seclusion for sick cat, cruel to be kind?

I'm feeling guilty, I've had my cat secluded to one room for 4 days now. Here
are the details:

-diagnosed last week as blind with probable brain tumor
-3 days ago cat had 3 seizures over 12 hour period
-mild to moderate arthritis in leg and spine
-lives in tri-level condo so lots of stairs
-currently trying to overcome diarrhea, recently finished meds for UTI, now on
prednisone
-another cat in the house that has no claws, sick cat with claws shows
aggression when other cat is near. Not enough to be dangerous but enough to be
stressful for all 3 of us. Though if other cat was nearby when sick cat
seizured, that worries me
-I live alone and work all day Mon-Fri

If I don't seclude her, I have no way of accurately monitoring intake of
food/water and litterbox activity because of the other cat. And it's become a
task for the blind/arthritic to negotiate stairs. I'm afraid for her safety.

In some ways this seems like the safest and less stressful approach for both
cats and myself. Then part of me feels guilty as in what kind of life is this
for a cat? And selfish (I already have 3 carpeted areas I'm trying to treat
for urine stain odor and I don't want this to get any worse). Her room is
laminate wood floor and much easier to clean messes. I have not yet reached a
point where I am ready to have her put to sleep. I check in on her every 30-60
min when I'm home/awake and try to spend some quality time brushing, petting or
just lying next to her on this foam cushion.

can you buy or borrow a cage for her so you can keep her in view of you, but
she's secluded.
"DaniellaY" wrote in message
...
I'm feeling guilty, I've had my cat secluded to one room for 4 days now.
Here
are the details:

-diagnosed last week as blind with probable brain tumor
-3 days ago cat had 3 seizures over 12 hour period
-mild to moderate arthritis in leg and spine
-lives in tri-level condo so lots of stairs
-currently trying to overcome diarrhea, recently finished meds for UTI,
now on
prednisone
-another cat in the house that has no claws, sick cat with claws shows
aggression when other cat is near. Not enough to be dangerous but enough
to be
stressful for all 3 of us. Though if other cat was nearby when sick cat
seizured, that worries me
-I live alone and work all day Mon-Fri

If I don't seclude her, I have no way of accurately monitoring intake of
food/water and litterbox activity because of the other cat. And it's
become a
task for the blind/arthritic to negotiate stairs. I'm afraid for her
safety.

In some ways this seems like the safest and less stressful approach for
both
cats and myself. Then part of me feels guilty as in what kind of life is
this
for a cat? And selfish (I already have 3 carpeted areas I'm trying to
treat
for urine stain odor and I don't want this to get any worse). Her room is
laminate wood floor and much easier to clean messes. I have not yet
reached a
point where I am ready to have her put to sleep. I check in on her every
30-60
min when I'm home/awake and try to spend some quality time brushing,
petting or
just lying next to her on this foam cushion.

can you buy or borrow a cage for her so you can keep her in view of you, but
she's secluded.
"DaniellaY" wrote in message
...
I'm feeling guilty, I've had my cat secluded to one room for 4 days now.
Here
are the details:

-diagnosed last week as blind with probable brain tumor
-3 days ago cat had 3 seizures over 12 hour period
-mild to moderate arthritis in leg and spine
-lives in tri-level condo so lots of stairs
-currently trying to overcome diarrhea, recently finished meds for UTI,
now on
prednisone
-another cat in the house that has no claws, sick cat with claws shows
aggression when other cat is near. Not enough to be dangerous but enough
to be
stressful for all 3 of us. Though if other cat was nearby when sick cat
seizured, that worries me
-I live alone and work all day Mon-Fri

If I don't seclude her, I have no way of accurately monitoring intake of
food/water and litterbox activity because of the other cat. And it's
become a
task for the blind/arthritic to negotiate stairs. I'm afraid for her
safety.

In some ways this seems like the safest and less stressful approach for
both
cats and myself. Then part of me feels guilty as in what kind of life is
this
for a cat? And selfish (I already have 3 carpeted areas I'm trying to
treat
for urine stain odor and I don't want this to get any worse). Her room is
laminate wood floor and much easier to clean messes. I have not yet
reached a
point where I am ready to have her put to sleep. I check in on her every
30-60
min when I'm home/awake and try to spend some quality time brushing,
petting or
just lying next to her on this foam cushion.

"DaniellaY" wrote in message
...
I'm feeling guilty, I've had my cat secluded to one room for 4 days now.
Here
are the details:

-diagnosed last week as blind with probable brain tumor
-3 days ago cat had 3 seizures over 12 hour period
-mild to moderate arthritis in leg and spine
-lives in tri-level condo so lots of stairs
-currently trying to overcome diarrhea, recently finished meds for UTI,
now on
prednisone
-another cat in the house that has no claws, sick cat with claws shows
aggression when other cat is near. Not enough to be dangerous but enough
to be
stressful for all 3 of us. Though if other cat was nearby when sick cat
seizured, that worries me
-I live alone and work all day Mon-Fri

If I don't seclude her, I have no way of accurately monitoring intake of
food/water and litterbox activity because of the other cat. And it's
become a
task for the blind/arthritic to negotiate stairs. I'm afraid for her
safety.

In some ways this seems like the safest and less stressful approach for
both
cats and myself. Then part of me feels guilty as in what kind of life is
this
for a cat? And selfish (I already have 3 carpeted areas I'm trying to
treat
for urine stain odor and I don't want this to get any worse). Her room is
laminate wood floor and much easier to clean messes. I have not yet
reached a
point where I am ready to have her put to sleep. I check in on her every
30-60
min when I'm home/awake and try to spend some quality time brushing,
petting or
just lying next to her on this foam cushion.

It sounds like you are doing what's best for her. She actually might be
less stressed being in one room than having to deal with the other cats and
the stairs and everything. Her safety and health are key right now. Keep a
radio or TV on for her a few hours a day to keep her company. I've been
through this with foster cats and my cat Dash (RB) when she was near the
end.


--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
www.kelltek.com
Check out www.snittens.com

"DaniellaY" wrote in message
...
I'm feeling guilty, I've had my cat secluded to one room for 4 days now.
Here
are the details:

-diagnosed last week as blind with probable brain tumor
-3 days ago cat had 3 seizures over 12 hour period
-mild to moderate arthritis in leg and spine
-lives in tri-level condo so lots of stairs
-currently trying to overcome diarrhea, recently finished meds for UTI,
now on
prednisone
-another cat in the house that has no claws, sick cat with claws shows
aggression when other cat is near. Not enough to be dangerous but enough
to be
stressful for all 3 of us. Though if other cat was nearby when sick cat
seizured, that worries me
-I live alone and work all day Mon-Fri

If I don't seclude her, I have no way of accurately monitoring intake of
food/water and litterbox activity because of the other cat. And it's
become a
task for the blind/arthritic to negotiate stairs. I'm afraid for her
safety.

In some ways this seems like the safest and less stressful approach for
both
cats and myself. Then part of me feels guilty as in what kind of life is
this
for a cat? And selfish (I already have 3 carpeted areas I'm trying to
treat
for urine stain odor and I don't want this to get any worse). Her room is
laminate wood floor and much easier to clean messes. I have not yet
reached a
point where I am ready to have her put to sleep. I check in on her every
30-60
min when I'm home/awake and try to spend some quality time brushing,
petting or
just lying next to her on this foam cushion.

It sounds like you are doing what's best for her. She actually might be
less stressed being in one room than having to deal with the other cats and
the stairs and everything. Her safety and health are key right now. Keep a
radio or TV on for her a few hours a day to keep her company. I've been
through this with foster cats and my cat Dash (RB) when she was near the
end.


--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
www.kelltek.com
Check out www.snittens.com

I hadn't thought about that. I'm not sure that would buy me much though unless
I lived on 1 level.

A lot of it is the setup of my condo and my day-to-day lifestyle. 1st floor is
kitchen/LR/DR. 2nd floor is laundry closet, my bedroom and the spare bedroom
that she's in. 3rd floor is where my PC is. I spend an awful lot of time up
and down between these 3 floors. Unless I got a cage for the couple of hours I
spend in LR at night watching the tube, we could at least be in the same room
for that time. I would not want her in the bedroom with me because I'd never
sleep. Even if she never made noises to get out of cage, I'm so highstrung
right now and not sleeping well that the tiniest peep out of her would wake me
up. (I'm still freaked out from last week when I woke up to her having a
seizure next to me in my bed).

My other cat is this playful tomboy girl and I know she'd always be going up to
the cage trying to make friends and I wonder how the caged cat would feel about
that being that she's blind. Until I secluded her, every time the healthy
cat got within sniffing distance, the sick cat probably felt threatened and
would swat at her.

It's sad because the sick cat is my first cat, the healthy cat I got 3 years
later. Sick cat has always been very jealous that she had to share my
attention and the healthy one is so sweet and just wants to be friends. Once
in a blue moon the sick one would surprise me and they'd be laying on the same
couch. A few weeks ago I was shocked to see the sick one laying on top of the
healthy one as they slept.

I hadn't thought about that. I'm not sure that would buy me much though unless
I lived on 1 level.

A lot of it is the setup of my condo and my day-to-day lifestyle. 1st floor is
kitchen/LR/DR. 2nd floor is laundry closet, my bedroom and the spare bedroom
that she's in. 3rd floor is where my PC is. I spend an awful lot of time up
and down between these 3 floors. Unless I got a cage for the couple of hours I
spend in LR at night watching the tube, we could at least be in the same room
for that time. I would not want her in the bedroom with me because I'd never
sleep. Even if she never made noises to get out of cage, I'm so highstrung
right now and not sleeping well that the tiniest peep out of her would wake me
up. (I'm still freaked out from last week when I woke up to her having a
seizure next to me in my bed).

My other cat is this playful tomboy girl and I know she'd always be going up to
the cage trying to make friends and I wonder how the caged cat would feel about
that being that she's blind. Until I secluded her, every time the healthy
cat got within sniffing distance, the sick cat probably felt threatened and
would swat at her.

It's sad because the sick cat is my first cat, the healthy cat I got 3 years
later. Sick cat has always been very jealous that she had to share my
attention and the healthy one is so sweet and just wants to be friends. Once
in a blue moon the sick one would surprise me and they'd be laying on the same
couch. A few weeks ago I was shocked to see the sick one laying on top of the
healthy one as they slept.

Thanks for helping to set my mind at ease. She may have as much companionship
with me right now, but I think it's worth the trade-off of feeling more safe
and secure not having to contend with all that stair-climbing, getting around
things and the other cat.

Thanks for helping to set my mind at ease. She may have as much companionship
with me right now, but I think it's worth the trade-off of feeling more safe
and secure not having to contend with all that stair-climbing, getting around
things and the other cat.