Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [34]
Homemade diets fall in the “therapeutic diet” category. If you plan to feed them, they should be designed by a veterinary nutritionist to ensure they’re right for your individual animal, says Dr. Wynn.
Because the older pet’s metabolism changes so she typically burns less energy, lower calories are at the heart of most senior diets, says Dr. LaFlamme. “A lot of them also have added antioxidants, or added protein, or added this or that,” she says. “But the real key is diets are formulated to be balanced based the energy content of the diet and the expected energy intake of the animal. So it’s really important that the diet match the individual pet.” There’s no reason to offer your lap-sitting feline the equivalent of rocket fuel, but if she still swings from the drapes, she’ll need the extra calories to keep her healthy. “By the time cats reach 15 to 16 years of age, about 30 percent are actually underweight,” says Dr. Davenport.
Here’s another example. Most regular adult maintenance diets promote an acidic urine to prevent struvite crystals. Yet this is not necessarily the best choice for an older cat, says Dr. LaFlamme, because an acidic urine promotes the formation of calcium oxalate stones. “That may be one reason that cat owners with an older cat might want to switch over to a senior cat food.”
Senior diets typically contain highly digestible ingredients to help cats whose digestive system may not be as efficient as when younger, says Dr. Hawley. “By manipulating the nutrients we have the ability to allow them to better absorb things.” Other considerations may be added fiber to keep bowels healthy, or softer textures for cats suffering from dental disease. Your veterinarian can recommend a good senior cat product. Make sure the label says the food is “complete and balanced” in accordance with guidelines established by AAFCO (Association of Animal Feed Control Officials).
Feeding For Health
It is impossible to list all of the various cat foods available for mature cats, but you can start with the following list to see if one or more fits your cat’s needs:
Eukanuba Mature Care Formula
IVD (Royal Canin) Select Care Mature Formula
Purina Senior Cat Chow brand
Science Diet Feline Senior
Nutro Complete Care Senior
Max Cat Senior
Precise Feline Senior Formula
Wysong Geriatrx
Nutrigenomics
Today, cutting edge studies are proving that age-old adage, “you are what you eat.” Nutrigenomics shows promise for preventing, slowing the progression of, treating or even reversing disease.
Nutrigenomics studies how individual nutrients or combinations of nutrients affect health by altering the expression of genes, says Sally Perea, DVM, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist in Davis, California. This science combines information from genetics, nutrition, physiology, pathology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biocomputation, sociology, ethics, and other disciplines.
“The mere presence of a specific genetic trait only indicates a potential for disease,” says Todd Towell, DVM, board-certified veterinary nutritionist and Senior Manager, Scientific Communications at Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. Researchers have identified more than 240 genetic diseases in cats. While genetic diseases cause significant problems, the vast majority of diseases that affect a cat’s health and longevity are more complicated. Just because your cat has a bad gene doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll get sick.
Think of genetic traits as a hand of cards dealt to you by your parents. No two individuals play identical cards the same way. “Lots of environmental factors can change how those cards—genetic traits--get played,” says Dr. Towell.
Environment influences how genes are turned on and off, or turned up or down—whether the cat suffers severe, slight