Howling in Geriatric Cat

I scanned the thread the first time through and missed your post. If it’s at all reassuring, what you’re describing is not unusual in cats. That low-level, ever-present congestion can be present in otherwise healthy cats without ever causing further health problems. Sometimes it’s due to polyps in the inner ear, sometimes it’s idiopathic. Two of my cats had the snottiness issue — for one it lasted less than a year, the other dealt with it for probably at least half of his 19 years. Both had multiple full work ups and the recommendations from the vets were always “benign neglect.” In other words, just leave it alone unless it caused further problems. For the cat with the more severe case, I had to intervene with antibiotics for secondary infection maybe a total of twice in his life, but otherwise there was nothing to be done. Sometimes it was better and sometimes it was worse and, oddly, it magically cleared up the older he got. By the time he died, he had been congestion-free for several years. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Wow, I can't thank you enough for sharing this info with me!! So reassuring to read this!
 
That's really hard to be carting an older cat back and forth to the vet so much. I'm sure it was hard to take her to the vet when you couldn't stay with her. Here's hoping she does OK for now and won't have to go back again soon. Glad you have a good picture of her health after all her visits though. That must be reassuring.

I called our vet's office again today and found out the feline specialist has been out since March. No idea why they didn't tell me that before. So I asked to have the other vet we like call today. And no call. I'm ready to take her if that's what they suggest. But dang, I'm disappointed in how things have been going with them. We've been using this practice for 30 years and have always loved them. If it wasn't for the new Covid procedures, I'd just be there when they open tomorrow. But alas, can't do that these days. Good thing she isn't in distress in between bouts of howling.

Yes, very hard to bring her back and fourth to the vet, as she hates car rides. To make it easier on her, we make it a two person job. My son holds her and comforts her while I drive. But, it did break our heart not to be able to go in with her on the last visit.

That's terrible that your vet didn't call you back yesterday. I am hoping that you have heard from him/her today. Hopefully, since they have been so great for 30 years, it was a miscommunication on their part as to why you didn't get the call. Hope you can get a call or appointment soon. Also hoping your kitty has a peaceful weekend with minimal howling.
 
Geriatric cats with renal failure are my specialty! I mean, not really, but every cat I’ve owned has eventually gotten to that point, including the one I have now. Eating, drinking, and 11# is not what end-of-life kidney disease looks like, so I don’t think you need to be concerned you’re there yet. Also, as a former ICU vet tech, I can tell you the only time the stress of a trip to the vet is the catalyst for death is when the animal is within minutes of dying anyway, so you don’t need to worry about that either.

I agree it’s best to schedule an appointment and have the renal values rechecked along with a general work up — check teeth and thyroid, for sure. Cats can live a long time with kidney disease; it’s not a death sentence by any means. Four of my cats were in renal failure at the end of their lives and only one actually died from it. The others developed other terminal conditions. Cat number five is still kicking, his condition being successfully managed with nightly subcutaneous fluids, a phosphorus binder added to his kidney diet, and a medication called Calcitriol. The addition of any or all of those could be beneficial to your cat’s long term prognosis, so talk to your vet. And just because you start with interventions doesn’t mean you have to continue with them. I only started my current cat on fluids on a try-and-see basis. He’s a little spitfire and I never thought he would tolerate it, but he surprised me so we‘ve stuck with it. Now he’s so comfortable with the process he stands still and eats his food while I give him the fluids. I wouldn’t do it if it caused an unacceptable level of stress for him. Quality of life comes first.
Thank you SO much for your thorough response. I wasn't even sure there was much more we could do for her beyond the kidney diet. I'm game to try about anything at least on a trial basis.

At this point I concur that she needs another evaluation and blood panel. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it's her teeth. She had some on one side pulled 5 years ago and the ones on the other side have been inflamed for a while. I give her antibiotics the first 5 days of every month to keep the inflammation down, but maybe it's gotten worse. I'm not paid enough to go in and look for myself. ;) They've told me they won't put a cat her age under anesthesia to pull teeth. Do you know if there's anything else they could do if that's the issue?

I'm really disappointed I didn't hear back from them. I'll call Tuesday morning and just make an appointment to take her in (rather than trying to get someone to call me). If that's a problem, I'm out. I have another office in mind I would take her to.
 
Yes, very hard to bring her back and fourth to the vet, as she hates car rides. To make it easier on her, we make it a two person job. My son holds her and comforts her while I drive. But, it did break our heart not to be able to go in with her on the last visit.

That's terrible that your vet didn't call you back yesterday. I am hoping that you have heard from him/her today. Hopefully, since they have been so great for 30 years, it was a miscommunication on their part as to why you didn't get the call. Hope you can get a call or appointment soon. Also hoping your kitty has a peaceful weekend with minimal howling.
Yeah, I agree that's pretty awful. I'm not sure what's up. It seems like maybe their Covid procedures are confusing things. I'll be on them again Tuesday, but at this point I'm ready to bolt. 30 years or not.
 


Thank you SO much for your thorough response. I wasn't even sure there was much more we could do for her beyond the kidney diet. I'm game to try about anything at least on a trial basis.

At this point I concur that she needs another evaluation and blood panel. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it's her teeth. She had some on one side pulled 5 years ago and the ones on the other side have been inflamed for a while. I give her antibiotics the first 5 days of every month to keep the inflammation down, but maybe it's gotten worse. I'm not paid enough to go in and look for myself. ;) They've told me they won't put a cat her age under anesthesia to pull teeth. Do you know if there's anything else they could do if that's the issue?

I'm really disappointed I didn't hear back from them. I'll call Tuesday morning and just make an appointment to take her in (rather than trying to get someone to call me). If that's a problem, I'm out. I have another office in mind I would take her to.
So, there are two ways to look at anesthesia in geriatric patients. One, is heck no, I don’t want to risk putting an old, frail pet under and take the chance that they won’t wake up. Two, is remembering that age is not a disease. If the patient is otherwise healthy, then they shouldn’t be at much more risk under anesthesia than any other patient. A vet’s course of action will be influenced by which end of the spectrum they’re on. Personally, I’m extremely resistant to putting anyone, including myself, under anesthesia unless there’s no way around it. I’m probably too paranoid about it, TBH, but anesthesia always comes with risks and I’ve seen perfectly healthy patients unexpectedly die while under and blah, blah, blah. At the same time, there needs to be serious thought given to an animal having to live life in constant pain. If the dental disease is bad enough that it’s negatively impacting the cat’s quality of life, then I would say something needs to be done to correct it even if the treatment carries risk. Because the only other option is to keep the cat on pain meds around-the-clock and I don’t consider that a good option.

The beginning-of-the-month course of antibiotics in lieu of a dental procedure is something that’s frequently done with cardiac patients. As in, there’s some mild-to-moderate dental disease, gingivitis, inflammation, etc. that would benefit from a good cleaning but the patient has some compromising health condition that means they wouldn’t be a good candidate for anesthesia, so instead of putting them under for a dental we’ll use antibiotics to try to keep it in check. It’s not something I’ve seen done in lieu of surgical treatment when the patient has severe enough dental disease as to actually cause some level of suffering, like an abscessed tooth, for example. In that case, I expect most vets would recommend treatment, even if anesthesia was required, with the understanding that it may be a riskier-than-normal procedure based on the patient’s age.

I will also say, there’s a difference between renal insufficiency and renal failure. I don’t know how bad your cat’s values are, but that’s something to consider when weighing the risks of anesthesia. Just how bad are the values, does the cat otherwise act like a healthy cat, is she in good body condition...?

Hopefully her teeth will be just fine and you won’t have to make any tough decisions. :)
 
So, there are two ways to look at anesthesia in geriatric patients. One, is heck no, I don’t want to risk putting an old, frail pet under and take the chance that they won’t wake up. Two, is remembering that age is not a disease. If the patient is otherwise healthy, then they shouldn’t be at much more risk under anesthesia than any other patient. A vet’s course of action will be influenced by which end of the spectrum they’re on. Personally, I’m extremely resistant to putting anyone, including myself, under anesthesia unless there’s no way around it. I’m probably too paranoid about it, TBH, but anesthesia always comes with risks and I’ve seen perfectly healthy patients unexpectedly die while under and blah, blah, blah. At the same time, there needs to be serious thought given to an animal having to live life in constant pain. If the dental disease is bad enough that it’s negatively impacting the cat’s quality of life, then I would say something needs to be done to correct it even if the treatment carries risk. Because the only other option is to keep the cat on pain meds around-the-clock and I don’t consider that a good option.

The beginning-of-the-month course of antibiotics in lieu of a dental procedure is something that’s frequently done with cardiac patients. As in, there’s some mild-to-moderate dental disease, gingivitis, inflammation, etc. that would benefit from a good cleaning but the patient has some compromising health condition that means they wouldn’t be a good candidate for anesthesia, so instead of putting them under for a dental we’ll use antibiotics to try to keep it in check. It’s not something I’ve seen done in lieu of surgical treatment when the patient has severe enough dental disease as to actually cause some level of suffering, like an abscessed tooth, for example. In that case, I expect most vets would recommend treatment, even if anesthesia was required, with the understanding that it may be a riskier-than-normal procedure based on the patient’s age.

I will also say, there’s a difference between renal insufficiency and renal failure. I don’t know how bad your cat’s values are, but that’s something to consider when weighing the risks of anesthesia. Just how bad are the values, does the cat otherwise act like a healthy cat, is she in good body condition...?

Hopefully her teeth will be just fine and you won’t have to make any tough decisions. :)
Thank you so much for your input. It gave me much to think about this weekend. If it's her teeth and she's in pain, maybe we need to consider the anesthesia, if they would even do it. She certainly behaves in a healthy manner other than the howling.

I called to make an appointment at the regular vet this morning and they can't see her until Friday. So I called the other practice and am taking her in at 11 today. (They happened to have a cancellation). We had thought about getting a kitten while we're all cooped up and my daughter is home from school. But after this, we're definitely not. It seems that just accessing vet care in a pandemic is harder than ever (I suppose because they are seeing fewer patients each day).
 
So I took her to the new vet yesterday. Did some blood work. Kidney numbers are the same or slightly better than before when we started the prescription diet. Vet said she didn't look 19 and appears to be in pretty good health other than the kidneys and the teeth. Said the teeth do look pretty bad. She said she wouldn't rule out anesthesia for her age so we could pull the teeth. We could get in within a week. Obviously can't guarantee she'd get through it but was optimistic.

She also sent us home with some pain meds, but that made her really loopy and gave her trouble even walking. So we're cutting that in half and trying again today.

Now we have to decide if we want to try the surgery without knowing if that's really what the issue is. I know, she's 19. But I won't let her continue to howl. We have to try something or we have to put an otherwise healthy happy cat to sleep.
 


So I took her to the new vet yesterday. Did some blood work. Kidney numbers are the same or slightly better than before when we started the prescription diet. Vet said she didn't look 19 and appears to be in pretty good health other than the kidneys and the teeth. Said the teeth do look pretty bad. She said she wouldn't rule out anesthesia for her age so we could pull the teeth. We could get in within a week. Obviously can't guarantee she'd get through it but was optimistic.

She also sent us home with some pain meds, but that made her really loopy and gave her trouble even walking. So we're cutting that in half and trying again today.

Now we have to decide if we want to try the surgery without knowing if that's really what the issue is. I know, she's 19. But I won't let her continue to howl. We have to try something or we have to put an otherwise healthy happy cat to sleep.
Is she still eating a normal amount? Does she make a mess around the bowl when she eats like she’s dropping food or shaking her head? Can you watch her eat and see if she only chews on one side? Does she flinch or seem painful when you touch her around the mouth? Was the vet able to identify an obviously problematic tooth? I guess I would want a pretty clear indication that the teeth are causing a problem before deciding to put her under for a dental, especially since she has a history of doing this howling that resolved on its own, IIRC.
 
Is she still eating a normal amount? Does she make a mess around the bowl when she eats like she’s dropping food or shaking her head? Can you watch her eat and see if she only chews on one side? Does she flinch or seem painful when you touch her around the mouth? Was the vet able to identify an obviously problematic tooth? I guess I would want a pretty clear indication that the teeth are causing a problem before deciding to put her under for a dental, especially since she has a history of doing this howling that resolved on its own, IIRC.
She's eating pretty normally. She hasn't lost weight. She has been making a little mess around the bowl, but not sure if it's more than what's typical. Good idea to watch and see how she eats. I'll try to keep an eye on it and see if I pick up on anything.

She already had a couple of back molars pulled on her left side in 2014. We've been watching the ones on the other side the last couple of years and have been told they don't look great. Those are the ones being considered.

The howling didn't so much resolve on its own before. It resolved shortly after we started her on the prescription diet k/d.
 
She's eating pretty normally. She hasn't lost weight. She has been making a little mess around the bowl, but not sure if it's more than what's typical. Good idea to watch and see how she eats. I'll try to keep an eye on it and see if I pick up on anything.

She already had a couple of back molars pulled on her left side in 2014. We've been watching the ones on the other side the last couple of years and have been told they don't look great. Those are the ones being considered.

The howling didn't so much resolve on its own before. It resolved shortly after we started her on the prescription diet k/d.
Does the vet think the switch to the k/d diet had anything to do with making the howling stop? Because I don’t really see the connection there, which is why I kind of assume the two things were unrelated even if the timing was coincidental. I’ve never known kidney disease to be painful. In fact, I’ve heard vets specifically tell clients that it’s NOT a painful way to die, more so the animal just starts to slow down and waste away and, finally, shut down. And that’s talking about end-stage renal failure, with your cat we’re talking about when she was first diagnosed. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you didn’t do any treatments or interventions at that time, right? Like, no hospitalization or fluid treatments to bring down the values and get the cat feeling better? You just switched to a low-phosphorus kidney diet? And, today’s values are more or less the same as when she was first diagnosed? That’s good news! It means the progression of the disease is holding steady. But, let’s say her creatinine was 3.4 back then and she was howling because she didn’t feel well. Then you started her on a kidney diet. She stopped howling. Months later, she started howling again. Rechecking the values shows that they are roughly the same as they were before — the creatinine has been holding steady around 3.4 this whole time. So, if a value of 3.4 was enough to make her feel sick and howl then and now, how do we explain all the months in between when she wasn’t howling yet still had a creatinine of 3.4? That’s why I’m not convinced the howling is necessarily an indicator of pain/not feeling well. It certainly could be, and you should follow your vet’s guidance on this over mine, but I think it’s possible it could be its own separate issue. That issue may have to do with age-related changes (sight, hearing, dementia), it could be behavioral, or it could be as simple as cats do weird things sometimes, they go through phases. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Sorry if I’m confusing this for you, but these are the things I would be trying to sort out if it was my cat.
 
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Does the vet think the switch to the k/d diet had anything to do with making the howling stop? Because I don’t really see the connection there, which is why I kind of assume the two things were unrelated even if the timing was coincidental. I’ve never known kidney disease to be painful. In fact, I’ve heard vets specifically tell clients that it’s NOT a painful way to die, more so the animal just starts to slow down and waste away and, finally, shut down. And that’s talking about end-stage renal failure, with your cat we’re talking about when she was first diagnosed. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you didn’t do any treatments or interventions at that time, right? Like, no hospitalization or fluid treatments to bring down the values and get the cat feeling better? You just switched to a low-phosphorus kidney diet? And, today’s values are more or less the same as when she was first diagnosed? That’s good news! It means the progression of the disease is holding steady. But, let’s say her creatinine was 3.4 back then and she was howling because she didn’t feel well. Then you started her on a kidney diet. She stopped howling. Months later, she started howling again. Rechecking the values shows that they are roughly the same as they were before — the creatinine has been holding steady around 3.4 this whole time. So, if a value of 3.4 was enough to make her feel sick and howl then and now, how do we explain all the months in between when she wasn’t howling yet still had a creatinine of 3.4? That’s why I’m not convinced the howling is necessarily an indicator of pain/not feeling well. It certainly could be, and you should follow your vet’s guidance on this over mine, but I think it’s possible it could be its own separate issue. That issue may have to do with age-related changes (sight, hearing, dementia), it could be behavioral, or it could be as simple as cats do weird things sometimes, they go through phases. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Sorry if I’m confusing this for you, but these are the things I would be trying to sort out if it was my cat.

Like your other posts, this gives me more to think on. Thanks for your continued feedback.

There was no other intervention besides changing her to the k/d diet. I googled around some more and in the articles about kidney disease and howling, it seems that hypertension is what the main issue is. It's more common in cats with kidney disease but it's the hypertension that leads to the howling. Not exactly sure why though. So on my next visit, I'll ask about her blood pressure.

Her creatinine was 3.4 last year and is 3.3 now. But yes, I was thinking the same thing. If she was howling at 3.4, not sure if I should expect much different at 3.3.

I'm now doing half a dose of the gabapentin twice a day. She's tolerating that better but I'm not sure if it helps. They said it was for pain. Not sure about pain meds, but the vet said she was choosing something that would be easy on her kidneys.

I've been watching closely the last few days. She does have a pattern of hanging out on her spot on the sofa for long periods of time, sleeping and chilling out. She seems quite happy and purrs when you stop to pet her. But then she gets down and goes for a drink and/or some food then walks back into the living room to get back on the sofa. She stops in front of the cushions and just howls. I think there's a good chance she's asking for help to get up. I've tried making a nice spot on the floor for her but she wants her spot on the sofa. I built a step with some large chair cushions so it's much easier to get up there.

Anyway, I kept the appointment at the old vet's tomorrow so I'll probably go ahead and get his opinion on things. I'll ask for his opinion on the teeth and on ortho issues. Maybe there's a better medication she could try.
 
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I have a cat who will be 20 in July and has started doin this. She is otherwise healthy and acting the same.

as others have said, sometimes it seems to be due to disorientation. I pick her up and hold her for a minute and that seems to work.

who knows with cats!
 
I have a cat who will be 20 in July and has started doin this. She is otherwise healthy and acting the same.

as others have said, sometimes it seems to be due to disorientation. I pick her up and hold her for a minute and that seems to work.

who knows with cats!
That's certainly one of the potential causes.

Does your cat wake you at night with it?
 
Gabapentin is often prescribed for nerve pain. If the dentist (eta meant to say vet) thought there was tooth pain from a nerve, that might’ve been a likely choice. Not a kidney specialist but my understanding is that there are not a lot of nerve receptors in kidneys themselves, however inflammation around the kidneys can cause discomfort.

Interesting that after the cat comes away from the food bowl she howls. I know you said you think she wants help getting on couch but could it be related to mouth pain after eating or drinking? Sometimes hot or cold can be painful (as everyone knows!). Heat causes an infected nerve to expand. I had a gum thing going on this week and I was in a significant amount of distress. (Too bad pets can’t talk!) So I would say it is something to consider. I know in elderly people They have “anesthesia protocols” for using less and certain types, and minimizing time under to help prevent problems. I would ask about that. @TipsyTraveler has given some great advice.

The only other thing I wanted to comment on was something mentioned earlier about heart failure. Fluids don’t cause heart failure, but can certainly exacerbate symptoms if they have it as the weakened heart muscle cannot pump all that fluid around and it settles in lung and peripheral tissues, which causes other problems like difficulty breathing, abdominal swelling and lack of appetite, etc. Heart and kidney failure often go together when the weakened heart muscle cannot perfuse the kidneys well. Not saying the cat has heart failure just helping explain that in light of earlier
comments. (Not a veterinary specialist in this but a human one, and the processes are similar.)
 
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Like your other posts, this gives me more to think on. Thanks for your continued feedback.

There was no other intervention besides changing her to the k/d diet. I googled around some more and in the articles about kidney disease and howling, it seems that hypertension is what the main issue is. It's more common in cats with kidney disease but it's the hypertension that leads to the howling. Not exactly sure why though. So on my next visit, I'll ask about her blood pressure.

Her creatinine was 3.4 last year and is 3.3 now. But yes, I was thinking the same thing. If she was howling at 3.4, not sure if I should expect much different at 3.3.

I'm now doing half a dose of the gabapentin twice a day. She's tolerating that better but I'm not sure if it helps. They said it was for pain. Not sure about pain meds, but the vet said she was choosing something that would be easy on her kidneys.

I've been watching closely the last few days. She does have a pattern of hanging out on her spot on the sofa for long periods of time, sleeping and chilling out. She seems quite happy and purrs when you stop to pet her. But then she gets down and goes for a drink and/or some food then walks back into the living room to get back on the sofa. She stops in front of the cushions and just howls. I think there's a good chance she's asking for help to get up. I've tried making a nice spot on the floor for her but she wants her spot on the sofa. I built a step with some large chair cushions so it's much easier to get up there.

Anyway, I kept the appointment at the old vet's tomorrow so I'll probably go ahead and get his opinion on things. I'll ask for his opinion on the teeth on on ortho issues. Maybe there's a better medication she could try.
Renal failure can sometimes cause ulcers to develop in the mouth and throat and those can be painful, though I think you’d see some changes in your cat’s eating habits if that was going on. But, something to keep in mind. Also, with your description of the sofa stuff, ask your vet about arthritis. Sorry, I feel really stupid for not thinking of that sooner. In most cases, Adequan works like a miracle drug, so if your vet thinks there’s a case to be made for arthritis then that’s the course of treatment I would recommend. It made a substantial difference in my cats who needed it. It’s pricier than some of the other arthritis treatment options but far more effective, IME, and a cat’s dose is small enough to help mitigate the cost.
 
Have either of the vets mentioned something called stomatitis?

ETA: may have spoke before I really thought about it...I’d think you’d probably see significant weight loss if this was the issue
 
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Gabapentin is often prescribed for nerve pain. If the dentist thought there was tooth pain from a nerve, that might’ve been a likely choice. Not a kidney specialist but my understanding is that there are not a lot of nerve receptors in kidneys themselves, however inflammation around the kidneys can cause discomfort.

Interesting that after the cat comes away from the food bowl she howls. I know you said you think she wants help getting on couch but could it be related to mouth pain after eating or drinking? Sometimes hot or cold can be painful (as everyone knows!). Heat causes an infected nerve to expand. I had a gum thing going on this week and I was in a significant amount of distress. (Too bad pets can’t talk!) So I would say it is something to consider. I know in elderly people They have “anesthesia protocols” for using less and certain types, and minimizing time under to help prevent problems. I would ask about that. @TipsyTraveler has given some great advice.

The only other thing I wanted to comment on was something mentioned earlier about heart failure. Fluids don’t cause heart failure, but can certainly exacerbate symptoms if they have it as the weakened heart muscle cannot pump all that fluid around and it settles in lung and peripheral tissues, which causes other problems like difficulty breathing, abdominal swelling and lack of appetite, etc. Heart and kidney failure often go together when the weakened heart muscle cannot perfuse the kidneys well. Not saying the cat has heart failure just helping explain that in light of earlier
comments. (Not a veterinary specialist in this but a human one, and the processes are similar.)
That is a really good thought Pea! I could see that being a possibility, especially given her history of dental issues.

I did move her food and water dish into the living room now so it's closer to where she hangs out, in case it's arthritis.

I'm going to offer up my various theories when we see the vet tomorrow. 1) teeth 2) arthritis 3) general old age/dementia 4) Hypertension/kidney disease. If she could talk this would sure be a lot easier.

I think the consideration of the kidneys with regard to choosing gabapentin is how it's metabolized in the body. She wanted to give her something that wouldn't tax her kidneys.

It's hard to say in a cat of her age, but so far they have said her heart sounds great, so hopefully no issues there.

As always, I really appreciate your input.
 
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Have either of the vets mentioned something called stomatitis?
They haven't. I'm not that familiar with it, but she doesn't appear to have issue with her mouth outside the howling after she eats/drinks.
 
Renal failure can sometimes cause ulcers to develop in the mouth and throat and those can be painful, though I think you’d see some changes in your cat’s eating habits if that was going on. But, something to keep in mind. Also, with your description of the sofa stuff, ask your vet about arthritis. Sorry, I feel really stupid for not thinking of that sooner. In most cases, Adequan works like a miracle drug, so if your vet thinks there’s a case to be made for arthritis then that’s the course of treatment I would recommend. It made a substantial difference in my cats who needed it. It’s pricier than some of the other arthritis treatment options but far more effective, IME, and a cat’s dose is small enough to help mitigate the cost.
Thanks for your feedback on arthritis and medication. I'm really curious now to see what he thinks. I'm willing to try something else.

Do you think they would do an xray if he thinks it's arthritis? Or just try prescribing something to see if it helps? How about steroid injections? Do they use those?
 
Our cat, Weasley, used to be an intermittent howler. We found that if we called out to him, he'd come find us, so I think her really was just lonely, maybe not quite sure where we were or he was or something. He hasn't howled in awhile, though. Weasley is 20 years old, and is definitely slowing down. He is pretty skinny, maybe 8 pounds- and he was almost 20 pounds in his "youth!" He is still hopping up onto the couch, his favorite sleeping place and where he spends 90% of his time, and makes it upstairs maybe once every couple of days- I'm not sure if he can still jump up onto the bed. He drinks a lot, and pees a lot. He's having trouble getting his hind legs into the litter box, so we are using one that's about 4" high, but it's still a struggle. Sometimes he gets both legs in, sometimes only one... so we also have a large stock of pee pads, although he is not peeing anywhere else (pooping is a different story, but we just pick that up- dry, firm, easy clean-up). He meows a LOT, much more than he ever did, but I really think it's for company. If we sit and pet him, he'll settle down, purr, fall asleep. He is missing a lot of teeth but still eats both wet and dry food (1.5 oz of wet and a 1/2 c of dry food a day) and eats most of it- and drinks a lot of water. His hindquarters are pretty unstable- he definitely wobbles a lot, sometimes almost falls over, and his back legs are very folded-down (not straight) and he walks s..l..o..w..l..y and kind of low-slung, with his belly pretty close to the floor. He is old, definitely looking at the sunset of his life, but he is just a love. We went through this with his brother, Potter, 3 years ago, so we know what's coming. As long as he keeps eating, is not incontinent, and not in pain, we'll keep coaxing him along and loving him as much as we can. 😺
 

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