u/rosemarijn__

My cat (16.5 years old) has what the vets think is cognitive disfunction, she is physically healthy and good bloodwork but seems to get confused around certain behaviors especially at night. She wants me to walk her over to her food bowl over and over again, sometimes every five minutes, so she can eat a little bit and then repeat the process.

If i don’t walk over with her every time, she will paw at me, rip up things, meow loudly until I lead her over. At night she will not let me even fall asleep and will paw at me and meow in my ear until I get up. She can be pretty loud and I’m in a small apartment with thin walls and if I try to not respond it just escalates. The sleep deprivation has been awful.

The vet prescribed her 25 mg of gabapentin for at night but it hasn’t seemed to make any sort of difference. She has been tested for hypothyroid and doesn’t have it, but does have early kidney disease. I’ve tried night lights, timed feeders, etc and am at a loss. Some nights are better than others but there have been more bad nights lately. If anyone has any insight or advice it would be really helpful.