Geriatric CatHealth & Care Journal: A complete toolkit for the senior cat caregiver

Created especially for pet parents of senior & geriatric cats, this journal supplies tools to help you watch over & attend to your purring companion’s well-being & feel more empowered in making well-informed cat healthcare decisions. Dr. Mary Gardner, a veterinarian who has focused on geriatric pet healthcare for more than a decade, guides you in tracking your cat's attitude, activities, behavior, medical care, & joys of life as you share your furry friend’s journey through their extraordinary elder years.
Throughout your cat’s life & especially during their twilight years, it’s essential to note any out-of-character changes your cat shows & jot down the concerns & questions you have. Some changes—drinking more water, a pea-size lump or bump, peeing in odd places, “me-yowling” at 3:00 a.m., picky eating—may signal serious health issues. Other changes—more playfulness, fewer hairball eruptions, better appetite, jumping up to the windowsill again—suggest health progress. Keeping a pet health & care journal also helps you identify factors—such as houseguest arrivals, schedule disruptions, starting or stopping a medication, or switching foods—that may have contributed to the symptoms or the improvements you noted, & better guide your cat’s care.
These thoughtfully & cheerfully designed journal pages, questionnaires, logs, lists, assessments, & other templates help you document & organize essential information as you care for your aging kitty. Use all the handy tools, or select those most meaningful to you & your nine-lives family member:

• My cat's care team: a tally of everyone who helps care for your cat.
• Health journal: health observations questions that help you noodle on &recognize changes in your cat, plus pages for your notes.
• Meals & treats: a diet & snack log to track nutrition, a key factor in helping prevent or manage many different ailments.
• Cognitive health assessment: a checklist that helps you identify signs of feline age-related mental decline.
• Symptom record: a form for monitoring whether your geriatric cat’s conditions or ailments have improved, stayed stable, or declined.
• Veterinary visits & procedures: a record of the highlights & important findings from your cat’s checkups.
• Diagnostic tests: a spot to summarize your cat’s blood & urine test results & x-ray or other findings.
• Tracking treatments: a handy reference sheet for therapies you’ve tried, changes you’ve made, & medications & supplements you’re giving, along with noting their effects.
• Counting breaths: a respiratory rate tracking sheet important for cats who have ailments such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, or lung cancer.
• Goals of care: thought-provoking, care-oriented questions that help you identify priorities as your cat experiences the limitations & illnesses that aging brings.
• The adventures of a lifetime: a simple bucket list & why it’s important to create one for your cat.
• Joyful living: an inventory of your cat’s favorite things, to help you keep an eye on your cat’s life quality.
• Assessing your cat's life quality: an evaluation tool to help you thoughtfully consider your cat’s overall physical, mental, & emotional well-being.
• Caring for caregivers: a chart to help you reflect on the challenges & stressful feelings you may experience while caring for your ailing cat, & assist you in identifying the support resources that may be available to you.
• Cat days: guidance on how to define what makes a good day & a bad day for your cat & you, & why you may want to track each day on a simple but meaningful visual daily calendar.

This is a perfect companion to the upcoming book, Nine Lives Are Not Enough.

There is nothing better to Dr. Gardner than a dog with a grey muzzle or skinny old cat! Her professional goal is to increase awareness and medical care for the geriatric veterinary patient and to help make the final life stage to be as peaceful as possible, surrounded with dignity and support for all involved.A University of Florida graduate, she discovered her niche in end of life care and is the co-founder and CIO of Lap of Love which has over 250 veterinarians around the country dedicated to veterinary hospice and euthanasia in the home.Dr. Gardner and Lap of Love have been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The New York Times, the Associated Press, The Doctors and numerous professional veterinary publications. She is co-author of the textbook "The Treatment and Care of the Veterinary Patient", co-author of a children's activity book focused on saying goodbye to a dog called "Forever Friend", and the author of a book dedicated to pet owners "It's Never Long Enough: A practical guide to caring for your geriatric dog". Dr. Gardner also won VMX Small Animal Speaker of the year in 2020!