There are many care and health concerns for older cats. If your cat is aging, you need to help it to be safe, and healthy, in its senior years.

How Old is Old for a Cat?

To calculate your cats age, figure that a 2 year old cat is the same as a 21 year old person, then calculate 4 years per every year of age after that. As such a 10 year old cat is 53 years old, in human terms. Some cats show age related problems as early as age 7, while others do not show problems until into their teens.  Cats over 7 years old may be considered as senior cats.

Feeding an Older Cat

Cats are generally considered to be seniors at age 7 in terms of feeding, and dietary requirements. It is important to note your cat's overall health condition before switching it from an adult food to a senior food. Most senior cat foods assume the cat is getting fat. While obesity is a huge problem in older cats, this is not always the case. Stay away from weight reduction formulas when its time to switch to a senior cat food if your cat is not putting on the pounds.  Select only a good quality cat food that has meat as the first ingredient (cats are true carnivores).  If your cat is obese it should be put on a diet.

If your cat is thin, or dropping weight, you may want to have a vet examine it for health problems, such as a thyroid condition, kidney failure, cancer, or other problem.

As your cat gets older you may want to look for ingredients that help with age related problems such as arthritis. Such ingredients include Yucca, glucosamine, and chondroitin.

If you have not been doing so all along, now is the time to feed your cat a small amount of canned food (mush, not chunks in gravy) with water added to make a soup. This will help keep his, or her, urinary tract healthy, which is very important in senior cats.

Aches and Pains

Your cat will probably have a harder time moving around as it gets older, you may want to make its litter box more accessible, such as having one with lower sides, and on the main floor (some people even have an extra litter box in another location). You may want to make steps up onto, and off of, the sofa, or where your cat likes to sleep, jumping down can be particularly painful on an older cats joints.

You should also encourage some light exercise so the cat does not become too stiff as a result of inactivity.

Another factor to consider with aches and pains is that older cats tend to prefer to be warm, a chill can cause them to feel arthritic pains more so. This is not to say the cat should be overheated, but it should be kept in a warmer part of the house rather than a cold one, and if it goes outside care should be taken not to let it out on colder days.

Loss of hearing can also be a problem for older cats.

Grooming

As cats get older they often lose interest in grooming. You may want to brush your cat more to keep its fur in good shape. This will also help reduce shedding, which tends to be more of a problem in an older cat as their skin is just not in as good condition as it was when they were young.

Teeth care is very important in an older cat. If you can brush your cats teeth, great, if not it should see a veterinarian to see if its teeth need proper cleaning or if some teeth need to be removed. Rotten teeth can lead to infection which can be life threatening.

© Authors cat at about 10 years of age.

Senility

Cats can go senile. They tend to become more needy, meow more, and may appear disoriented. You can help to keep your cat safe and relaxed at this stage in its life by keeping it in a smaller space, but one where you still frequent. You may shut off doors that lead to the basement or other areas. Keep the home peaceful and stress free. If you are expecting guests, or are planning a chaotic party, put the cat in a quieter part of the house. Cats who are experiencing senility, or dementia, should not go outside.

Veterinary Care

Cats can often have serious health problems as they get old, many related to the diet they were on when younger, or related to care they have (or have not) received throughout their life. It is a good idea to visit the veterinarian to have your senior cat checked out for any health problems before they get too bad. To note, cats can suffer from diabetes, thyroid problems, cancer, and many other health concerns.  Also worth noting is that cats who have not been spayed or neutered often have more health problems in their old age, than cats that have been fixed.

Caution: Do not introduce a new kitten when you have a senior cat. It will be very upsetting to your cat (unless the cat has always lived with other cats) but more importantly it will be very hard to feed them separately as a kitten will need kitten food and a senior cat needs a diet for senior cats!