Grace’s cat Aeryn will turn 21 in March, and though she’s not on her last legs yet, she definitely has her share of the problems of age. She has arthritis and cataracts, doesn’t hear too well, and appears to be suffering the feline equivalent of dementia; she spends a lot of time wandering around the house yowling, and the only thing that seems to calm her is a THC concentrate Grace makes for her and puts into her food. The only food she won’t quickly throw up is pate-style cat food, and even then we need to water it down somewhat because she hasn’t got many of her teeth left. Of course, that doesn’t stop her from trying to eat everyone else’s food (including the dogs’ and humans’) and then, predictably, throwing up. She also seems to have recently lost the ability to find the litterbox, which means finding turds and puddles in random places (but most often on the stair landing) has become a daily occurrence of late. So after shampooing the rug three times in one week, I told Grace we needed to do something. I pulled Cicero’s piglet-pen out of the garage and set it up in the living room near the heater; I put in pee-pads, a litterbox, her food & water bowls, and a pillow, and placed Aeryn inside. We were both concerned she wouldn’t like being in a cage, even a large and comfortable one, but to our relief she seems to be quite happy with the arrangement. Instead of spending her days wandering around the house, crying like a lost soul, she’s quietly napping on her pillow; the only time she cries is when her bowl is empty, and now that the other animals can’t get to it that only happens about once a day. Even when Grace opened the cage door so she could come out for a while, she preferred to stay inside, and when Grace held her so I could clean the cage, she complained until we put her back. So now I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this earlier; I guess she sees the cage not as a prison, but a safe little sanctuary from a world that has become just too big and confusing.
Diary #657
January 31, 2023 by Maggie McNeill
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That broke my heart, the last sentence. It is so true and maybe it has some meaning when dealing w humans w dementia. Not putting them in a cage but simplify life. Thank you.
My pleasure. And honestly, when I was rereading this that last line gave me a sad twinge as well.
I am not a veterinarian or an MD.
But I do know that THC can be dangerous for cats. It can cause many adverse reactions, including low heart rate (Bradycardia), seizures, decreased body temperature, coma, and in some cases death.
Cannabidiol (CBD), also present in cannabis, can be medically useful for cats. It has no psychoactive effects, in humans or cats. It can provide relief from the pain of arthritis, seizures, and irritable bowel syndrome, among other illnesses in cats.
It might be worth trying CBD instead of THC.
Plain CBD doesn’t do shit. And THC makes her happy. If you believe I’m going to deny an animal who is the equivalent of a 115-year-old human the simple peace and contentment of pain relief because it might help her die a few days earlier, you really need to reacquaint yourself with some of my extensive writings on that exact subject.
If your experience is that CBD is ineffective for your cat’s pain, I defer to your experience.
I saw the result of THC ingestion on a dog years ago. It ate a whole cannabis cake intended for humans to eat one slice. The dog survived, but it behaved very strangely for a week. For example, instead of walking, it loped, very slowly, and often fell down when it attempted to stand.
I have read reports that THC can cause seizures, bradycardia and coma in cats, but not in dogs.
I know that CBD has relieved pain for this human. I used it after a surgery a few years ago and it was very effective.
I suggested CBD because it has been shown not to be poisonous to cats.