Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [20]
“We did a study a number of years ago and published it in the annals of the New York Academy of Sciences that dealt with the lack of the sense of smell in the cat, and the influence of food intake,” says Dr. Myers. “A complete loss of vomeronasal as well as olfactory nerve caused the cats not to eat at all. It seems as if the sense of smell gives them some sort of cue that it’s edible,” he says. “A favorite veterinarian trick is get one of the cheapest, nastiest, smelliest red tuna fish for cats when they stop eating. That does seem to work in a fairly substantial number to start them eating again.”
Bones and Muscles
By the time a cat becomes a senior citizen, her bones have begun to lose density and become weaker and more brittle. That means senior cats are more prone to fractures from falls or leaps when they hit the ground.
Cats at thirteen to fourteen generally heal more slowly from a fracture, says James L. Cook, DVM, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Missouri. “That’s when we start to see a lot of the manifestations from arthritis with respect to the joints.” Slowed healing and bone loss likely are due to the body’s slowed capacity to regenerate bone cells. “Orthopedically, cats are real good healers,” says Dr. Cook.
The cartilage cushioning the joints wears thinner and becomes more brittle over time, and the ligaments and tendons connecting the joints can stretch, become less flexible, and tear more easily. Because cats weigh much less than most dogs, the forces placed on bones and joints may not cause as much damage over a lifetime of wear as in dogs, says Dr. Cook. Obesity will increase the risk for arthritis and strains and sprains.
Cats hide symptoms better, and that makes diagnosis more difficult. “Cats are a little more stoic so the symptoms aren’t quite the same as in dogs,” says Bill Fortney, DVM, director of community practice at Kansas State University. Cats almost never limp or hold up a paw—they just hide under the bed or refuse to move. “They may not groom themselves very well, they may be more irritable,” says Dr. Fortney.
Muscles become less able to use nutrition efficiently. Cats tend to slow down as they age, and a reduction in exercise prompts not only a gradual atrophy and loss of muscle mass but also contributes to bone loss. Older cats that have less stamina and loss of muscle tone may not be able to “make it” to the litter box in time. “Muscle mass is an extremely important metabolic reservoir,” says Dan Carey, DVM, a veterinarian with the Iams Company. The body uses muscle as an energy source during illness. Human studies show that ill people with reduced muscle mass don’t survive as well as those with a healthy muscle mass, says Dr. Carey.
Digestion
The digestive system includes the mouth, teeth, stomach, intestines, pancreas and liver. It processes nutrition and eliminates waste. One of the greatest digestion-related problems of aging cats is obesity, or “over-nutrition.” Older cats don’t exercise as much, and their metabolism slows down, so they gain more weight.
However, because cats are true carnivores and use protein as a source for energy, if they don’t eat enough, they’ll lose weight as they age. Cats may gain weight up to age ten, but then lose as they have less ability to digest protein and fat. In fact, weight loss particularly of lean muscle, tends to occur in cats at about two to two-and-a-half years prior to their death from age-related diseases, says Joe Wakshlag, DVM, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at Cornell University. He says studies in otherwise normal adult cats indicate that increasing dietary protein by 35 percent (dry matter basis) enhanced lean