Edna, orange tabby, will be 18 next week. She's the oldest cat we've ever had and we got her at 5 weeks. Our last cat, a Siamese named Sam, made it past 16 when his liver went out. We never even knew there was a problem Until we noticed that his mouth suddenly turned yellow. Vet said it was over and we sadly let Sam go.Edna had the first blood work of her life two years ago when we had to change vets. At that time, the new vet said all her numbers were good except one liver enzyme was a little off, which he would expect at her age. She's an indoor cat that we used to let out on the patio a bit but we don't anymore, because she might get confused and jump the fence.Now she's 18 and I see no problems except that she has become very talkative and attention seeking. She vocalizes in a new way and grabs at our arms as we walk past her. She wants to be petted more than she used to. She asks for treats a lot. I thought she might be getting deaf, accounting for the louder meowing, but she's not. Her vision seems fine, too. Do cats get a bit of dementia, like old dogs do? Edna sleeps 20+ hours a day, but that isn't a whole lot more than she always did. How old did your oldest cat get? My folks had a huge white, deaf cat that made it into his twenties. They had other cats that only made it to their teens, though. I'm just wondering what to expect. Thanks for sharing your experience with an antique kitty.

Google: cat dementiaInteresting. Oldest I've seen is 23.

Now she's 18 and I see no problems except that she has become very talkative and attention seeking. She vocalizes in a new way and grabs at our arms as we walk past her. She wants to be petted more than she used to... Do cats get a bit of dementia, like old dogs do?OMG. You must be a fly at our place!My Siamese is 18 seems physically fit except lately all he does is talk, talk, talk and talk too. Anyone who has ever had a Siamese knows they don't just meow it's loud edgy talking and quite frankly very annoying on a minimum level let along all day now!! 2 Seniors now, the 14 year old dog who has dementia and now the senior cat.:RBe very interesting to see the responses to this thread.

Our son had two make it to 21. I'm not sure the oldest "documented" cat I've seen in practice, but it was early 20's.They do get dementia, not as severe as in dogs in my experience. They do talk a lot as they get older, Henry is in that phase now (we really don't know how old he is, but he's a senior).Doug

Every time I leave a sock on the floor, Sput gets it and drags it around....she's petite, so it's hard to walk with it... and yowls. She's eighteen also, this month... this week, actually, and that's been going on for a year or two. But she's happy and doing well on her kidney diet "pig bits" and 100 mls of LRS a day, plus an herbal thing I put her on for her hyperthyroid. More chipper on that (though not as chubby) than on the prescription. She's actually playing now and then, which just makes me so happy.My dad's cat was in his early twenties when he went. I'd honestly have put him down sooner, I think, but he and dad were a couple of stubborn old coots and neither wanted to leave the other. He did get senile and his kidneys were not great. He did not respond well to the ringers.I have heard of cats going on into their 30s, but have never met one. Pretty rare. Fifteen is life expectancy, anything after is gravy, and eighteen is a pretty common age for cats to get to but also to leave at, in my experience.

We have a 20 year old Calico and her 19 year old daughter.

re: Old cats | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

Uppercrust
Explorer
Jul 14, 2014
We had a cat who lived till age 23. Yes you do have to learn to adapt with older cats.
CA_POPPY
Explorer
Jul 13, 2014
Edna has a new issue this week, although one with an easy fix. I took the chenille bedspread off our bed and replaced it with a thin summer-weight bedspread. Edna couldn't get enough traction to pull herself up on it. Chenille bedspread is back on the bed. I guess it is a matter of constantly adapting, just as it is with us as we get older.:W
sue_t
Explorer
Jun 19, 2014
Fangcat left us a bit before her 20th birthday. She became talkative during her last year, it seemed she simply needed to know someone was around. If she came in from outside (she had a cat door) and couldn't see us, she'd howl until someone got in her line of sight. Same if she woke up and no one was in sight, she'd howl until one of us showed up. This was a bit of a problem in the middle of the night.

During her last year she also had two litter boxes. She became somewhat fussy about the facilities, using one for #2 and one for #1 only. She never pooed in the pee bin. And if we didn't clean her boxes twice a day, she expressed her displeasure by using the nearby floor.

Her last months she needed to pee every hour or so. So we travelled with three litter boxes - one in the truck for her to pee in when needed, and two in the fifth wheel - one for #2 and the other for #1, of course!
1492
Moderator
Jun 19, 2014
My last two cats were 17 and 16, but both were diabetic and eventually succumbed to complications related to the disease. Yet, that would still be considered a full life?

I believe that its possible cats can develop their own version of dementia and alzheimer at advanced age. That might not be the reason in your case. Best to pose the question to a professional.
Wanderlost
Nomad II
Jun 19, 2014
We lost Madeline at age 22, Klaus mit der Krallen at 19.5. Alexander the Grrreat is 18 this month and still going strong.

A friend's Siamese died at age 25, a PITA to the end.
Code2High
Explorer
Jun 14, 2014
SCVJeff wrote:
CA POPPY wrote:
SCVJeff wrote:
Our Siamese made it to about 18 1/2 being a true Siamese PITA till the last day. Never went out because Coyote Collage is right across the street.

Yes! It sure is a problem in these hills. When we moved here, we saw possums, skunks and even the occasional raccoon. Not so much now, but we don't let our little dog out unless one of us is with her. We've never left dog food out, but I think some people do. There still is the occasional "missing" dog or cat poster on light poles.
I saw 2 Racoon climb out of the storm drain a block from you just last night.

I hate seeing those signs. It's like "Sorry you let your cat get killed, but Wiley is NOT going to call you and bring the scraps back."
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Jun 14, 2014
I thought I had problems with the coyotes up North....here in Florida it's the panthers and black bears. :S

Cat inside and dogs watched when outside!
SCVJeff
Explorer
Jun 14, 2014
CA POPPY wrote:
SCVJeff wrote:
Our Siamese made it to about 18 1/2 being a true Siamese PITA till the last day. Never went out because Coyote Collage is right across the street.

Yes! It sure is a problem in these hills. When we moved here, we saw possums, skunks and even the occasional raccoon. Not so much now, but we don't let our little dog out unless one of us is with her. We've never left dog food out, but I think some people do. There still is the occasional "missing" dog or cat poster on light poles.
I saw 2 Racoon climb out of the storm drain a block from you just last night.
CA_POPPY
Explorer
Jun 14, 2014
SCVJeff wrote:
Our Siamese made it to about 18 1/2 being a true Siamese PITA till the last day. Never went out because Coyote Collage is right across the street.

Yes! It sure is a problem in these hills. When we moved here, we saw possums, skunks and even the occasional raccoon. Not so much now, but we don't let our little dog out unless one of us is with her. We've never left dog food out, but I think some people do. There still is the occasional "missing" dog or cat poster on light poles.
CA_POPPY
Explorer
Jun 13, 2014
Yes! Some of you have described that insistent, loud conversation from the cat that sounds like: "Something's wrong but I don't know what!" Heck, I sometimes feel like that myself. :W I'm glad to hear it's pretty typical for the age. We are not seeing any loss of control, just some arthritis when she jumps, but not bad. Inside cats really have it made.

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re: Old cats

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