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21 May Nutrition Advice for an Ageing Cat
Choosing cat food is one of the most important expenses of feline care, next to veterinary care. You can eliminate a number of serious health conditions as wells as veterinary expenses, just by incorporating the proper diet for your pet. After all, you are what you eat, and this is just as important for cats.
All cats are created equal, right? Wrong. Actually, the older the cat becomes, their dietary needs will change as this is due to the fact that their bodies are different and therefore require different things.
Sometimes, you will have to supplement in order to provide them proper nutrition. Their energy needs may stay the same, but a cat’s ability to absorb fat changes as it ages. A older cat that is approaching their senior years will require more protein than cats of lower ages.
As cats age, they become much more vulnerable to disease, as their immune system weakens over time. A cat’s diet should reflect that change and be altered to provide more of a defence. Perhaps they need to increase their Omega-3 fatty acid intake due to a form of cancer, or maybe they need a soft gentle food due to an oral disease. A thorough checkup is necessary to establish the proper plan for your cat’s dietary needs to help keep your senior cat healthy throughout his later years. A checkup is very important, as the same checkup your cat received as a kitten and as an adult will not be the same as the one he has as a senior. Bodies and chemical structure, just as with humans, change. Your own health at sixty is certainly not the same as your health as a newborn.
A lot of elderly cats have difficulty eating. They may go several days without eating entirely! After ruling out disease, you’re likely to find that your cat has become rather finicky to the taste and feel of his food. You might try warming food in the microwave, or adding juice or gravy to the food. At the most extreme, there is something called an animal appetite stimulator that you can get from the vet. However, this should be used as a very last resort.
Observing your cat’s daily dietary habits and relaying that information to your vet will help the both of you to work out a dietary plan that is tailor-made to your senior cat. Through careful care and love, and proper nutrition, your senior cat can live a prosperous life without worry, and you can rest easier knowing you’re doing all that you can for your senior cat.