Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [33]
A biochemical profile measures the various chemicals, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other compounds in the bloodstream. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is the byproduct of protein metabolism, and the BUN level is a good measure of kidney health.
The liver does so many things that many diseases affect it. Therefore, the liver is a solid health barometer for the rest of the body. For instance, bile acids produced in the liver act to absorb fat, so abnormal blood levels of bile acids indicate liver problems. Enzymes produced by the liver are very sensitive, and the levels in the bloodstream will go up if the liver is damaged, says Dr. Webster, but this can indicate other diseases. “Probably 80 percent of the time you’ll find another disease cause of enzyme to go up.”
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Blood Values
Tests only screen for the possibility of a problem, says Dr. Marks. If a liver enzyme is elevated, more specific diagnostic evaluations, such as abdominal X-rays and ultrasound, are required to figure out the exact cause.
Yet checking biochemical abnormalities alone ignores the total animal. When your cat feels great, but has an abnormal lab value on the blood work, Dr. Marks says you have a choice. You can aggressively pursue the cause with further diagnostics, or you can wait a month to repeat the test and, if the result is still elevated, then go further. “I’m not really a fan of saying we have to do all these tests on all pets over eight years old,” he says, but admits that’s the easiest way to catch those pets you worry about. It depends on the owner, the comfort level of the veterinarian, and especially on the health of the individual cat.
Enrich the Environment
When your cat celebrates her seventh birthday, she hasn’t any idea, nor does she care, that she’s now a “senior” feline. Cats older than seven often have the constitution and attitude of much younger animals. There’s no reason she shouldn’t enjoy a rewarding and vital life well into her teens. The key is to expect the best of her, and give her the best support possible. That includes good nutrition, exercise, grooming, home-life accommodations, and mental stimulation.
Nutrition
“There isn’t any one best food,” says Dr. Abood. A number of therapeutic diets address specific diseases, such as kidney failure, once the cat is diagnosed. Dr. Abood says that therapeutic diets are manufactured to have specific nutrient modifications, and that the diets for a given condition are pretty similar no matter who makes them. “When animals do better on one over the other, that’s an individual animal variation, that’s not a diet difference,” she says.
Cats are notorious for hating change, and getting your feline to accept a new diet may take some time. It doesn’t matter how great the food is if she refuses to eat it. “If they don’t recognize it as food, it’s not going to do the job you want it to do.”
When the older cat is in good condition, and has a high level of activity, why should you switch to a “senior” diet? Dr. Carey says a food change helps support the cat’s physical needs, which usually change before obvious signs of aging appear. The newest senior-label diets are designed to support the cat during these normal but invisible changes of age so she maintains that kittenish behavior, rather than waiting until late in the game when obvious external signs develop. “There’s certainly been a proliferation of senior cat diets on the market,” says Dr. Little. “I think they can be beneficial.”
Your choices are do-it-yourself diets or commercial products, says Gary Landsberg, DVM, a behaviorist at Doncaster Animal Clinic in Thornhill, Ontario. Many pet owners want to feed natural or even raw food diets. “Getting ingredients that act as natural antioxidants is a good idea,” he says. Commercial pet food manufacturers also recognize the benefits of these ingredients, and employ veterinary nutrition scientists to design diets suited to cat needs. “They are the ones who are doing the research to enhance their food