Did anyone with older cats notice when they got "old"?

The cats I mean :lol: I just recently noticed that Tom now seems old. Not long ago he would still act like a kitten and the change seems to have come suddenly.
Did I just not notice something that was gradual? Was it because we recently got a kitten and now the difference is so obvious?

Anyone here notice that with their old-timers?

 

Odie's only 11 and I feel like he's gotten old since he got sick a year and a half ago.
He used to be sooo playful, for example, we'd *have* to play for at least half an hour before bedtime if either of us was gonna get any sleep that night.
Now he's content to sit and look around, or cuddle, or nap.

I had a glimpse of his playfulness a couple of months ago when we were switching medications, it lasted about 3 days. I sat on the floor and cried, I was so happy to see him like that. But it didn't last. I don't know how to get back to it.

Odiesmom

 

Thomas is now 17; I think it is gradual, and you just notice that one day he is not doing his usual jumping around and stuff, and lays around the house, following the sun. Last night he "lambchopped" (or sexed up his lambchop hand puppet) for the first time in a long time and my husband kept on telling him to shut up, whereas I was overjoyed.
Go tell.
Dana

 

Mine are both 10 years old now, havent seen any "old age, can't get up" habits, unless u count lazy :lol:
but they both run like banshees and play...my civvie has the occassional grey hair (she's a black kitty), does that count? :lol:
They jump to window sills, even thou I put a chair, just for safety, lol.

 

Maui's whiskers are turning white. Where she had one, she now has four. She doesn't play like she used.

Yet, my Sydney who is older than Maui still thinks she's a kitten - with the exception of she will "sleep" through the night - or at least not insist on bringing toys to bed and waking me up to play.

 

Last year I looked at my civvie Gett and thought, wow his nose is angular now, his face just looked harsher, not as kitten like. He was born in May 95, so that made him 14 when I saw that (hoping my math is correct :lol: )

He had hypert and in January of this year I took him for I131 treatment, I swear within two weeks his face was softer looking, his nose less pronounced. So, I did think "man, he looks senior" but thankfully not so much anymore.

Most of my senior cats the first thing I notice is a longer, more angular face, there's a difference in the nose, I'm not even sure what it is, and yes, I could easily be crazy, but that's what I notice first. Then the fur around the muzzle turning a little white is probably the second thing I notice. Presently with Tucker, what it is driving me nuts is the fur on his paw that was shaved end of March for the IV has not grown back.

 

Odie's had a bald stomach since April 2009!!! They shaved it for ultrasounds and it still has not grown back. It's just a little fuzzy.

 

My cats are both 13 and there is a definite difference between Alex (my diabetic) and Jackson and the difference has been since Alex's dx. I mean, neither plays like they did 5 years ago, but Alex always was thinner and the more playful of the two. If a laser came out he was at it in a flash, darting from one end of the room to the other faster than a speeding bullet while Jackson my chubby boy supervised :lol: If I brought out the cat teaser he could jump almost to the ceiling to get to it. This was less than a year ago. Since he became sick and had his first bout with DKA he has never been the same. His legs ave never recovered fully from the neuropathy and while he is my kitten, he doesn't act like a kitten. Jackson, on the other hand, still shows the delight of a young cat at the silly things like having a bowel movement. The crazy zipping through the house that tells me "Mom, I feels great...go take a look at the LB". If he gets a new catnip toy, he can roll around with it for hours...Alex likes it for a few minutes.

But Alex has other things going on too and he protects himself from exertion...so I attribute this marked change to the diabetes and the degree of illness at the time of diagnosis. I don't think we notice our cats getting older gradually any more than we notice ourselves aging. I think something has to occur to bring this to our attention. And unfortunately, it always does.

I would imagine that having a kitten or a young adult cat in a home with a senior would make you very aware of the difference. Maybe even bring out the kid in the older cat. Have fun with it !

 

We age?

 

Spunky knew Charlie for his entire life. Charlie was 18 when we helped him to the bridge last August. Spunky really hasn't been the same since. He's 13 acts older... He naps, and does play occasionally when a grandchild is near... but generally likes to sleep near me, then he gets up walks around me and lays down to sleep again.

Some months ago he decided to take a 'sip' of a glass of milk I had on the livingroom table... I yelled at him, but I yelled "Charlie!!"... I'm not immagining this. Spunky's face suddenly filled with joy and happiness. He whirled around to where he thought I was looking behind him... then ran to the place that Charlie would enter the room and... his face fell. Thus I'm not sure if he's old, or very very lonely.

He'll come up to Stevie and sit down in front of him, and wake him necessary... and then the two will groom each other and then settle in together to cuddle... Stevie is only six, and... loves to run in sleep for exercise... maybe they're just copying Tom and I.... who are old too!

 

It happens so gradually with most of them that you don't notice - until suddenly you do.

Health issues will make a difference. Beau is about 5 months older than Jeddie, but he also has hyperT and cardiomyopathy. He is noticably "older" than Jeddie, who still runs around and plays with the two 2 y.o. girls.

 

I guess it struck me when I looked at old photos of my cat when he was 4 or 5 years old (now he is 10.5). Although I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but I could tell that the cat in the photos definitely looked younger then my cat now.

 

Well, I don't but I hear that some people do