If you’re looking for an elementary guide to taking care of your senior cat, this blog is for you. We’ve outlined nine essential tips that can help you care for your senior cat. Enjoy reading!
9 tips to take care of a senior cat that we’ll discuss:
Take care of a senior cat: 9 must-know tips
1. Monitor Eating and Drinking Habits
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If you’re caring for a senior cat, my first tip is that you should watch what they do while eating and drinking. Now, I don’t mean obsessively. You don’t have to just focus on them all the time, but keep it in the back of your mind that any changes in eating or drinking can signal the need for some veterinary attention.
In older cats, it’s very common for them to develop problems with their kidneys or problems with their thyroid or diabetes, and all of those can cause changes in drinking and eating patterns. You probably know your cat way better than I know. Also, you know your cat way better than your veterinarian knows your cat. So, if you’re noticing any changes or see a massive increase, a massive decrease, or even slight changes, those could be signs that something’s going on.
So get them to a vet and have them checked out because the earlier you get some of these things handled, the less likely they will impact your cat’s long-term health and the less expensive. So watch for any changes in eating and drinking; if you see them, call your vet.
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2. Provide Extra Warmth
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The second tip for caring for senior cats is to provide them extra warmth if needed. Older cats may have less muscle mass, they may have a lower metabolism, and they may have other changes that just make it harder for them to stay warm. And so they may spend more time seeking warm areas to rest in.
You can help this cat out by providing a heated cat bed. There are tons of them out there; read your reviews and choose something that you really like, but providing an older cat with a heated cat bed is honestly one of the kindest things you can do for your older kitty. It will not only help them stay warm but also help them if they have painful arthritic joints. So, provide extra warmth for those older kitties in the winter.
3. Use Nightlights
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The third tip for people caring for older cats is to provide nightlights for indoor kitties. We all know that as we grow and age, our sites and vision can sometimes decrease. The same thing happens in cats.
So, providing a nightlight to these older cats in the house in different places they’re walking around may help them navigate more easily to see their litter box at night. But remember, do not provide too bright light that won’t let the kitty open its eyes smoothly.
4. Avoid Introducing New Kittens
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Many people notice that their older cats are acting differently, maybe not as much energy. And so they think innocently enough that these older cats will enjoy a young kitten companion. Well, in cats, sometimes it works out that way, but a lot of other times, it works out that the kitten just really irritates the crap out of the older cat.
Older cats are like older people. The older cats are in their routines, and they often like it to be quiet, and you get this kitten in, which can create undue stress for an older cat. Also, if you notice that your older cat is slowing down, that’s not a sign that your cat needs companionship. That’s a sign that your cat has something going on underneath the hood somewhere in the body that is affecting the body so that this cat is not acting in the same way.
So, I recommend not getting a kitten for companionship for older cats. The other thing is that cats form very, very rigid social structures. And even if that social structure is just with themselves, yeah, they could be narcissists, it could happen. But even if that social structure is just by itself, bringing another cat into that structure upsets everything.
5. Maintain a Consistent Routine
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Okay, my number five tip for all of you caring for older kids is to stick to a routine for your cat as much as possible. We know older people like routine, and older cats love routine, right? These cats like to know when you will feed their food, when playtime is, and when you will clean their litter box. They like to know where their stuff is, and they like you not to move it around. They’re kind of like cranky old men. So, if you want to provide for them this way, it will reduce stress and help them have a better quality of life.
6. Combination of Wet and Dry Food
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Cats are desert animals and do not tend to have a dry thirst like people or dogs do. And so they tend to get dehydrated pretty quickly, especially older cats. And that can impact their kidney function.
We see a lot of kidney function problems in older cats. One way to combat that is to ensure they get moisture by feeding them canned food. You may choose canned food. Basically, I don’t love all canned food, but I love a lot of it because it is high in protein, which cats have to have, and it’s high in moisture, which cats also need.
So, if you can at all possible, feed them a combination of both. This will also make it easier for you and your cat if you need to change your diet for medical reasons. Your cats are already used to a little bit of a variety. And I mean, a little bit, let’s not go crazy with variety, but feeding them canned and dry is awesome. Also, when feeding them, ensure you’re feeding them an appropriate amount. I see a lot of fat cats, and older cats are no exception.
7. Use an Accessible Litter Box
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The 7th tip is to provide a litter box that is easy to get in and out of and a location that is easy for your cat to access. So, as we’ve already discussed, a lot of older kiddies have problems with painful joints.
And if the edges are too high, if the sides of that box are too high, they will have difficulty getting in and out. And that may make them more likely to urinate or defecate someplace else in the house, which we don’t want. You can combat this by using a litter box with lower sides. If you’re worried about them scraping the litter out, you can always put it on like a giant cookie sheet to control any spillage.
But use a litter box with lower sides. And make sure that you have one. If you have multiple floors, you should have a litter box on every floor. Again, these cats may not want to go up and down stairs as much. So, to keep them happy and not urinating and defecating anywhere.
8. Feed a Highly Digestible Diet
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The number eight tip is to feed them a highly digestible and easily digestible diet. If you’re older, your digestion system changes as you age. Sometimes, it can digest things fine; other times, not so much. So, the same thing happened to our cats.
Sometimes, as they get older and older, they lose some of their digestive capabilities. So that’s why senior diets came in. Senior cat diets are labeled as such because they have different digestibility levels. They’re more easily digested. Also, they have some very nutrient differences designed to support older cats. So ensure you’re feeding a highly digestible diet, which is the easiest way. Find a diet that is formulated for senior kiddies.
9. Prioritize Annual Veterinary Visits
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And my number nine tip for you is to not skip on their annual veterinary visits. These visits are fantastic because they provide an extra set of eyes that look at your cat and tell you if there have been any changes you need to be concerned about.
We also know these cats can develop certain conditions as they get old, such as kidney problems or hyperthyroidism. So, screening them annually is a good way to catch any of those early. The other thing that’s nice about a veterinarian is that they can help you manage weight, which is essential, and managing dental care is really important. And then also just checking things like parasites, right? Even older cats can get parasites. So you want to ensure these cats are parasite-free and checked out at least once a year.
If your cat is sick in any way and they’re older, I would often recommend twice-a-year visits for these cats just because things can change pretty quickly in a cat’s condition, and waiting a whole year may be too long for some of these cats.
You may visit: The International Cat Association (TICA)
Our Final Talk
If you’re caring for a senior kitty, you should remember not to believe that age is a disease. People think that an older cat is necessarily going to be a sticker cat, but that’s not necessarily true. There is a lot of a lot of healthy older kitties out there. So, the other common misconception is that people think it’s normal for old animals just to slow down. So, age is not a disease, and slowing down is not necessarily normal for older cats.
And let me tell you why: slowing down is usually a sign that something is wrong under the hood. The most common cause that we find older cats slowing down is that they have arthritic joints and painful arthritic joints. So if you find that your cat is slowing down, not playing as much, not climbing stairs, not jumping, not running, things like that, then that’s a sign that something is going on and that cat needs an intervention from a veterinarian could be arthritis, could be something else.
So remember, age is not a disease, and slowing down is not necessarily normal for older cats.
-“How to take care of a senior cat” by pawfecttales.com
