if any vet here, need advice?

[Disney17]

hello, hope you don't mind me asking some advice here.
I have an old cat(nearly 19), he isn't the most friendly cat and being old he wouldn't cope well going to vets but I think im going to have to take him but thought id get some advice here before I ring tomorrow.

we moved to a new house in October , but even in the old house he cries/yowls constantly day and through the night, but has got much worse since moving here. I put it down to settling in the new surroundings but im now getting bit concerned about him.

he eats, drinks, toilet business all fine.

he is looking very frail now, but being nearly 19 you would expect.

has anyone had experience with this sort of thing? this is my first cat.
thnk you for any advice

[mandevillepete]

Could it be his eyesight is failing? My mums cat did this when she went blind. Might be worth checking. Maybe the move has made it worse?

[Disney17]

we have noticed that he seems to be deaf, we can walk right up to him now and he jumps if he hasn't seen us coming, and doesn't hear his treat bag anymore

[Big Jim]

I'm not a vet but have had many precious fur babies over the years. One thing that is very common is kidney failure and it could well be this.
I had three brothers who all suffered but would still eat and drink. Sadly if this is the case, you can prolong with the right treatment but only for a few months. It may ease him to change his diet if he seems uncomfortable? I would take him to the vet and get him checked out.

[Disney17]

thank you, I wont put him through any hard treatment at the age of 19, but im a little scared to take him
1) they prob will lose an eye if they touch him
2) they will tell me it time to say goodbye, which is hard when he still looks at me with big eyes bugging me for ham out of the fridge lol

[Gill H]

Have you tried Feliway spray or plug-ins?

Our cat is 17 and unfortunately she does this. I end up getting up and bringing her to sleep on the bed. She does have kidney problems and has meds for this, but still yowls.

[Blue nose]

My previous cat did this. Vet said it was just an age thing with failing sight and hearing. Always worth getting a check-up just to be sure.

[Allyp68]

My daughter works in a vets and they are experienced at handling all kinds of different characters so don't worry about that and they are unlikely to tell you it is time. That decision is yours to make.

[lindaj]

I had a cat who was 20 and he tended to cry when he was confused. It is an ageing thing. My cat was both blind and deaf but ate well, drank well and did all his toilet needs in cat litter. If he cried I went to see what was wrong and it was normally he had wandered off up the hall towards the front door and couldn't work out where he was. He was more settled when I confined him to one room, I put his food up one corner, his litter up another and his bed up another and he knew then if he walked around the room he could find anything he needed. Eventually I had to put him to sleep, his kidneys failed and he was in pain, it wasn't an easy decision but I knew that he wasn't getting any quality of life. If I were you I would go to the vets, they know how to deal with them even if they hiss and bite and they will confirm what is wrong and which way is best to go forward. Nineteen is a really good age. Good luck

[marypoppins38]

Not a vet but have had many elderly cats. Like Gill, I too would recommend a Feliway plug in. One of my cats did this when his brother died. He was yowling at the top of his voice all round the house. We think he was shouting for him and couldn’t find him. It was heartbreaking but he seemed to be far more settled when we got the Feliway.