Senior Kitty

pastelpaws

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If anyone has recommendations for my concerns for my cat I would appreciate it.

Jasmine, my cat, has always been a lean cat.  Lately, she's been looking exceptionally skinny.  I'm hoping that maybe I can feed her something to help plump her up a bit.  She only eats dry cat feed, she is currently on an indoor hairball formula food but it will soon be mixed with a senior cat food then the senior cat food.  When she was young she would eat canned cat food, but after a couple years she stopped.  I wondered about giving her some tuna canned cat food, I know she likes tuna because when I open a can of tuna for me I'll set the lid and can down and she'll lick it dry, so my hope is if it's tuna she'd eat it.  My mom wondered about giving her 3 or 4 cat treats a day to help plump her.  If I can't get her to fill out some I will most likely take her to the vet to make sure she's healthy.

Second concern I have is that I've noticed her fur not being as soft as I remember, but what really worries me is that she's pulling on her fur a lot.  While grooming she'll pull out large tuffs of fur from her back, and she or I will try to pull the large tuff off her tongue, but I still know that some of that fur ball is going in and can't be good for her.  I try to brush her as much as possible, but she still pulls.  How can I help her stop pulling, prevent shedding so bad, just help her in general?

Possibly useful info about Jazz and I for either problem:

Jasmine is 11 years old, long hair.  Indoor cat, never goes outside.  No other indoor pets, and no small children.  On an indoor hairball formula food, will soon start mixing senior cat food in then will go onto the senior cat food completely.  Her shampoo is to help prevent hairballs, this is a new shampoo used once thus far, and concerns started before using this shampoo.

I have been away at college last few years and home only at major breaks (Winter, Spring, Summer, etc) so we haven't seen much of each other.  In the same home she's grown up in, no other pets, only kids is my niece and nephew (9 &11) over on occasion.

If anyone has any questions, or suggestions to help, I would greatly appreciate it.  Otherwise I will probably take her to the vet for a advise.
 

franksmom

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Wet food is much better than dry, as cats are obligate carnivores and cant digest a lot of ingredients in dry food. Here is a site run by a vet on feline nutrition (http://catinfo.org). This site also has some tips on how to get your cat to eat wet or raw. Her coat will start looking a lot healthier too on a wet diet. 

I think you should probably take her to the vet and have them run a senior blood panel to rule out any health issues. She may also be eating less because her teeth need to be cleaned and she may need some extractions, so have the vet look at her teeth. 
 

farleyv

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There are so many things that could be involved here.  I would say too a vet visit is in order.  Eleven is not terribly old , but things start rearing their head about this time in a kittys life.

To rule out certain things, please take her to the vet.  For her sake and your peace of mind...which is everything!
 

imbri

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I third the motion to visit the vet, she needs a senior kitty screening; physical exam, blood work (including a T4!) and urinalysis.  Good luck to you, and keep us updated!
 

night wing

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My manx breed cat just turned 16 years old. He's also a dry food kibble addict and has been all his life. When he started sleeping more during the daytime than when he was 14 years old, he started to look "gaunt". He looked skinny in the hips and you could really feel his backbone vertebrae if you petted him.

Since he's a medium sized short bodied cat, at 10 1/2 pounds, my vet said he started to exhibit the classic signs of muscle wasting since the protein level he was eating, around 30%, wasn't cutting the mustard for him anymore to maintain his optimum weight because of him sleeping more. My vet told me to find a good grain free kibble, since she knows he's a kibble addict, with at least 40%-50% protein in it and which he would eat since he's picky about his kibble, but watch the fat percentage along with the fiber percentage.

Tiger has always been a lover of water. He loves to play in it and he drinks lots of water when he's awake. When he drinks water, he'll remind you of a cow at a water trough trying to drink it dry and this is why he's never had a urinary problem being on a kibble diet.

With that said, he loves Nature's Variety Instinct kibble in two flavors, the Chicken and the Limited Turkey Diet.

The Chicken is:

50% Protein

22% Fat

2.8% Fiber

The Limited Turkey is:

40% Protein

18% Fat

3.5% Fiber

For a kibble, I consider LTD to be very good and he likes it too. The ingredients for LTD are:

Turkey Meal, Tapioca, Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Peas, Natural Flavor, Montmorillonite Clay, Coconut Oil, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Salt, DL-Methionine, Vitamins (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Green Tea Extract, Rosemary Extract.

The only ingredient in the LTD which I don't care for is peas, but it doesn't give a percentage of how much peas is in it. I'm guessing it makes up the fiber content, but like I said, it's a guess on my part.

Anyhow, he's now back up to his normal 11 1/2 pounds where he's been most of his life and he looks "solid". If you would pet him now, you can't feell his backbone vertebrae and he's doesn't look skinny in the hips anymore. He gets between 1/3 to 1/2 cup a day with both flavors since I rotate them.
 
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pastelpaws

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Hi guys thanks for the advice.  I guess you could say that this is a mini update.  We did get Jasmine some can food and some treats, she will currently eat both.  We've not seen much weight gain yet, but she really just started eating it last night.  We're planing to take her to the vet at the beginning of next week.  I'll try to update again after we've been to the vet.
 
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pastelpaws

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So, we got into the vet today.  Good news is there's nothing serious.  The hair pulling was her trying to get some matted patches of fur pulled out and was pulling out other fur instead, that and a bit of dermatitis.  She is a bit under weight (7.5 lbs) , but nothing wrong.  He gave her a shot to help with the dermatitis and cut a few patches of matted fur out, both of theses should help with the hair pulling.  He gave her a shot that will increase her appetite and also some medicine to put into her food to help put some weight on her.  So we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.
 

vball91

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Did the vet say anything about what is causing the dermatitis? Dermatitis is basically the symptom, and the most common cause of skin inflammation is diet-related. You might try a novel protein limited ingredient wet food only to see if it helps. The steroid shot which only help temporarily. Once it wears off, the symptoms will most likely come back unless the underlying cause is addressed.

Most "senior cat formulas" are lower in calories which your cat does not need. I would stick to a higher animal protein/higher fat/low to no carb wet food to help her gain good weight, something like EVO or Hound & Gatos.
 
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pastelpaws

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He did not say what caused it, she is eating some wet food and the medicine is to help with her appetite her canned food is fairly high in protein.
 
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