Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [126]
A wide range of various antioxidant, neuro-protective nutraceuticals, supplements, vitamins and diet can be adjusted to enhance the cognitive function in the older animal, says Dr. Lansberg. “But what’s proven to be effective or not is hard to say.
Although many therapies may hold promise for the future, cat owners today can’t afford to wait years for them to become available. Dr. Moffat says environmental enrichment is easy, costs nothing and your cat can benefit today. Studies by Dr. Milgram in dogs proved that enrichment greatly improved canine cognition. “That’s definitely been proven in people, too,” says Dr. Moffat, and it applies just as well to cats. “Use it or lose it, definitely. If they work the brain on a regular basis, the memory ability is preserved longer.” She suggests you offer your cat lots of play sessions to keep her mind as healthy and well toned as her body. This can also help wear her out in a nice way, especially prior to bedtime, to help curb unwanted nighttime activity and vocalizations.
Comfort Zone
A natural component of some foods, called phospholipids, can help reverse some signs of cognitive disorders by helping brain cells send and receive nerve impulses more effectively. Choline and phosphatidylcholine, two common message-sending compounds, are found in a dietary supplement called Cholodin FEL, which is a less expensive alternative to Anipryl. The product is available through veterinarians, and comes in a pill form or powder flavored to appeal to cats, to be mixed into the food.
Golden Moments: Love To The Max
“I’ve had Max since he was six weeks old,” says Elizabeth Jones, a computer graphics specialist in Mesa, Arizona. She chose the white with gray Manx baby because he was so playful and affectionate. Throughout their lives together, Max never met a stranger he didn’t like. “He’d always come right up get in your lap, make himself comfortable, and just rub himself on your face,” she says.
When Max was five years old, Elizabeth rescued a needy white Persian cat. Tenna and Max had the same golden eyes, and had been born within a month of each other. Although it wasn’t love at first sight, the personalities of the sweet, laid-back Tenna and the outgoing, brash Max seemed to complement each other. “The two of them became very close,” says Elizabeth.
Max, Tenna and Elizabeth were a threesome for eight years, until the Persian became progressively ill with cancer. “I had to put her to sleep,” she says. “That’s when a dramatic change happened with Max. When she left, he was just devastated.”
Elizabeth couldn’t explain to Max what had happened to his furry companion. The cat was grief stricken, and his meow-wails went on for hours. Finally the 13-year-old Manx slipped away from the patio retreat and was gone for two days. “I knew he was looking for Tenna. And he wasn’t going to find her,” says Elizabeth.
She was relieved when he came home, but he was still crying and very upset. “I tried to comfort him—he was desperately unhappy. I was upset, too,” says Elizabeth, her voice shaking at the memory. With time, the pain eased for both of them, but Max was never the same.
His behavior and personality began to change, so slowly that at first Elizabeth couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong. “He doesn’t look 15 years old to me, but I know he’s getting up there,” she says. He’d always been food motivated, but now even treats lost their allure. Max began to lose weight, and became reluctant to interact. The gregarious cat she’d always known began to hide. Then last March when she graduated from school and began working, things went downhill fast.
“He’d poop on my bed, or pee right in my spot where I sit on the couch,” says Elizabeth. The glazed look in his eyes, and his anxious behavior made Elizabeth fear that her beloved cat was losing his