posted on February 3, 2001 10:42:33 AM new
OK, so kids and hubby are gone for the day, and the house is vewwy, vewwy quiet...
Then it starts...I hear the loudest snoring, like people-loud. After investigating a little, I see it's my little tortoise-shell cat, Madeline. She look's content, but she's snoring like my Uncle Stanley does after eating a big Thanksgiving day dinner, when he fall's asleep watching football.
Is this bad and/or something the vet needs to check out? She's about 7 years old and has had no health problems to date.
posted on February 3, 2001 10:52:02 AM newJulesy I don't think it is a medical problem, unless there are other symptoms. My delicate little cat "Katy", she only weighed 5 lbs.,clean bill of health, used to snore unbelieveably loudly, but, only when she turned her head a certain way while she slept. It was really funny the first time cause it sounded like a full grown person...under the overstuffed chair in the family room!! She lived to be 19-1/2years old and this started when she was about 6 years old.
posted on February 3, 2001 11:05:06 AM new
My cat snores and hums when she's awake. She's about 3, don't know for sure, we found her in a dumpster. Anyway she's always done this and the vet said not to worry about it. Except for the strange noises she seems fine.
posted on February 3, 2001 11:18:42 AM new
Hi Julesy! My cat snores all the time...I can hear him from upstairs, while hes on the couch sawing logs. He has no teeth and is 20 years old...and his tongue hangs out while he sleeps too, lol (prolly from not having teeth to hold it in). Just brush your cats head with your hand, and he will stretch, yawn a gapping smile and go back to snoring happily again, with mouse chasing dreams
posted on February 3, 2001 11:56:16 AM new
Thanks all!
I feel better...I was just worried cause Madeline is a loner type cat...tries to stay clear of the two males, so she sleep's mostly while hiding, and this just surprised me.
Maui -- I remember your big guy very clearly...MrJulesy and I laughed when we saw his pic. He looks like a fighter who went ten rounds and could still go another twenty. Doesn't he have like one menacing looking fang or something? LOL...I'm laughing just thinking of him.
posted on February 3, 2001 12:37:23 PM new
Julesy, he used to have 4 teeth..the two front fangs and a few lowers. One eye and very tatty ears. Yes, he can still go a few rounds...he and the dogs duke it out once in awhile, especially when the dogs are all excited at chow time and step on him. He has no teeth now at all...I took him down to the vet, because he wasnt eating normally...just picking, so figured maybe the last of his teeth were bad. So I said "take out the bad ones" and when I went to pick him up, I said "so, how many does he have left?" and the vet said "nada", heh. So now, hes my toothless one-eyed many-clawed cat. (He still has those claws and he keeps them VERY sharp. Had to leave him SOME kind of defense when he gets stepped on...the dogs noses have many scars, lol)
posted on February 3, 2001 01:51:21 PM new
My 18 year old black cat, Loca, is a big snorer too. As she gets older, she gets louder!
Maui
I was wondering - you say you have a 20 year old kitty, how old do cats live to be?
I mean, can they live to be 25 or 30? Or is 20 the average age or what. Does it differ with breed? I am wondering now that my Loca is a senior cat. I think she is senile now too, she howls at closed doors and runs up and down the stairs like she is really loca I never heard the howling sounds she makes , I guess because she was spayed young. They are so weird.
Housecats can live to be quite elderly, up to 25 or 30 years old, although 15 is considered to be the average lifespan for a cat who lives indoors exclusively.
I had one who lived to be 18. She was exclusively an indoor cat until the age of 9, when a young upstart of a stray tomkitten walked into my house one summer day and refused to leave. He was strictly an outdoor guy, but quickly adapted to having an indoor home base and proceeded to teach the 9 year old how to Go Out.
Over the next nine years she had many adventures in the great outdoors, some of which were a bit alarming, although she always made it home in one piece. When she died, it was of old age; at home, in bed, and with her people and her boon companion by her side.
That young stray is now a cranky old guy about to turn 13. We got him a female kitten a few weeks after his original roomie died. He was initially horrified, but has since assumed the role of teacher and mentor, and she has proven to be such an apt pupil that he has turned over most of the important cat jobs to her.
posted on February 3, 2001 02:47:26 PM new
Nobs, the vet said normal life span is 15 or 16. My cat is loca too...he swats at the kitchen cabinet, wanting to go in and snoop around the pots and pans, then hisses when the dogs poke their noses in to see what hes doing, lol. And, he runs up and down the stairs, chasing ghosties (I have NO CLUE what hes chasing..hes just having fun so I dont care). Sometimes, he waits in the bushes outside the patio slider door, and ambushes the labrador (Chooch is skeered of those claws) and swipes him as he walks by.
I took an old hair brush and mounted it on a wood platform, then covered the handle and the platform with old carpeting...now he likes to lay on it and brush his own face, heh.
posted on February 3, 2001 05:52:46 PM newpharlap
You're in for a treat - better get your earplugs now
I swear that my Loca has been snoring louder with each year that passes. She snores like a drunken sailor now.
Maui
I thought that my Loca was chasing ghosties too because she acts likes there is something there.
tabbinosity
Oh my, I just never thought of her living to be 25 or 30. I love her a lot but she is bulimic and I have had 18 years of cat yak to deal with. I tried every hairball remedy known to man. Now, we just feed her in little bits all day long because if she gets her belly full she will yak all over the carpet.
I have gone through cases of carpet cleaner. Even her Vet thinks she may truly just be bulimic because she is in perfect health at 18 except for the ralphing all over the place if she gets more than 2 tbs. of cat food in her belly.
Even with the cat yak, the snoring and the black cat hair all over, I would love it if she lived to that ripe old age as long as she doesn't suffer.
posted on February 3, 2001 07:02:59 PM new
*Nobs*.....I have 4 "babies"--two of them being persians with very long hair. After cleaning up MANY MANY hairballs I switched them to the Iams hairball formula and they haven't had any upchucks to speak of since. It took about a month of solid Iams before I noticed no more episodes. Could be worth a try.
posted on February 3, 2001 07:07:20 PM new
WOW...Cats live that long!!! That's great--I don't want to part with them(ever). I've got many years and many more laughs to look forward to. My babies are 7, 5, 3, and 2.
My 2 yr. old is living proof that you should never take a breeders word for it(m/f) and your vet won't correct you when you write female(Turns out she was a HE)!!!
posted on February 3, 2001 11:53:54 PM new
Hi Nobs - Two of my elderly cats did the howling thing, one much more so than the other.
I read several magazines, books, etc. and a lot of those articles stated that the elderly cat howls or cries because s/he is disoriented and not exactly sure where they are (happens after they become seniors).
Usually, if my hubby or I would go into the room where the cat was, she would immediately calm down or if she even heard our voice that seemed to help. She would stop and see if she could figure out where the voice was coming from (neither one had to do anything, they were so spoiled that they got picked up immediately if they howled or seemed distressed in any way).
I don't know about the running up and down stairs, you might notice what happened just before your cat runs up and down stairs, (particular noises that aren't familiar, your going from one area to another, cat just waking up from a nap, etc.).
posted on February 4, 2001 10:17:24 AM new
I know that Fatso hollers when Im upstairs and hes downstairs. I just holler back and he settles down, or he comes up here and gets on my bed. He got lost once, out on the grounds, hollering forlornly out in the bedding plants...so I followed the sounds til I saw him and babied him all the way back home. Now, I go out with him when he wants to roll in the dirt (does anyone elses cat do that? Find a sunny spot and roll around in dirt?)
posted on February 4, 2001 10:45:03 AM newFor all of you with older cats: there is a delightful children's picture book out called "The Grannyman" by Judith Byron Schachner. It is about a very old cat named Simon--and the new kitten his family takes in. I bought it for the library, and it is *great*!!
posted on February 4, 2001 11:02:34 AM new
Mauimoods, we had the dearest cat in all the world (this from a woman who grew up with cats and has had many in her life) who would come in dusty and SPARKELY To save the furniture I would have to take him out on the front steps and using an old tee shirt "dust" him the wrong way. The sparkles were from Mica in the sand at the edge of the road. This process for the cat cuts down on oily fur... for the owner it is the potential for MUD pies if they get caught in a rain shower!!
He had been a feral cat dropped off in the country, wound up on my dad's farm...little guy never was sure of getting enough food (even after 7 years of on time portions every day) He would constantly take food from the other 3 cats and my husband would get upset. I told TM, Brownie was on "Ant Patrol"..we used to get inundated in the spring. TM, would say there aren't any ANTS,
I said, "see it's working!"
[ edited by Zilvy on Feb 4, 2001 11:04 AM ]
posted on February 4, 2001 11:16:34 AM new
Cats are great aren't they? We've had many over the years, but so far none have lived past 8 for us. I got Poncho when we were dating, he had to be put to sleep in 1982 at age 6 because he had epilespy. We tried and tried to control it, but the amount of valium it took to stop his seizures also kept him from eating or grooming. Ranger died in 1997 at 8 from asthma. Both of these males were black and white. We miss them both terribly.
Our current cat family is Atticus, 4 years old, tan and white. He's a trip, very vocal, long and lanky like a siamese. If he had opposable thumbs, there would be no stopping him. His housemates are sisters, 3 year old Stormie and Peanut. Stormie likes to sit on her haunches and wave her front paws at you, like a dog "sitting pretty". Peanut has a sorry sounding raspy meow that she constantly uses.
My brother and his wife just put their 16 old "Punker" down due to kidney failure. They got 2 kittens, a male and female that they named "Wyatt" and "Mattie".
posted on February 4, 2001 05:06:33 PM new
The howling is part of getting older? Huh?
I have two oldies here - brothers who are 15 and 16 this year. The 16 year old is just skinny, he doesn't howl. But man oh man - Minnow bellows. I wondered if maybe he was in pain or something.
Their mother snored. Loudly. heh
How about this little kitty ailment: I have a little female with a chronic sinus infection. Oh, joy - give her antibiotics, she clears up. The meds run out, and within three days it's back. Vet here said it's not uncommon, but I never heard of such a thing! Anybody else?
posted on February 4, 2001 06:09:00 PM new
I think that Fatso is so healthy because he was a wild cat for so long that he must have done SOMETHING right during the years he chose to be a recluse. He "adopted" me when he was about 8 years old. I had seen him around the apartment complex, fishing out of the trash bin out back, from time to time and he would hiss at me and hightail it off to the bushes. Then one day, he discovered my back patio and started snooping around. I left him food out there, but I think the raccoons got it most of the time. To make a long story short, it took me 6 months to get him inside the patio door, and another 2 months to wander more than 3 feet once inside. One evening, hubby was asleep on the couch, and Fatso was in the kitchen, snooping. It was raining outside, so he snuch further and further in...(I stayed REALLY STILL and hardly breathed)...and he came into the living room...(Im still not breathing and turning blue)...and he just perked right up, wandered over to me like he decided "this is it", found the rocker I was leaning against and jumped up in it. He never left the rocker for the whole night. Not even when hubby woke up and stumbled upstairs. Been here ever since, and now he even lets me head bump with him
posted on February 5, 2001 02:02:51 PM new
Nobs My cat Keisha had the same problem. You might want to try cat food for irritatable stomaches. The vet had one and I also found a brand at Petco. It has really helped Keisha. You start out feeding very small amounts. She only has that problem now when she gets in the other cat's food. Melanie
"If man were to be crossed with a cat, it would greatly improve the man, but deteriorate the cat." Mark Twain
