Caring for Your Older Cats

Narration provided by Wondervox.

We adopted two older cats several years ago when we lost our others (we’ve had a number of cats, and I had quite a few on my own over the years). Wilma was 3 at the time we got her, and she came from a ‘hoarder home.’ We had no idea what that meant, except that she had trust issues and had spent the first three years of her life uncertain and anxious. Our girl Peanut came from a pet store, via a local animal rescue organization. She was 5, and gorgeous. I saw her in the store window for three months, and I was baffled why someone hadn’t taken her home already. But she was older, and she wasn’t the type of cat to play with everyone who came up to the carrier. We got lucky, and she came home with us.

They’re now approximately 8 and 10+. Peanut has lost weight, and she recently started defecating outside the litter box. I was mystified, and stressed about her health. Then I realized she was constipated, and that constipation is a leading cause of cats doing this. I thought back over the previous week, and realized I had changed her diet to a senior wet food that was very different in its ingredients from the Fancy Feast she’d been eating for years (I give them almost exclusively wet food, except when we go away; then I have a cat person who comes twice a day to feed and care, and we leave dry food down). I got her to a (new) vet and was reassured after a thorough exam that she’s healthy and, once she got past the constipation, happy. All is well again. They make our house a home.

So … for one thing, I strongly encourage people to adopt older animals. They’re harder to place, and they make great friends and furry family members. And I suggest researching what they need as they get older. Peanut had dental surgery and tooth extractions a year ago and was immediately, demonstrably happier. Wilma may get her teeth taken care of in the spring. While I’m loathe to have animals anesthetized, if it makes their lives better and more pleasant it’s something that has to be considered.

Finally, you can listen to cat behaviorist Molly DeVoss’s podcast, Cat Talk Radio. Molly helped us with both cats, and she’s an invaluable resource for all things feline. LISTEN UP.

Here are a few tips on taking care of older and elderly cats. I will offer one caution from experience: if you want to make a change in your cat’s diet, be sure to talk to the vet and do it the right way. Simply ordering senior cat food and switching it for her regular food was a mistake.