Problems With Old Cats

Veterinary medicine has made many breakthroughs in recent years, helping to increase the average lifespan of most household cats. However, cats still reach old age much sooner than humans, and are considered geriatric around the 10 year mark. As your pet cat grows old, you will likely begin to notice a number of gradual changes in temperament and mobility. This is simply the result of aging. But there are number of more serious problems that are likely to occur in older cats, and are best recognized and addressed before it is too late.

  1. Nutrition

    • As your cat gets older, its metabolism and digestion slow and nutritional health starts to become a problem. This can easily lead to a number of conditions, most commonly obesity. Poor nutrition and obesity can both lead to urinary tract infections, diabetes and liver disease. Most geriatric cats require special foods, like those that are easy to chew and digest, and high in taurine and potassium. Talk to your veterinarian about what brands and types of cat food will meet your aging cat's nutritional needs.

    Deafness/Blindness

    • As with humans, your aging cat may start to become deaf, blind or (rarely) both. These conditions may lead to changes in your cat's behavior. For instance, a deaf or blind cat may become easily startled, as they do not often sense human presence, noise or movement until it is right next to them. Cats that are deaf will not be able to hear cars coming and are at high-risk for getting hit. Cats that are blind can easily get lost. For these reasons, it is a good idea to keep deaf or blind cats indoors. However, supervised trips outside may be beneficial if your cat is used to going out. Blind cats will often become disoriented and run into things, fall off furniture, etc., so it is important to not move furniture, cat toys, litter boxes and food dishes. Also, do not pick up a blind cat and then set it down in a different spot. Cat hearing aids exist, but are somewhat expensive and only work on cats that are not fully deaf.

    Dental Problems

    • One of the most common conditions affecting most geriatric cats is dental disease. For this reason, it is important to try and clean your cat's teeth, or provide it with special dental treats that keep their teeth clean. However, manually cleaning/brushing a cat's teeth can often be near impossible without getting your arms torn to shreds, and, even with tarter/plaque-reducing treats, your geriatric cat is likely to contract gingivitis and/or periodontitis. It is important to have any dental problems addressed immediately by a vet, as they can cause severe pain and trouble with eating, and can lead to dangerous secondary infections. It is likely your geriatric cat will have to have teeth removed at some point.

    Kidney Disease

    • Also quite common among old cats, kidney disease can lead to kidney failure, hypertension and even death. Once your cat gets up there in years, most veterinarians recommend screening for kidney disease. If your cat is having trouble urinating, urinating outside of the litter box (in the bathtub, for example) or urinating very smelly pee, it may have some form of kidney disease. Diagnosed early, most cats with kidney disease are easily treated with a special diet.