Tigger is Fading

I've been avoiding posting this for several weeks now, but it is probably time to mention it. Tigger is starting to fade. She is losing weight rapidly, which is never a good thing. She doesn't seem to be hurting, so we haven't bothered taking her to the vet yet (she's due for her regular checkup in a few weeks), but the end is probably not too far away.

I also think she is deaf. I accidentally discovered this last week sometime. I walked into our bathroom to find her head down in our toilet, drinking water from the bowl. Sadly, this is not unusual. I shouted her name from the doorway, which is 6-8 feet from the toilet, and she didn't even budge. Now, at this point, I didn't really think much of it; I just thought she was ignoring me. I called her name again, with still no reaction. Then, I reached out and touched her. I didn't push her down or shoo her away; all I did was touch her. And she freaked out! I had clearly scared her to death. Which should not have been possible, since I had just shouted her name twice.



We've done a few "tests" since then, and I genuinely think she just can't hear us. She doesn't come when we snap or click our tongues anymore (those are both food signals). Nothing wrong with her sense of smell, though; she still comes running when I start cooking! We've tried snapping our fingers right behind her head, with absolutely no reaction. Her ears almost never move anymore, even with both of the other cats are swiveling theirs and clearly hearing something. She sleeps really well, though, so I guess there are a few perks. The most interesting side effect, though, is that she now wants to lay on people, which is very odd for the former queen of no-touchy. I think she likes that because she can feel the vibrations when we talk. It must be really strange for her for everything to visually seem the same, but to no longer be able to hear us. Maybe "feeling" us talk reassures her. It has gotten so bad that she will even voluntarily lay on Luke!



Again, we're sure it's pretty much just an old age thing, and there really isn't anything that can be done about it. She's still eating fine, and again, she's not acting like she's hurting. She's getting weak, though. She can't jump up on the counters anymore, and getting onto the sofa and recliners is much more difficult than it used to be. Combine all of that with the weight loss, and there's only so long that can last. She will be 15 years old in March, and I'd like to think she will make it that far, but there's no way to know.

Currently feeling: trying to prepare, though you really can't