Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [26]
While body and health changes often impact the cat’s behavior—she hisses and claws when startled because she’s deaf, or she urinates outside the litter box due to diabetes—the changes of an aging brain affect both behavior and personality. A Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation can drastically impact the loving bond an owner shares with a pet. Behaviorists believe many age-related behavior problems, such as howling incessantly or getting “lost” in the house, can be ascribed to these brain changes. This condition is called feline cognitive dysfunction, and is characterized by anxiety, personality changes, and problems such as hit-or-miss litter box behavior. It is thought that the cats return to a kitten mindset, to the time before they learned these lessons. Cats older than thirteen or so seem more commonly affected, but there’s no way to predict how your cat will fare.
Reproduction
“To our knowledge, older queens do not undergo menopause in the same way or
with the same physical symptoms that human females have,” says Dr. Little. “As they age, their ovaries and hormonal function may not be as good as when they were younger,
so we do see a decrease in fertility in queens over about age seven. But they can cycle until the day they die of old age if they are not spayed.”
Serious reproductive diseases may develop in cats that have not been spayed, particularly if they are not regularly bred. Intact female cats older than six are highly prone to metritis (inflammation of the lining of the uterus) and pyometra—a life-threatening infection of the uterus. Kidney failure may be triggered by pyometra, because of the body’s immune response created to fight the infection. Breast cancer is also a risk in aging unaltered females. Male cats rarely suffer from age-related reproductive disorders.
Skin and Hair
The cat’s skin and fur do more than look good. The hair provides a protective barrier that regulates temperature, prevents dehydration and is the major sensory organ of the body. It also offers a shield from extremes of weather, and from viruses, bacteria, and other disease-causing pathogens. The cat’s skin and hair are also an accurate barometer of her health—what she feels on the inside is reflected on the outside.
Normal skin changes occur with age due to a lifetime of exposure and changes in the cat’s metabolism. Skin becomes thinner and less flexible, the hair coat becomes duller and drier due to less oil production, and hairs especially the muzzle and ear rims often turn gray as the cat ages. The most common skin problem is called miliary dermatitis, a tiny scabby bumpy rash, but this is a symptom of a wide range of problems such as allergies and ringworm. It can develop in cats of any age. Ringworm is the most common fungal infection of cats and often affects aging cats more readily because of their less competent immune system.
A number of skin and hair coat disorders arise as a result of other age-related disorders. Diabetes mellitus may prompt hair thinning or loss. Old cats unable to properly groom themselves often develop painful matted fur. Also, any lump or bump on the skin of an older cat is a risk for cancer.
Nurse Alert!
A new monitoring system to check for blood in the cat’s urine is available from Purina Veterinary Diagnostics. Hemalert is dispensed from veterinarians, and come in packets. The granules are mixed in existing cat box filler, and will change color in reaction to blood in the urine.
Urinary System
Body wastes are filtered from the blood and removed by the kidneys. The bladder collects and stores this liquid waste until it’s released from the body through the urethra as urine. Kidneys, the ureters, bladder and urethra make up the urinary system. Kidneys not only manage waste, they also produce a specialized hormone called erythropoietin, which prompts the production of red blood cells and also helps regulate blood pressure.
As the cat’s kidneys