Yowling Senior Cat With Matted Coat?
Posted by: Alan in Cat Health Problem, tags: Coat, Matted, Senior, With, Yowling
She is 20 years old, spayed female. Never any health problems but she has lost weight due to natural aging processes. I know she’s sliding downhill.
Lately she has begun yowling very loudly. She does it most of the time in the kitchen, staring in a corner. The only way to stop her is to tap her on the head and she just stops and turns to look at me as if to say “oh….sorry.” We recently had to put one of her kitty buddies to sleep as he had cancer. Can she be missing him?
Also, she is a longhaired cat and tends to have a very matted coat as she detests brushing and will do damage to me if I try to brush her. I try to untangle it and cut the matted stuff off but there are still a few bad ones that I just can’t make a dent in. I’m also afraid that if I try to brush her or get too close to her skin, I will cut her and she has very thin skin. I have a mat brush which helps somewhat but I don’t want to hurt her. Any suggestions as how to keep her relativel mat-free?
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October 17th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Has she been to the vet for a blood panel, including thyroid tests? Has she had her blood pressure tested? The symptoms you describe are common with hyperthyroidism and with kidney failure, both often found in elderly cats. Cats don’t just lose weight due to the aging process. I have a 21 year old cat who has health issues. He is long haired and had a lot of the same symptoms when he was hyperthyroid at 16. He’s in great shape now.
For the mats, it’s best to cut them out if you can’t brush them out. Get a very small scissors and don’t cut too close to the skin. You may have to bathe her regularly from this point onwards. I have to bathe my elderly gentleman.
Please make sure you have a thorough blood panel and urinalysis by cystocentesis to rule out health issues. If it’s hyperthyroidism, it can be cured by radioactive iodine (even at her age) or treated with pills. If she has high blood pressure, pills can help with that. If it’s kidney issues, there are a lot of things that can be done to help. My guy has had kidney issues for 4.5 years and with proper care, he’s in great shape. Good luck!
October 17th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
First, I’m sorry for your loss.
I believe that your kitty is probably depressed and is calling for her former housemate. My cats didn’t get along that well, but when one of my cats died, the other got very depressed, her fur got matted, and she cried for the other kitty. Just talk to her in a soothing voice and give her lots of love, just like you want when you’re grieving.
About her fur. It sounds like it’s too far gone for brushing without pain. Call around to local vets and see what they would charge to shave her. She’ll look funny, but feel a lot better. Mine charged me $10. You’re right about cats having thin skin. Trying to cut out the mats is not a good idea as most people end up cutting kitty, and that will cost you a lot more than a shave. When her hair starts growing back, keep brushing her, and they shouldn’t come back.
Give her a pat for me. Again I’m sorry for your loss.
October 17th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
You might want to shave her…take her to a vet clinic and get the poor thing shaved…it’s hard to untangle mats and since she’s older she’s probably not cleaning herself properly. It’ll be easier on you both if she’s all naked because those mats can be painful for her.
A number of things could cause her to yowl. You might want to take her to a clinic if she’s continually yowling, it might be a kidney or bladder thing…she might also be depressed from missing her other kitty friend.
October 17th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
im guessing she is sad, would u be sad if she put your girlfriend to sleep? exactly.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
It’s had to groom a cat with mats in their long hair. I went through the same thing. My cat was 19 when she died. The mats pull as they move causing discomfort, I was afraid to take her in the car, she hated it, I thought it would cause her so much stress that she would have a heart attack. Maybe there’s a groomer that will come to your home, they offer their services to dogs possibly cats too. I would just sit with her on my lap a groom as much as she would let me, but I was always afraid to cut her to close. Try placing a comb at her skin than cutting to the comb. Good Luck.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
it could be that she is missing her kitty friend or that she has something wrong with her and her howling is her way of trying to tell you. i suggest that you take her to the vet to get looked at as you did say she was 20 years old and she could have health issues that are not visible to you
October 18th, 2009 at 3:35 am
I know it would probably be expensive,but I’d have a professional trim the fur and do a good brushing. She probably does miss the other cat. The yowling sounds familiar and you may need to have her tested for cancer.
I’m sorry. I know your cat means a lot to you, but she might be in pain. I wish I had tuned into my cat’s yowling sooner. Good luck with this and give the cat a hug for me.
October 18th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Brush your kitty every day. She does miss her cat friend. Play with your cat and pet it softly.
October 18th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
cat in pain
October 18th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
spray on hair detangler
October 18th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Sorry to hear about that. She could be in pain. Cats can hide distress fairly well.
I just gave this answer to another question. Here are good links for bathing a cat using both water and dry bran. Your senior cat might especially like the bran just for the warmth and massage. You might try different brushes also, the human ones with rounded plastic teeth might be more comfortable than the metal slickers.
If she isn’t able to groom herself very well any longer, she might really appreciate being clean. You can then apply a detangler or conditioner to her coat to keep it relatively mat free.
To get to the mats without a bath, I would use a plastic comb to separate the mat from the skin and then use a curved grooming scissor to cut away as much as possible. Corn starch can sometimes work on a mat if it is oily. Otherwise, I would just keep cutting away at it until it comes off.
A professional groomer would be able to get the mats out but you still need a regular procedure to keep them away.
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Here is a step by step bathing procedure:http://www.metpet.com/reference/grooming…
I prefer a diluted human shampoo because the pet shampoos I have used are too harsh. I do not like baby shampoo for that reason either. Other people think this is a bad idea but I have never had any problems.
Everything needs to be warm and you want to make sure you have plenty of absorbent towels ready.
Depending on just how dirty she is, you could also try a bran (dry) bath:http://www.drcarol.com/articles-about-ca…
October 19th, 2009 at 3:12 am
22 cal. or any shotgun will do the trick.place gun to back of head it wont even hear it….20 years old LOL that means it used more than 9 lives…Let the poor thing go…