Cat Health Pet Advice

How The Experts Identify Changes When A Cat Is Old

The following changes are typically seemed in older cats. If a change in your cat comes on suddenly, is severe, or worries you, ask your veterinarian about possible causes and treatments. Cat Health Pet Advice

Your cat’s behavior may change. She may be less active, interact less with family members, become more or less vocal, sleep more, hang out or hide in secluded places and act disoriented.

As your cat’s metabolism changes, she may gain or lose weight, lose muscle tone and strength, take on a bony feel, develop a dull coat or dry skin, eat or drink more or less, urinate more, defecate less frequently, and urinate or defecate outside litter box.

Your cat also may appear stiff, sore or lame, lose some or all of her vision, which will be apparent if she bumps into things or fails to react to movement, lose some or all of her hearing, which will be apparent if she does not react to sounds around her, develop dental problems, including broken teeth and gum disease (symptoms include reluctance to eat, swelling or tenderness around and bad breath), develop digestive problems, which may cause vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, gas and weight loss and also become more prone to disease and infection due to her less efficient immune system.

Life is a process of continuous change. Your cat’s first year of life is akin to a human being’s childhood and adolescence, and by her first birthday, she is more or less like a person in her late teens. By about two years old, she is a fully mature adult feline equivalent of a person in her 20s.

At about six years, she is much like a person in her 40s and may begin to show some early signs of aging. This is a good time to schedule a thorough examination, including some special screening tests to establish pre geriatric baselines.

At seven or eight years of age, your cat is like a person in her 50s and is beginning or approaching her senior phase of life, which may last another seven or eight years, or longer. With any luck, your middle aged cat will maintain excellent health, although this is a time of life when disease begins to take a toll on many individuals.

Your cat may begin to look her age, or she may look much as she did at two or three years. Still, you can expect to see some signs of aging when she is between seven and ten years old.