When we first brought our cats to our new West Virginia home last November, I was concerned that Chris’s age and weight would be a problem when going up and down the stairs but, to our surprise, he was the first one to investigate the upstairs. During that stay he would not hesitate to go up and down the stairs.
Fast forward to a month ago when we returned and Chris would still go up and down the stairs but he seemed to spend more time upstairs and would come down later in the day or evening when Rose and I were both downstairs. Several days ago I noticed Floki and Frankie were spending time on the catio without Chris. I started to pay attention and noticed Chris stopped coming downstairs.
I also noticed that sometimes when Chris gets off my lap, he doesn’t land gracefully like a cat but seems to stumble. I am concerned that maybe he is getting arthritis or is in pain for another reason. My concern is that he just all of a sudden stopped coming down the stairs. That tells me that something got worse pretty quickly.
I will say that since we have been back he has rarely come downstairs for breakfast. Usually he waits in the bedroom or at the top of the stairs. Since he cares about dry food more than wet food I consider it to be at least partly because of apathy.
Once downstairs I and open a can of wet food and put it on three plates. By then Frankie is on the counter eating off one of the plates before I can put it down. After I put his plate down I head up with Chris and Floki’s plates. I learned that if I put Floki’s plate down too he will eat until I leave with Chris’s food then he will follow me. So now I just take both plates and Floki follows me up the stairs, talking to me the whole way up.
The last couple of evenings I picked up Chris and carried him downstairs and then carried him back up again. On the way up I put him down on the landing and let him walk up the last three or four steps, which he seems to do okay.
I want to take him in and have him looked at but there is no vet in this town. This town of 3800 people has three auto parts stores and two hardware stores but no veterinarian. I hope this is not a reflection of the priorities of the people in this town.
He seems okay otherwise so I guess I will just carry him around for the next month and then see his vet in Florida whenwe return.
Bad Cat Chris 
Well it could be the stairs….and a tough of arthritis. I remember Sammy had to be coaxed up and down the stairs and we have carpeted stairs which gave him a little more “slip-free” experience with them – I don’t think he would have done stairs if they hadn’t been carpeted. Maybe Chris does have some aches and pains that meds would help. Meanwhile if you don’t mind being his human transport with up and down I’m sure he’ll be OK until you get back to Florida. What a SHAME there’s no vet in town!!
Hugs, Pam
I don’t mind but it does bother me that Chris might be in decline.
P.S. typo – TOUGH should be TOUCH (but I bet you figured that out!!!). 🙂
Yes. Typos are common and sometimes my brain just fills in the correct word.
He is getting old, and may have pain in his joints using stairs. I hope he will be better soon.
Thank you.
You might want to start him on something like Cosequin that can help with arthritis. It’s pretty safe to use though does take a few weeks for it to reach its full potency.
Great idea.
Feel better soon, buddy. Medicine is amazing, so Mom and I are hoping that your home vet will have an idea. Meanwhile, enjoy being carried around like a prince (king).
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Thanks:)
The fact that he seems to have lost his appetite would be a concern. Is there a vet close by? A month seems like a long time for Chris to have to wait. Poor guy.
His appetite is fine, thankfully.
Oh, I thought he wasn’t coming down for breakfast and totally skipping it. Good to know.
Yes, I don’t want him to miss wet food.
I think you could test Chris’ stair climbing ability by leaving him downstairs at night when you go to bed. If he doesn’t come up to whine and scratch at the door, then he is definitely having trouble with stairs, and it may be painful to go up and down. Just a thought. Good luck. XOCK, angel Lily Olivia, angel Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy, Sawyer & Kizmet
That might work.
That is strange that there is no vet in town. If there is any agriculture nearby, there is usually a vet because farm animals need to be inoculated, etc.
I of course have no idea what this could be, but hind leg stiffness was the first sign of diabetes in one of our cats long ago.
He is old and overweight but it is the suddenness that worries me.
You might want to do some research to find a vet in the nearest town where your house is. Because you never know when an emergency is going to pop up in general. And if Chris is in some sort of pain from arthritis, or if there is something else going on, I’d hate to have him suffer for another month before his regular vet in Florida can look at him.
I looked it up before and there is a vet in the next big town to the south.
When Buddy Budd came to us at 8years old he was 22+. I knew he needed to lose but the day he hopped off the table and immediately was limping I knew it was urgent. He was a Kibble Addict so it was a hard slog but simply changing the home to wet food did it for him. When he hit 20 pounds he had lost his limp he was to 18 in a bit less than 2 years. He was the Alpha cat with a gentle paw till age of 20 with no medical until he hit 18. We had No “grazing” and only breakfast and dinner of wet food but we always had treats. The good thing is our treats are simply dry cat food. Everyone loves it and a small pile is like a Feast to the family. Good luck.
I have been gradually cutting back the dry food but I need to make further cuts.
Sending Chris some Power of the Paw,
Thanks.
I was going to suggest Cosequin too. Could there be some kind of smell or something unusal downstairs that’s putting him off?
No, nothing like that. If I carry him dohe stays down.
Poor Chris, I hope he is not in pain. Getting vet appointments is crazy lately. You should call your FL vet now to book an appointment for when you are back. I called for Sammy the other day and was told they are booking in November right now. I was able to call the next morning at 7:30am and get one of the few appointments they keep open for the day.
My vet is usually good about quick appointments. It’s almost always the next day or even the same day if it’s minor.
I hope that he can wait. How weird that they don’t have a vet; but a small-town vet might not have the diagnostic equipment you’ll need. Take care, Chris.
I should probably look for a mobile vet.
Or take him to the nearest city vet. If he needs an X-ray or lab work, I’m not sure if mobile vets are set up for that.
He seems okay right now. I will watch him but if nothing changes I think we can wait.
yeah it could be his age, I guess there isn’t a choice but to wait with no veterinarian in town. Hoping it is just arthritis or something
Well, his appetite hasn’t been affected. 🙂
Is it starting to cool down? Sore jounts are generally sensitive to the weather
That could be a factor.
Poor baby. How old is he?
Chris will be 12 and a half in November.
I remember a high school classmate with a cat. She told me that her cat had passed away in her freshman year of college. The cat was older than she was. It made it to 20. I met the cat when we were 16. Indoor/outdoor. Good genes, good food, lots of love and no predators, I guess.
I have seen many cats make it to 20. I think the record is 36 or 38.
Actually, I think Winston Churchill had a cat that lived into it’s 30s.
Wow.
Sending across love and warm wishes so that you and your lovely family of cats can stay together !
Thank you.