Complete Care for Your Aging Cat

by Amy Shojai

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 control ed 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

  realistical y, it’s impossible to predict how long treatment wil 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 chal enge 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 wil

  treatment affect his condition? Is a cure possible? If not, wil a given

  treatment stop or slow the progression of the condition, and for how long?

  Wil 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’l live longer? Based on these

  answers, owners can then decide what care path is best for their cat.

  People usual y 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. Initial y 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 wil , 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 real y haunted by those kinds of decisions,”

  says Barbara Kitchel , DVM, an oncologist at the University of Il inois (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.

  Kitchel . 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 al things, it’s quality of life above al 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. Kitchel .

  However, even when the optimum therapy is cost-prohibitive, other more

  economical options may be available. “There’s a menu of options you can

  select for that individual client’s needs,” says Dr. Kitchel . Each animal is

  so different that it’s impossible to predict which choice wil have the best

  results. Nobody can predict how much time a given therapy wil give.

  “I get a lot of joy out of being able to help that animal do real y wel

  throughout the rest of its geriatric life,” says Dr. Beebe. She says that

  Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which includes acupuncture and

  herbs, offers wonderful advantages for treatment of chronic diseases

  because there are so few side effects. “The animal does so wel that lots of

  people tel me it’s hard to believe they’re that old or that they have cancer

  or kidney failure,” she says. When holistic treatment is combined with

  mainstream Western medicine, she says the cat is more likely to remain

  vital and enjoy life up until the very end—rather than experiencing a

  traumatic decline with intermittent hospitalizations. “My clients want to try

  everything they can to have a good quality of life for their animal. And when

  they can no longer have that good quality of life, then it’s time for that

  animal to pass on.”

  A whole host of emotional issues confronts the owner who chooses

  euthanasia of an aged cat, says Dr. Little. “Sometimes they’re living alone,

  their spouse may have died, their kids may be in another city, and they stay

  in an apartment with an elderly cat. And then the cat dies. And they’re

  alone. That’s a huge social issue.”

  We know that our cats won’t live forever. But we can take comfort in also

  knowing our cats don’t fear death, and don’t worry about tomorrow. Cats

  live in the “now.” And that frees them to greet you each day with joyful,

  purring abandon.

  Witnessing that freedom teaches us great lessons. “If you choose to

  treat an animal for cancer, you see them die with a lot of dignity and

  tremendous grace,” says Dr. Kitchel . “Death is a process. And you see an

  animal go through that process. They say I love you. But it’s time for me to

  go. You see them get themselves ready,” she says. “It’s so beautiful to

  watch, and it’s so beautiful to be with them, and there’s so much peace at

  the end that it’s a lovely thing.”

  Four out of ten dogs and cats are aged seven years and older. This

  aging population constitutes more than 50 percent of patients seen by

  veterinarians—about 45 mil ion pets, according to the American Veterinary

  Medical Association and others. The numbers wil climb as loving cat

  owners continue to provide the best care possible for their aging

  companions.

  Golden Moments: Loving Hershey

  Linda Parker of Pittsburgh went looking for a kitten at the local pound.

  “At the time we were very poor, living on one income, and my first husband

  was going through col ege,” she says. She thought a cat would be less

  expensive, and also they wouldn’t need a kennel if they went away on

  weekends. “We got Hershey. She’s a chocolate brown Burmese and she’s

  gorgeous.” Al the other kittens seemed ordinary next to Hershey. “I felt

  pretty fortunate to find her. We brought her home, and stil haven’t gotten

  used to her incessant talking 16 years later,” says Linda. “She needs to be

  talking. If she’s awake, you know it because she’s talking to you.”

  When Hershey was adopted at 6 months of age, Linda had a one-year-

  old baby. “I’ve since had three more children, other pets, and she’s been

  through two husbands, five moves, and various and sundry things, and

  doesn’t seem daunted by it. She’s more like a family member than a pet.”

  Hershey has always been a lap cat, and wants to be near people or

&
nbsp; at least in the same room. She recently celebrated her 16th birthday, and

  has never had any health problems. Hershey isn’t picky about her food, but

  does insist on cool (not warm) water, with no floating hairs, if you please.

  She even has a special meow-demand when the water has run out. “She’s

  very purposeful about that,” says Linda.

  Hershey visits the veterinarian once a year for routine vaccinations,

  and Linda says they’re always amazed by her age. She did not have any

  gray hair until recently, and now has only a few on her face and a couple

  wispy ones where her col ar would be. “She stil jumps up on anything she

  wishes, no matter how high it is,” says Linda. “I haven’t noticed any

  increased sleeping or anything. She does do a little more random

  meowing.”

  Her “talking” has always been part of a conversation with someone. “She

  always wanted the last word. If you wanted her to stop, you had to stop

  talking to her.” Now, every once in a while, Hershey wil meow in rooms

  when nobody’s there. “It’s not as important to her to have an audience for

  her meowing now,” she says. “But it gets a little annoying because she’l

  always find a room that echoes.”

  Linda takes for granted that Hershey is so healthy. She tries not to

  think about ever losing the cat. “Part of me says when Hershey goes, I

  don’t know if I want another cat. I can’t imagine getting one and being

  disappointed it’s not Hershey,” she says.

  “She has seniority over three of my children. I don’t even think of her

  as a pet, real y. She’s just here. She’s obviously one of the members of the

  family.”

  CHAPTER 2--THE AGING PROCESS

  Cats grow very quickly during their first 12 to 18 months of life.

  Their bodies build new tissue and repair injuries at a rapid rate. That fast

  growth slows and stops once adulthood is reached. Yet even when the cat

  has stopped growing, nothing is static at the microscopic level. Cel s are

  continuously created, function a short time, then die and are replaced

  natural y. Organs such as the liver have built-in redundancies and reserves

  that al ow the healthy cat to adapt to both internal physical stresses as wel

  as those from her environment.

  The older the cat gets, the less her body is able to replace cel s that die.

  This interferes with the ability of the cat to maintain health or recover from

  il ness. Normal reserves are depleted when cel turnover slows down or

  stops altogether.

  The aging cat’s old organs can’t keep up as wel with normal demands.

  Because these systems are interrelated, a deficit in one part of the body

  can cause problems elsewhere. For instance, the aging heart has a harder

  time pumping blood, and blood vessels begin to lose elasticity, and the

  combination contributes to high blood pressure. This, along with reduced

  oxygen getting to the brain, may add to behavioral changes often attributed

  to senility.

  The aging process is not ful y understood. One theory suggests that cel s

  can replicate—reproduce themselves—only a certain number of times.

  This genetic aging is dictated by the cat’s breed and inherited tendencies

  from her family. Just as in people, members of certain families tend to live

  longer than others. Siamese cats often enjoy a very long lifespan, whereas

  Persians seem to have a shorter lifespan than some other cat breeds.

  Many experts believe oxidation influences the speed at which cel s age.

  Oxidation is a normal part of living. The cel s of the body swim in oxygen,

  which is necessary for many normal functions. But prolonged exposure to

  oxidation causes cats to age prematurely and develop disease, in the

  same way that metal oxidizes or rusts when exposed to air.

  How does oxidation occur in cel s? Their energy is produced through

  respiration by mitochondrion, tiny structures inside each cel which are rich

  in fats, proteins and enzymes. This energy-generating process also

  creates highly unstable and reactive atoms and molecules cal ed free

  radicals. Oxidation in living tissue results when free radicals try to combine

  with normal atoms and molecules of the cel s. This damages the cel wal s

  and DNA, causing disease and accelerated aging.

  Aged cel s are less efficient. Old mitochondria are less efficient and

  produce less energy but generate more toxic free radicals, says Dr. Blake

  Hawley, a veterinarian with Hil ’s. “The nervous system tissue is especial y

  vulnerable to attack by free radicals. It’s real y important that as the cel

  ages, we find ways to absorb or attack those free radicals that are

  produced.”

  Other influences outside of genetics also speed up the aging process.

  For example, diseases caused by feline leukemia virus and feline

  immunodeficiency virus suppress the immune system and make cats

  prone to other diseases including certain kinds of cancer and fungal

  infections such as ringworm. Exposure to sunlight and toxins in the air,

  water, or food are considered environmental influences that impact aging.

  Injuries, such as a fracture, speed up the age-related joint degeneration

  known as arthritis. Improper nutrition can interfere with cel regeneration.

  Emotional stress suppresses the immune system and al ows damage from

  parasite or viral infections, which can irreparably damage the body and

  contribute to early aging.

  How Age Affects the Body

  Most cats begin to slow down a bit by the time they reach seven to

  ten years. These changes are very gradual and subtle, though, and often

  we don’t notice any significant changes. For instance, the cat may begin

  seeking out warm spots that help creaky joints feel better, or sleeping an

  extra hour or so each day. Even the veterinarian may not detect aging

  changes without special tests, until they become obvious, at which point

  the damage may be irreversible.

  Understanding how age affects the different body systems wil help you

  become alert to subtle changes that may point to serious problems.

  Catching medical problems early offers the best chance of successful y

  treating them, and keeping your cat happy and healthy.

  The Senses

  Cats rely on their senses to a much greater degree than do people. They

  use touch, taste, scent, sight, and hearing to learn about the world around

  them, and connect with their people. They rely particularly on hearing and

  sight, and scent and taste to a lesser degree.

  Normal aging in the sensory organs affects al cats. In addition, exposure

  to environment insults often causes damage to the sensory organs, which

  means they dim over time. Taste bud numbers decline, and the sense of

  smel is often the first to show the effects of age, often with loss of appetite.

  As far as we can tel , though, the cat’s enjoyment of the touch sensation—

  petting, snuggling, and contact with beloved owners—does not change

  with age. Cats that develop problems regulating body temperature may, in

  fact, become more likely to want to snuggle in a warm human lap as they

  get older.

  Al cats suffer from a certain amount of v
isual and hearing impairment,

  says Benjamin Hart, DVM, a veterinary behaviorist at the University of

  California-Davis. “Certainly that’s an impact on behavior.” Yet sensory loss

  usual y bothers owners much more than it bothers the pet. Cats are able to

  compensate for vision or hearing loss to such an extent that we often don’t

  recognize there’s any problem until very late in the game.

  Aging Eyes

  A cat’s eyes are designed for a night predator. Vision is arguably the

  most important feline sense of al . “Visual acuity in the cat is fairly close to

  that of the human, probably a little less,” says Lawrence Myers, DVM, a

  professor of anatomy at Auburn University. Cats pay exquisite attention to

  the world around them, and are particularly adept at discerning motion out

  the corner of their eyes.

  Cats with prominent eyes such as Persians are more prone to damage

  and chronic inflammation from scratching or bumping their eyes, but this

  can happen at any age. Cats do not have a particular age-related eye

  problem, other than nuclear sclerosis, says Harriet Davidson, DVM, an

  ophthalmologist at Kansas State University (now at Michigan Veterinary

  Specialists). That is a normal change of age that causes the lens in the eye

  to turn hazy. “It’s the reason humans have to get glasses when they turn

  about 40,” says Dr. Davidson. “Your lens is not as flexible so you can’t see

  up close anymore because it can’t accommodate. Elderly animals wil

  have a pupil that looks somewhat bluish or milky in appearance.”

  Cats can see through the haze and stil function wel . Nuclear sclerosis is

  different from cataracts, which ultimately result in complete opacity of the

  lens and blindness. “Cataracts occur at al ages, but there’s more

  likelihood as an animal ages, just as a person, that cataracts develop,”

  says Dr. Paul A. Gerding, Jr., DVM, chief of the ophthalmology section at

  the University of Il inois veterinary school.

  Glaucoma is another eye problem more typical of older cats. It is

  extremely painful and, similarly to cataracts, can result in blindness.

  Loss of sight doesn’t stop her from being a good pet, though. Vision-

  impaired and blind cats tend to rely more on their other senses, such as

  hearing, as wel as memory of certain landmarks to get around safely.

  “You can stil give them a pretty good quality of life,” says Dr. Myers. “Don’t