Senior Cats: Changes, Needs, What to Look For

stiletto

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My calico is about 14 years old, I'm sure she's got a long life ahead of her. She's raw-fed and very healthy. Smooth, shiny (albiet lighter in colour), soft coat, healthy teeth, clear eyes, and a good temperament.

I've noticed in the late year or so that she's been getting bony. Her fat has "melted" away. Should I be feeding her more, or more often? She is on the frankenprey model diet.

She demands more attention. Wanted to be cuddled, to sit in my lap, or yowling when we're not in the same room but clearly accessible if she wanted to join us.

She also seems to get colder easier. It's always habit for her to join me under the covers in the winter time, but she's been doing it more even when it's not as cold. Often I'll touch her nose to gauge how cold she is. Is this the result of her losing that fat?

She used to sit lady-like, paws together. In the past year, she's been sitting with her front paws apart and I read that it's for stability due to her lack of fat. 

She hasn't shown any signs of arthritis, she can jump and play perfectly fine. What other signs should I look out for that may indicate a trip to the vet? I've never had a senior cat before, so any tips or stories would be much appreciated!
 
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margd

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It is always a good idea to get annual blood panels run on senior cats just to stay on top of things. Even if your cat is perfectly healthy it's of benefit to know healthy numbers to use as a base-line if illness does strike. It helps vets evaluate disease progression.

The fact that your girl is losing weight is a good reason to have her checked out. I've had four senior cats and they all lost weight with age. In each case it was a sign of an underlying problem. By identifying the problem early on, they are easier and cheaper to treat and prognosis is better. Having said that, I don't want to scare you. In my cats' cases there was an underlying issue but I don't know if that is always the case.

As for your kitty being more attentive, I also noticed this with my cats. I'm not sure why that happened but it was really quite wonderful. All the cuddling was very sweet.

I don't know much about nutrition so can't comment on your girl's diet.

You're right. 14 is not that old. Most of my cats lived several years longer and I see reports here of cats living into their 20's. Paws crossed that your girl does as well!
 

ruthm

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In addition to a full senior chem panel and cbc, I would also have your vet test for hyperthyroid and diabetes, both tend to happen around your cat's age; the hyperT is a separate panel. How are your kitty's teeth?
 

donutte

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After losing my 16-year-old Lucky to a short but devastating illness, and having one of my 13-year-old girls have multiple issues, I'm a firm believer in regular checkups, especially for senors.

Please don't take her good health for granted. If she wants to cuddle more, by all means, indulge her. Lucky was perfectly healthy also, up until this past July. And even then, he was just being treated for hyperthyroidism. The acute on chronic renal failure though, between the time of his first symptom and the time he died was less than three weeks. In his case, there was really nothing that could have predicted it; in fact, he had blood work just four weeks earlier that was normal.  Not meaning this to scare, just saying, don't take it for granted.

I also noticed the fat "melting" off of Lucky years before, but that didn't seem to bother him much. He also had some small amount of hair loss. More like his coat was just getting thinner. Forget how old he was exactly then.

I'm hoping your baby lives a long and uneventful (read - no illnesses) life.
 
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stiletto

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It is always a good idea to get annual blood panels run on senior cats just to stay on top of things. Even if your cat is perfectly healthy it's of benefit to know healthy numbers to use as a base-line if illness does strike. It helps vets evaluate disease progression.

The fact that your girl is losing weight is a good reason to have her checked out. I've had four senior cats and they all lost weight with age. In each case it was a sign of an underlying problem. By identifying the problem early on, they are easier and cheaper to treat and prognosis is better. Having said that, I don't want to scare you. In my cats' cases there was an underlying issue but I don't know if that is always the case.

As for your kitty being more attentive, I also noticed this with my cats. I'm not sure why that happened but it was really quite wonderful. All the cuddling was very sweet.

I don't know much about nutrition so can't comment on your girl's diet.

You're right. 14 is not that old. Most of my cats lived several years longer and I see reports here of cats living into their 20's. Paws crossed that your girl does as well!
Thanks for your response! 
 
In addition to a full senior chem panel and cbc, I would also have your vet test for hyperthyroid and diabetes, both tend to happen around your cat's age; the hyperT is a separate panel. How are your kitty's teeth?
Her teeth are stellar!
 
After losing my 16-year-old Lucky to a short but devastating illness, and having one of my 13-year-old girls have multiple issues, I'm a firm believer in regular checkups, especially for senors.

Please don't take her good health for granted. If she wants to cuddle more, by all means, indulge her. Lucky was perfectly healthy also, up until this past July. And even then, he was just being treated for hyperthyroidism. The acute on chronic renal failure though, between the time of his first symptom and the time he died was less than three weeks. In his case, there was really nothing that could have predicted it; in fact, he had blood work just four weeks earlier that was normal.  Not meaning this to scare, just saying, don't take it for granted.

I also noticed the fat "melting" off of Lucky years before, but that didn't seem to bother him much. He also had some small amount of hair loss. More like his coat was just getting thinner. Forget how old he was exactly then.

I'm hoping your baby lives a long and uneventful (read - no illnesses) life.
=( Oh no! So sad that you can never be fully prepared, even with regular screenings
 

donutte

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It's true, not everything will get caught. But that seems to be more the exception than the rule. They are able to catch kidney disease sooner these days, and if they have a recent health history with blood work, etc, it helps even more. Establishing a pattern and what-not. Chronic kidney disease in particular does not often show symptoms until the disease has progressed quite a bit. While you can't reverse kidney disease, if you catch it sooner (ie before symptoms show) the better chance you have to treat it proactively rather than reactively.

If you are looking for red-flag things, this is my official list. Not complete I'm sure.

- noticeable weight loss/gain, even just a little bit in an older cat

- changes in eating habits, less or more

    *note - eating less two or more times in a row is a red flag for me

- personality changes

- seems to have pain when there wasn't pain before (like when picking up the cat)
 

donutte

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Geez, how could I forget this one.

- Vomiting

Hard to say how much is too much. Cats get hairballs after all. If I hear one of my kitties have one puking "session" (hopefully this makes sense) of two pukes (the rule is they must always puke twice, and always in different spots, or so it seems :) ), and then have it not happen again, I often will not think much of it. Sometimes they just eat too fast or other things. More than twice in a session though or multiple sessions in a short time? That immediately grabs my attention.
 
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stiletto

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It's true, not everything will get caught. But that seems to be more the exception than the rule. They are able to catch kidney disease sooner these days, and if they have a recent health history with blood work, etc, it helps even more. Establishing a pattern and what-not. Chronic kidney disease in particular does not often show symptoms until the disease has progressed quite a bit. While you can't reverse kidney disease, if you catch it sooner (ie before symptoms show) the better chance you have to treat it proactively rather than reactively.

If you are looking for red-flag things, this is my official list. Not complete I'm sure.

- noticeable weight loss/gain, even just a little bit in an older cat

- changes in eating habits, less or more

    *note - eating less two or more times in a row is a red flag for me

- personality changes

- seems to have pain when there wasn't pain before (like when picking up the cat)
Thank you!
 
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