Old Cat Dementia?

Our old cat, Bailey, just turned 18 around Memorial Day and, boy, is she losing it. All her life she has had the disposition of a timid barn cat (which makes sense because she was born a barn cat), and when she was not acting timid she was acting indifferent. But in the last few years, and especially in the last few months, she is acting like a different cat. Loving, affectionate and attentive to all...I can only guess that she forgot that she doesn't really care that much about us. She has outlived two pets who joined the family after she did, and you get the sense she feels triumphant about getting rid of the pesky competition.

Bailey has always been Mark's cat (he claims it's because they bonded during her first night with us when he slept on the kitchen floor with her), but there's more to it than that when it comes to his special relationship with Bailey. Somehow Mark seems to win over all the family pets, and the rest of us get really annoyed by that and refer to him as a "pet-hog"...but I digress...

So, for some reason Bailey is enjoying an unusual closeness with all the members of the family during this, her twilight years (or months?). We will sure miss her when she's gone, but we are so enjoying the fact that she's actually paying attention to us for a change.