Kay]

Have you offered mashed up liver? Lamb's or chicken? Most cats love it, and though it is not really good for them, that probably doesn't really matter in Lucy's case

[JulieJulie]

No Kay. Can you buy it in supermarkets and how do you cook it please? She used to love chicken liver flavoured pate until recently. Going to take all my love to prepare this meal! I hated liver ad a child...

[Kay]

I used to gently pouch it in boiling water - five minutes is enough as you want it to stay soft

Worth a try because it's pretty cheap

You'll find lamb's liver in the fresh meat section of most supermarkets, though chicken livers are often in the frozen meat section

[JulieJulie]

Thanks Kay in definitely trying that tomorrow with the chicken liver x

[JulieJulie]

Lucy was helped to pass over peacefully today by our very caring and gentle vet who came out to our home. He stroked her and said goodbye to this brave little cat he had the privilege of caring for. She was finding it increasingly hard to eat but was hungry, she was drooling with some blood and when I looked inside her mouth it was being eroded away by the cancer. As well as being blind she was getting off balance and her back legs were losing stability.

We had lovely time together over the weekend and I missed work yesterday to be with her. She spent a couple of hours in the garden mooching around. She was on vetergesic and metacam.

She passed away on our bed with my other senior cat curled up against her refusing to move. I held her head, told her I loved her and stroked her as she gently and quickly went to sleep. Her head fell slowly into my hand and then there was a small sigh as her spirit left her body to be free of pain. I do believe they stay with us after they pass over, and even as I was stroking her afterwards I was startled when I could have sworn I heard her purr.

Many thanks to the kind people here who provided emotional and practical support to enable me to better care for her. She enjoyed some amazing treats of fresh tuna steaks, cod, salmon and her favourite - prawns. She wasn't having any of the chicken liver but that might have been my cooking...

I'm grateful for the almost 3 months we had and the chance to prepare myself and say goodbye to her. I have sworn to myself I will get better at dealing with this because otherwise it cripples you emotionally. A few years ago I lost my baby Honey and my grief spiralled into a debilitating 6 months long depression. I won't ever become the person who says they can't have pets because of the pain of losing them. It is not what they want for us.

I was going to bury her in the garden with the other cats but last night as I talked to her I had this feeling that she wanted to stay close to me (she always slept on or next to my pillow ) so I'm having her cremated tomorrow and I'll keep her ashes near to me as long as it feels right. I've brushed her, cuddled her and let the other cats see and sniff her. She is now in the chapel of rest (the spare room) overnight wrapped in a soft blanket.

It's funny how what is right for one animal may not be for another. I find it's just a gut feeling you have to trust.

For the first time in a long while I'm now down to single numbers of cats to care for including my feral it's nine.

[Lilith]

So very sorry to hear - you knew she didn't have much longer with you but that doesn't make it any easier. I'm so glad she was able to stay in her own house. I think they do stay around - many of mine certainly have. I had to take my old Alsatian to the vet, and when I came home without her, there she was, lying in her bed.

It must feel like the end of an era but I feel sure you and she will meet again one day and she could not have had more devoted care. Sleep tight little Lucy and hugs to you, Julie, love, Lil x

[booktigger]

I'm so sorry to hear this, I'm glad you had a lovely weekend with her, RIP little one

[elastu]

I am so sorry, at least the little one will now be at Rainbow Bridge with all those that we have loved and lost.

[Kay]

you did wonders to make her last weeks good for her and yourself, and it sounds as if her passing was the very best such a sad event can ever be

I am very sad for you, but happy too in that you have not got any horrid memories of her last moments, which can be such a torment for others

[Crewella]

Oh I'm so very sorry. You took such wonderful care of her, no cat could have been more cherished, and I'm glad her passing was peaceful and 'fitting'. She was a real trooper, rest in peace lovely Lucy. (((hugs)))

[JulieJulie]

Thank you for your kind words. Whilst her passing was as 'less awful' as I guess it could have been, and despite a clumsy vet nurse (my sister told me after to calm down, she was probably just young and nervous) who almost knocked her over, and I told in no uncertain terms to please get her hands off my cat as she was holding her too tight, I would hold her, undoubtedly up there with the worst times/days of my life, but with 9 more little ones to look after, I have to keep going. Funny how I seem to get trampled all over in my own personal and professional life, but when it comes to my pets, I will fight for them to the death (as it were) and not take any rubbish.

I can only now use this awful experience to offer support to others going through it. I am numb from the pain, I think I have been grieving for 3 months now. Apologies because this should be on the RB page really but if anyone is ever reading this, having found it through a search, I hope it may help them, as others so generously helped me. I am grateful for every minute of every day I had with my Lucy. Life once again shows its cruelty to inflict this hideous disease on such a wonderful creature, and for some questions there simply will never be answers....

[Crewella]

No, there really is no 'good' way for this to happen, but there is a lot of truth in the old cliche 'what doesn't break you only makes you stronger' and, as you say, you need that strength to keep going for the rest of your little family. Sending hugs and positive vibes. ((((hugs))))

[issiandarchie+68]

[quote="JulieJulie"]Thank you for your kind words. Whilst her passing was as 'less awful' as I guess it could have been, and despite a clumsy vet nurse (my sister told me after to calm down, she was probably just young and nervous) who almost knocked her over, and I told in no uncertain terms to please get her hands off my cat as she was holding her too tight,....

Oh Julie, I felt such a sadness for you and for Lucy but my heart was also uplifted, what a lovely brave person you are. I think your sister was right about the Vet nurse. It's hard for them in training, some cats don't mind being handled, others will fight all the way. I never let any nurse hold my sweet Armand and twice I had to step in and take over with Cody, explaining that my wee girl was very amenable but only if you didn't make her feel trapped. I watched as both girls grew in confidence and compassion, such as only comes with experience. I will be thinking about you and wrapping you in 'virtual' BIG hugs.

Issi