Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [15]
The right treatment can make an incredible difference. Because chronic problems such as hyperthyroidism or vision loss develop so gradually, pet owners often don’t recognize the change until symptoms become severe. At that point, Fluffy’s new behaviors may be attributed to “old age” when in fact treatment can turn back the clock and return him to the normal activities of a younger pet. Arthritis medicine may not have him swinging from the drapes, but it can put him back on his feet and out from under the bed for petting and play sessions with his favorite people.
Remember: old age is not a disease. Don’t assume you must accept these changes just because your cat has reached seven years old or older.
Treatment Advice
Setting realistic goals is vital. Your veterinarian can help you decide the best choices for your cat’s health situation, your own emotional and financial circumstances, and your “comfort level” regarding home care. While a cure isn’t always possible, health conditions of aging cats can often be controlled to ensure a good quality of life.
Kidney disease does not mean your cat is going to die tomorrow, says Dr. Marks. “With proper care, we can keep these pets going,” he says, but realistically, it’s impossible to predict how long treatment will help. That depends on the individual cat and the owner’s commitment. “You have to look at it and say, this is a ten-year-old pet that has a disease, let’s see what we can do,” he says.
Many times, senior cats are healthy but lose their sight or hearing, or develop a challenge that only requires a few environmental accommodations to keep them safe and comfortable. But for cats with a life-threatening problem, other questions must be answered. How will treatment affect his condition? Is a cure possible? If not, will a given treatment stop or slow the progression of the condition, and for how long? Will it improve the way he feels, or make him feel worse? Is it worthwhile to make him feel worse for a short time if he’ll live longer? Based on these answers, owners can then decide what care path is best for their cat.
People usually are much more capable of handling home care than they think. The turning point may come, for example, when you realize giving fluid therapy several times a week can save the cat’s life. Initially learning that your cat has cancer can be devastating news. Yet your veterinarian can help explain what to expect in the way of prognosis, treatment, and side effects if any. A cat with painful cancer will, in fact, welcome amputation that takes the pain away, and she won’t worry that she “looks funny” to the other cats. In almost every situation, the outcome is much better than we fear.
You should talk with your veterinarian and other family members not only to make informed decisions, but also to reduce any guilty feelings down the road. “Some people are really haunted by those kinds of decisions,” says Barbara Kitchell, DVM, an oncologist at the University of Illinois (now at Michigan State University). “Veterinarians offer a counseling service based on therapeutic decisions to help decide what am I comfortable with, and how do I get comfortable with the decision and not have the guilt. There’s always guilt.”
The veterinarian should always explain to you the pros and cons of pursuing treatment. “Then you have to decide for yourself,” says Dr. Kitchell. Changes can be made, or treatment stopped altogether, anytime during the therapy. “It’s not like human medicine where you keep people alive on a ventilator. We don’t do that in veterinary medicine,” she says. “It’s not life above all things, it’s quality of life above all things.”
Certain therapies are more expensive than others, and not everyone can afford them. “Cancer therapy is very expensive. I have patients who spend $7,000 in a year, and that’s your fun money, your vacation is gone,” says Dr. Kitchell.
However, even when the optimum therapy is cost-prohibitive, other more economical options may be available. “There’s a menu of