After reading online, I think my 18 year old cat has feline dementia. Do you have a cat with feline dementia, and if so, what are your experiences? How do you make him/her more comfortable?

Hi Girly,

Dementia in cats is becoming alot more common as cats are living alot longer. I just recently left NYC and the business that I was in had alot of older people that shopped our stores, and most of the ladies had cats. There was one lady that had a cat that she swore was 30 years old, but I talked with several about their older cats and dementia was always brought up.

They had real success stories.

One lady swore that what you needed to do was bright up their life with eating, and gave all of her older cats fish oil, and she had some valid points as omega fatty acids do helps as antioxidants, but she swore that it gave her cats bursts of energy. She also told me that, just like us as we age, our bathroom habits start to change. What she did was simply place several litter boxes around her house, and that made her cats alot more comfortable.

Most dementia habits will happen at night. She also told me she finally got a flashlight and two stuffed mice. When her cats would wake up in the middle of the night, as she described, almost crying, she would take these mice, shine the flashlight on them, kick the stuffed mice a bit, and let the cats chase them. It brought some life and fun back to them, but it also helped to relax them and they would sleep the rest of the night.

But the kicker was the final thing she told me. Feed your cat some yogurt. I have done alot of research on yogurt and pets since then, and she was absolutely correct.

Plain yogart, keep it plain, has enzymes that help to fight fungi and bacteria, but it is especially effective for gas. And older cats get alot of gas, you just may not know it all of the time. Once the gas goes away, you older cat immediately feels better--hope this helps

We had a cat for the last year of her life, who had dementia. She was between 18 and 20 when she died. We tried to keep the furniture mostly in the same spots, keep to a routine, and give her a lot of snuggle time. As she got worse, we guided her mostly by the sounds of our voices (used for blind cats, but also helps with dementia because it triggers their memory more than other senses do). We observed her for signals of what she wanted to do (eat, use the box, etc.) and helped her when she needed help with things. Mainly, she wanted to be close to us whatever we were doing. We put human baby lap pads on the couch and the laundry basket and a waterproof bed pad on the bed when we weren't home, in case she decided to use those instead of the box. If she isolated herself, which cats with dementia (and other serious illnesses) do when they don't know what to do, we would pick her up and bring her with us whatever we were doing (watching tv, typing, etc.) so she would know that we loved her.

Our now-oldest cat is 9, and starting to experience the same symptoms, so we are starting to do these things for him. Our other cats adjust and try to help in their own way. Our alpha cat, 2 years old, walks with the 9-year-old one everywhere, making sure he is doing ok.

In the first place, you should not allow your cat to "read online" as this can harm his eyes. He will soon need glasses because the computer monitor is not suited to the eyes of a cat. If you want your cat to read, get him some books.

I would suggest you get him books that match his interests. What is he interested in? What are his pet peeves? Is he a Republican or a Democrat. The answers to these questions will all aid you in finding him the right reading material. If in doubt, consult your librarian.

I myself had a cat, 'Morris', who for years thought he was General Ulysses S. Grant and would walk around the house muttering "them dam Yankees!" and similar phrases. This may have been feline dementia. I don't know. But he did a good job of scarring off the mice.

In any event, be kind to your pussy. Don't let on you think he is loopy,loony or loosing his marbles. Just pretend everything is normal...perfectly normal.

In this way you will allow him to dement at his own pace, in his own way, and with maximum comfort.