Kidley has some new issues [View all]

[Lydia Leftcoast]

As some of you know, he has bad kidneys and has had the typical symptoms of drinking a lot of water, peeing a lot, and getting what look like petit mal epilepsy attacks (periodic fits of trembling).

He's a long-haired boy (probably part Maine Coon with the right hair, coloring, and temperament, although he's small), and his hair was all matted when he came to me about five years ago, but I was able to help him out with daily brushing and combing, and for a while, he was all smooth and silky.

Within the past couple of months, though, he has entirely stopped grooming himself, and the mats are back, even though I comb him twice a day. If I don't catch them and cut them out right away, they sort of "French braid" themselves into other mats. For a while, he had a gigantic mat the size of my fist. As always, he seems to enjoy being combed, but he has a low tolerance for it. He will go and lie down just out of my reach and then come back and beg for more.

He also sleeps most of the time, except to demand food or to tell me that it's bedtime. Yet even though he is eager for his food, he barely nibbles at it, no matter what kind I serve him. (It was clear, however, that he hated the kidney diet food, so I'm feeding him a variety of high-quality regular wet foods, with Felidae kibbles as a backup.)

He was yowling loudly at night until someone (I forget who) suggested that he could be losing his night vision. I now keep low lights on in the kitchen (where his food is) and the bathroom (where his litter box is), and the yowling has largely stopped.

However, the latest (and potentially most troublesome) development is elimination issues. I should be thankful that he doesn't pee on the couch or the bed, but he has taken to pooping on one or the other at unpredictable times. I know keep newspapers spread on the couch and an old sheet over the bed, so I can either dispose of the papers or launder the old sheet right away. Repellents don't have any effect. He seems to alternate between constipation (small, dry poop) and diarrhea, the last attack of which ruined my iPad case (fortunately the iPad wasn't in it).

He still pees in the litter box, but more often than not, it's with his butt over the edge. I have a rubber litter mat AND paper towels laid down on the spots where he's most likely to aim. I know that some cats have this habit, but it's a new development for him. He was always really good about aiming inside the box

Last night, I caught him about to poop on the couch, so I said "No!" sharply. He kind of looked confused for a moment and then trotted off to the litter box. I also once caught him about to pee over the edge of the litter box, so I picked him up under the front legs and moved him forward. Again, he looked confused and turned around, so that he was no longer peeing over the edge. This makes me wonder if he's getting some type of dementia.

Anyway, he has entered a new stage of his illness and will only go downhill from here. He looks very sad, and yet, he's still himself in many ways, really a sweetheart. I hope he's not in pain.

I'm really concerned, since I'm scheduled to go to Japan in mid-October, and although I have a regular cat sitter, she does not appreciate his elimination habits at all. I think she'd still be willing to come in and feed him and do clean-up tasks, but not to stay overnight. Last time she did (in June), he pooped on the clothes that she had laid out.