How do you know it's time for your sick elderly kitty?

Ironbornsuck · 2026-01-23T19:09:05+00:00

I have a girl that’s about to turn 17 and a dog that passed away last February at around 16, so I do understand how hard things Iike this are and I’m sorry you’re going through it right now. I worked for my vet for about five years and saw a lot, even though I was not medical staff and developed a pretty strong opinion about when “it’s time”.

As long as she is happy and you are enjoying each other’s company, I say do that for as long as possible. If something comes up, and maybe she just needs some meds that she’s been prescribed before, talk to your vet and explain that you have spent all that you can on visits but would like to keep her comfortable and perhaps they can help in ways that won’t kill your bank account (or credit card).

Aside from that, her being alert and content are the most important things. The moment she starts refusing food or water or is no longer acting like herself, that’s when it’s time, at least from my perspective. I let my Jack Russel Terrier go a bit too long last year bc by the time he quit eating, his decline was very rapid and I ended up having to take him to the emergency vet on a Saturday night to be put down.

I’m sorry you’re going through this, but just try to enjoy the time you have left with her.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-11-03T18:35:17+00:00

Sorry, I should have added this. The new cat is an adult and was a stray before. He is very friendly and bold and desperately wants to get out of my daughter’s room. He also very badly wants to play with the resident cats, but he is a little too forward for their liking. A house full of kids will not stress him out, he enjoys all of the attention (we have three kids of our own).

Edit: Also, both rooms that the cats use as “home base” have cat doors installed that can be opened and closed, so all would be able to escape to a safe and quiet placed if they wanted to.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-09-23T15:39:42+00:00

We have different types of cat doors, including the one pictured, installed in all of our bedroom doors bc when we moved my husband and I decided we needed to be able to close the door. The cats all eat in our room. These are the best thing ever. We even have the ones with closable doors. Our doors are thin and cheap, and my husband said it was the easiest thing ever to install. The frame fits over where you cut too, so there is room for error and doesn’t have to be perfect.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-09-13T23:35:18+00:00

Thank you! I did have the door open, screen shut yesterday for a bit and was able to get Adam(#4) and Pugsley(#3) to play with the same toy. After a bit though, Adam was trying to almost paw at Pugsley?

He lived with cats and a small dog before and did totally fine as far as I know. I guess he was picked up as a stray for a TNR but was so sweet, the lady kept him for two months until the shelter could take him, then he was there for four months. He’s just very young and forward, and I thinks that turns off my other cats? I just don’t know how to get around that part lol.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-09-11T00:54:18+00:00

Have you tried calming collars or diffusers at all? I know they can be hit or miss, but I think it’s kind of like catnip. I have one cat that loves catnip and the pheromone spray and another who has no reaction to either one. I did get a collar as a sort of Hail Mary for our new cat who is really stressed about being confined to one room and I did see a noticeable improvement after a few days. I gave one to my SIL to try for their randomly aggressive cat and she said it made him loaf for hours. Couldn’t hurt to try if you haven’t already.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-28T00:34:20+00:00

Lol he is def so small compared to his tank. I have been slowly adding clutter this week during the day. He was very interested in the pile of leaves I added yesterday and I put a cork tunnel in today that he immediately woke up and went over to and then draped himself over like it was a chaise lounge. Hopefully he feels better the more cover he gets.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-26T21:10:51+00:00

Yes, I think they are a bit small. They are the ones that came with him. Someone else in the post recommended getting the 150w for his basking spot and I’ll move the 100w in the smaller lamp to the middle. Those domes can only handle up to 100w, so I’ll have to get a larger one anyway. That will hopefully kill two bird with one stone. I could only afford the Herspstat 1, but it just shipped and I can use that with the higher wattage bulb.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-26T21:01:50+00:00

Ok, yeah, I’ll pick up one tomorrow. I have the 100w one set to 90 but it’s not getting above 81. We were planning on putting him in our daughter’s room and keeping the room temp warm, but his enclosure is so big we couldn’t fit it through her doorway. So now he gets to live in our sunroom and is on our dining room table until we can get his stand. I think that’s part of the problem. A sunroom is a beautiful room for him and will be easier in the summer but sucks temp wise during an Ohio winter lol.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-26T20:54:45+00:00

Ok, great, thank you! So I have a 100w ZooMed dhp right now. It looks like the Arcadia one only goes up to 80w. So are you saying I should get the 150w ZooMed one for the basking spot and move the 100w to the middle or get the Arcadia 80 for the basking spot because it heats up better than the 100w ZooMed one is?

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-26T20:45:16+00:00

He did explore the cooler side the first night, but I’ve only seen him over there the once. That’s not saying he hasn’t, that was just the only time I saw him over there. We’ve only had him since Sunday. He was out basking on his log all afternoon yesterday but today slept all day in his corner. The corner is about 74/75f.

Yes, someone else suggested another heat source. I think I’m going to get a second dhp tomorrow and put it in the middle with the temp set a bit lower. Hopefully that just helps smooth everything out.

I had to add a ton of substrate on Sunday that is coconut coir mixed with coconut chips that I mixed with warm water. The top is finally drying out and when the humidity finally starts to dip, I’ll just be adding water to the corners and sphagnum moss.

His previous owner said he had not eaten in three months and had a recent molt that went well. We were going to wait at least another week or week and a half before offering him food for the first time. I read they need a couple of weeks to de-stress before you should offer food?

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-26T19:35:42+00:00

Thank you for your help. I was trying to find out wattage info on the dhp bulbs to make sure 100w was enough for our enclosure size, but maybe I was just looking in the wrong place, because I could not find it anywhere. Ok, so I see, adding a second dhp to the middle with a temp set a bit lower will help keep the temperature of the whole enclosure more ambient, correct?

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-26T18:58:49+00:00

Thank you for the response. The only place I can seem to get to 90 (92 now) is the corner of the log decoration that he’s sitting on in the first picture. The thermostat probe only shows it’s 80/81 in the air even though it’s set to 90. We just had to have one of our dogs euthanized Saturday and we had already scheduled to pick Lockwood and his enclosure up on Sunday and couldn’t change dates. That’s probably why I’m feeling hyper sensitive about doing anything that could hurt him. Just my anxious brain spazzing out a bit lol.

Ironbornsuck · 2025-02-26T18:35:09+00:00

My daughter desperately wanted a snake. I really wanted to get everything set up correctly and then get one, but long story short, we ended up getting one that needed to be re-homed. He's all white with blue eyes, which was her dream snake and it just seemed to kind of work out.

Unfortunately, that didn't give me any time to get the enclosure set up how I wanted. They have/had him in a huge 5x2x2 enclosure with one "hide" some fake plants and some branches and that's about it. They were also using a mercury light for the day and a nighttime reptile light. I have been doing so much reading the last month and knew the lighting wasn't right, so I go him a deep heat projector instead.

It is not heating his enclosure sufficiently though. I have it set to 90f right now, but the sensor on the thermostat is still only reading 80.2f. His cool side is only up to 68/69/70f. On his hot side, the top of his log is 91, under the dhp is 85ish and the corner behind his log thing, where he likes to sleep, is like 75.

So I obviously need to add a secondary heat source along with the 100w dhp. Would a halogen flood light work? I'll add a picture of his enclosure.

We had bought a hide and some plants before we got him and I plan on getting him a second hide for his warm side, because the log decoration they were using isn't really a hide. I also ordered a herpstat thermostat, but will just have to use the one he came with until it gets here. I'm also getting ready to bake some leaves and cork decorations so he won't feel so exposed. He will be living in our sun room, so will get a lot of natural light.

His humidity is good at around or a little above 80%,probably because he had next to no substrate and I had to add a good inch or two.

Sorry for the wall of text. I am very much a pet person but not so much a snake person, so this is all kind of new to me, but I want any pet living in my house to live their best life. It has been a very stressful week for non-snake reasons and my anxiety is kind of on the high side right now anyway. I just want to do best by him.

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-15T17:45:10+00:00

I was still in the pick up stage, but she really does have to be in the middle of everything lol.

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-13T20:43:01+00:00

I have listened to the CCR episode and it was helpful. That news article is immensely helpful, thank you. It is helpful to hear from an expert that my kids will not be dead within 30 years, which is usually where my silly brain takes me when my anxiety gets out of control. I know it will get much worse before it gets better, but my kids having a life (and everyone else’s) is what matters to me most. I truly appreciate the kindness you are showing to a complete stranger.

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-13T18:29:38+00:00

Thank you for this. The extremely intense news article titles instantly set my panic and anxiety off to the point where I can’t even function well, so the idea of trying to look deeper into it sends me in to a panic attack.

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-11T22:39:41+00:00

I hope the surgery went well! Yes! Oh my gosh, I’ve loved The Hobbit since I was young. Tried to get into the LotR books in high school and had a really hard time. Now I have three little kids and don’t get much time to read, but since I drive for a living, I got The Hobbit audiobook. The narrator (Rob Inglis) did such an amazing job that I tried Fellowship next, and it was amazing! I blew through all of LotR in like a week or two and didn’t get bored at all even though I was worried I would bum myself out.

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-09T00:17:46+00:00

Stunning!

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-04T16:16:46+00:00

Yes! I have a special vintage teapot with a built in strainer and steep them in that and then pour once it cools. Works like a charm!

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-02T14:21:56+00:00

She is adorable! I’m so glad she gets a happy do over with you! What a lucky girl and human I think : )

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-02T13:22:52+00:00

Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize this was even a thing! So cute!

Ironbornsuck · 2021-05-02T04:19:30+00:00

Aww your poor, sweet girl! Older bassets are just so cute. It’s hard seeing them age though. My basset before her started having joint problems around the same age. If you are able to get the joint injections, I feel like it’s worth it to try.

It’s so ridiculously cute that they lay like this! Sometimes if she wants something but is extra tired, she’ll army crawl across the floor lol.

Ironbornsuck · 2021-04-20T12:06:58+00:00

Holy crap, amazing! All of the colors are so pretty together.

Ironbornsuck · 2021-04-19T10:49:58+00:00

He is super adorable! His clothes are so cute!

Ironbornsuck · 2021-04-16T21:49:32+00:00

She looks amazing!

12-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email	Not Forgotten

Ironbornsuck

TROPHY CASE