Billy & Whitey, Elderstates Cats

Billy in His Younger Days, High On a Laundry Room Cabinet

The Catzilla Brothers turned 12 this past February, and that's not young.

Several months ago, Whitey seemed less limber than he has traditionally shown, and after consulting with our friends at +Kenmore Veterinary Hospital, we put him on a daily supplement for possible arthritis.  He seems a little more limber and comfortable with it.

Now Billy is troubled. In particular, the Mighty Hunter of Kitty Treats is showing real signs of slowing down. I noticed sometime ago that he doesn't get as many treats on the fly as he once did, but that's subjective. What's not subjective is that in the past week he has shown diminished confidence in his trademark leap from the kitchen counter to cabinet tops in pursuit of traits. A treat tossed up on a cabinet causes him to put his paws up on the cabinet, measure the distance ... and then puts his paws back down.

Then while Billy reconsiders the problem, Penwiper, at less than half the age, goes up and gets it.

Billy is not completely hindered; he's still chasing treats on the floor, and getting on the counter when he wants. However, but he usually goes up via the kitchen trash can conveniently located at the end of the counter as an intermediate step. (That's always been a good route, but his bias has changed to use it almost exclusively.)

It could just be Billy has a cold; he's been sneezing. But we're also seeing loose stools in the litter box (we don't know from who) -- a vet visit is in order after the holiday.