Old Cats, New Tricks

 Just like with the human population, advances in medicine have meant that our pet cats are living longer than ever. Increased knowledge about nutrition, earlier detection of disease, and preventative medicine have all increased feline life expectancy. The average feline life expectancy now sits around 14 years of age, but we all know the stories of cats that live into their 20s, and at The Cat Vet we certainly have a number of patients which are older than 18. 

This means that as pet owners, we are often looking after geriatric cats, and as they get older, we may be managing a variety of health conditions, from nails that snag on the carpet, to arthritis, to thyroid or kidney disease. 

What are the common health conditions that older cats can get?

Arthritis is the most common disease in older cats, but often it goes undiagnosed, and therefore untreated.  A lifetime of leaping, climbing and running away from dogs really wears out joints. Surprisingly, one of the most reliable signs of arthritis in cats is increased sleeping (rather than limping, or obvious pain), or a reluctance to jump as high as previously.  Many owners simply put these changes down to ‘old age’, when in reality their cat may be in significant discomfort. 

Kidney disease is also common - this is usually a case of ‘wear and tear’ - feline kidneys work very hard, especially those cats which are on a 100% biscuit diet. After a decade of hard work they often start to struggle - obvious signs of this are an increased thirst, and decreased appetite. 

Thyroid disease is another reasonably common disease in older cats - the exact cause is still unknown, but affected cats will have an overly active thyroid gland, which increases their metabolism - often they are ravenous, yet lose weight. 

 As well as medical problems, older cats can suffer from a form of dementia, and other behavioural problems. They may struggle to groom, or keep their claws short.  Dental problems are also common, sometimes requiring general anaesthesia and extractions.

What should I look out for in my elderly cat?

 Often signs of disease in older cats can be subtle and difficult to recognise until they are advanced. For example, kidney disease will cause weight loss, increased thirst, and maybe vomiting, but once this is obvious, the disease may be advanced and more difficult to manage. The first sign of kidney disease may be very mild weight loss, which wouldn’t be detectable. 

We recommend an annual check-up, especially once a cat is 7 years or older. Once they get to this age, we will watch their weight closely, and may start to recommend regular checking of urine samples, baseline blood tests, or checks of blood pressure.  Generally, the sooner a disease is discovered, the more likely we are to curb its advancement.  If in between annual check-ups you notice the following things, then you should also make an appointment for a check-up:

• Changes in appetite

• Weight loss

• Drinking more often or drinking a larger amount per day 

• Stiffness, lameness or difficulty in jumping up

• Lethargy

• Lumps or bumps anywhere on the body

• Balance problems

• Toilet accidents or difficulty passing urine or faeces

• Disorientation or distress

• Uncharacteristic behaviour, such as hiding, aggression, excessive vocalisation

What can I do at home for my elderly cat?

 If you are caring for an older cat, then you should start to pay increased attention to their appetite and drinking habits - watching for increases in thirst, or any changes in appetite.  Switching to a diet especially formulated for senior cats should be considered for any cat over the age of 10. 

Older cats may appreciate an effort to decrease the amount of jumping they need to do - providing steps to help guide them to the high places they prefer to be, or making their food bowls more accessible. Switching to wider food bowls is also sometimes appreciated by older cats.  

Cats that have previously toileted outside may now prefer to use a litter tray indoors. 

Sometimes we notice that cats become less interested in playing with their toys as they age - often this is less about the urge, and more about the type of play required - they may no longer want to chase and leap and pounce, but might be interested in more simple play things like a cardboard box, a soft catnip toy, or a bunny kicker.  Older cats may no longer find it comfortable to use vertical scratching posts, so offering horizontal ones may be a good alternative. 

Regular grooming (brushing out matts, clipping nails) will also make an older cat more comfortable. 

Please feel free to contact us if you have an older cat and have any questions about looking after them.

What’s the deal with indoor-only cats?

In New Zealand, it is the norm for us to let our cats enjoy the outdoors. Some cats are kept indoors overnight, with outside access during the day, while others have round the clock access to the outside. However, it is becoming increasingly popular to confine cats to indoor living.  There are some big health benefits to this - if cats don’t go outside, they cannot be injured on busy roads, by other cats (or dogs!), they are less likely to come into contact with poisons, or to get injured climbing trees. Cats kept solely indoors are also less likely to contract infectious diseases, or parasites (although this can still happen). 

However, there are some downsides - the main one being that some cats can get frustrated if they aren’t able to express their natural hunting instincts and can develop worrying behaviours related to boredom and stress, such as inappropriate urination. And of course, indoor-living isn’t entirely risk-free - houseplants, household chemicals and climbing curtains can pose risks to indoor cats. 

If you decide to keep your cat 100% indoors, there are some things you can do to ensure that they stay stimulated and well-adjusted, and hopefully avoid some of the problem behaviours that can occur in indoor-only kitties.

1. Provide ample opportunity for hunting/predatory behaviour - the obvious outlet for this is toys - especially ones which need to be chased and pounced upon (like feathers on a wand). Small balls are also good. When using an interactive toy like a wand, you can try to mimic how prey would behave in the wild - getting progressively ‘weaker’ and slower as your cat is playing. Let your cat successfully ‘catch’ the toy from time to time, this will help their sense of satisfaction. My previous post also talks about how to feed your cat their food in a way that encourages them to have to work a little harder for it.

2. Let your cat mark their territory. Even if there is no direct threat from other cats, it is important that your cat can mark it’s territory and display marking behaviours. Scratching posts are ideal for this - they are equally important to provide for cats with outdoor access, but for indoor cats it may be their only outlet for this behaviour.

3. Make sure cats can perch somewhere with a view - cats love being up high, whether it’s sitting on a fence or up a tree, where they can look down on the action. Providing a raised spot with a view (for example a cat tower near a window) can provide your cat with some stimulation during the day, especially if your cat is home alone. Some people build purpose-built shelves and steps for this purpose.

4. Bring the outdoors in - cat grass can be bought from garden stores and provides an opportunity for your cat to eat some grass - most outdoor cats will eat grass from time to time, and it can be useful to stimulate vomiting if they have a particularly large hairball that needs clearing. Catnip can also be grown indoors and can be fun for a cat to interact with (some cats will go really loopy after rubbing against or chewing on catnip).

5. Consider giving your cat some company? If you are getting a new kitten and want to keep it indoor 100% of the time, then you could consider getting a pair of kittens, provided you have the space for two. Kittens from the same litter are likely to get along well, and can provide company (and a playmate) for each other. Introducing a new cat to your resident cat can be a little more fraught, and may end in disaster if not approached correctly, so best to get some advice from your vet if you are considering doing this.

6. Change things up - rotate toys around and regularly introduce new ones. Make sure things aren’t too static - cats can get bored of their toys if they play with them too much. Get creative - leaving a cardboard box open on the floor, or a paper bag with a few treats in it can entertain a cat for several hours, and gives them something interesting to explore.

7. Watch the calories - indoor cats tend to be more sedentary, and will spend more time sleeping than a cat that has outdoor access, so make sure you feed an appropriate diet - it needs to be lower in calories, than a standard cat food. Several pet food companies make diets specifically marketed for indoor only cats, some of which can be useful.

An alternative to indoor-only living for cats that is gaining popularity is the ‘catio’ - an outdoor enclosure that the cat can access from the house (e.g. via a cat flap or window) - they have the benefits of being indoor only (no access to other cats, vehicles etc) but also get to enjoy a little of the outdoors (and may be able to chase insects, lie on some grass, scratch some trees and climb a fence).  This option is a  ‘best of both worlds’ scenario, but is difficult for those people renting, and can be expensive, depending on how big you want to go!!

If you do have an indoor only cat and are worried about his or her behaviour (for example, if he or she is peeing outside the litter tray, or scratching in unwanted areas), then please give us a call for some advice or to make an appointment. Usually we will suggest we check your cat for any medical problems, then we assess your situation and provide advice to help increase your cat’s happiness and well-being.

HOW SHOULD I FEED MY CAT?

 For many pet cats, feeding time is one of the highlights of their day…in the wild, rather than sitting down to eat once or twice daily, they would spend long periods hunting small prey (mice, insects, moths, small reptiles) and long periods of time in between at rest. Many hunting/capturing attempts fail (they more often than not come away empty handed) - it is estimated that they end up eating 10 - 20 small catches during a single day. 

Putting down a full bowl of high quality food once daily (or even leaving a bowl full at all times) is not really encouraging any ‘work’ from your cat, and therefore doesn’t provide stimulation. 

Anyone who owns a playful cat will know that the urge to hunt, pounce and chase remains strong, despite thousands of years of domestication.  If the ability to express these traits isn’t provided in your home, then they may look for them elsewhere (watch out birds!). 

Providing toys with which cats can play is part of this essential environmental enrichment but adjusting your cat’s feeding can be helpful also. 

Feeding your kitty multiple small meals during the day is ideal. Puzzle feeders are fantastic - these can be made DIY style out of egg cartons or toilet rolls (lots of ideas can be found on Google), or purchased from pet retailers. 

For my cat Beanie, he gets a small amount of dry food scattered in his bowl in the morning, then another small amount put into a puzzle feeder (which he has to reach his paws into to grab biscuits) before I leave for work. When I come home, he will have another snack, and we do a little ‘training’ with treat rewards (so far I’ve only taught him to stand up on his hind-legs but it’s early days).  He gets wet food at night, which is a strong cue for him that the day is over, and he can have a big sleep on a full belly…  If I am out of the house for an extended period of time, I try to leave a few biscuits in about half a dozen places round the house (on the top of his tower, under the chair etc). 

Feeding like this does leave you prone to overfeeding, so it’s a good idea to measure out the daily ration of biscuits at the start of the day and then keep dipping into this as the day goes by.

For more information about the ideal way to feed your cat, check out the ‘Five-a-day Felix’ report that some of the UKs top feline veterinarians and behaviourists compiled:  https://icatcare.org/sites/default/files/PDF/five-a-day_felix_report_final.pdf

WHAT SHOULD I FEED MY CAT?

The million dollar question - what is the best diet for my cat? Should I feed biscuits only? What about wet food? Pet milk? And what’s the big deal about raw food?

Now more than ever we are overwhelmed with choices of what we can feed our pet cats. Gone are the days of putting down some meat and a bowl of milk. Advances in knowledge about feline nutrition have led to a huge decline in nutritional deficiencies, and an increase in life expectancy. We now know just how unique cats are in their requirements. They are obligate carnivores, sourcing most of their energy from protein rather than carbohydrates. There are a number of amino acids that they require for good health that aren’t available in some foods (and definitely aren’t present in dog foods) - these include taurine, arginine and thiamine. 

As cats are living longer, diseases such as kidney disease, diabetes mellitus and thyroid disease are becoming more common, and so there are efforts to discover what we can do to help prevent or delay the onset of such diseases. We have made huge advances, such as now having available prescription diets which are the mainstay of management of chronic kidney disease - in fact it has been shown that switching a cat with kidney disease to a prescription diet will lead to it living a good quality life for on average 12 months longer than a cat that remains on a standard adult diet. 

When you get a new cat or kitten, a visit to the pet-food aisle of the supermarket, or the pet store, is nothing short of overwhelming. Every product claims to be superior. Some are much cheaper than others, some claim to be more ‘natural’, or ‘grain free’, and some have fantastic marketing campaigns showing gorgeous healthy cats. 

To help you navigate through these choices, we’ve tried to simplify what you need to look for.

1. Wet or dry?  A bit of both! For many years we believed that a diet made up of dry food only was perfectly fine for cats to be fed their whole lives. As our understanding of nutrition and disease increases, it has become apparent that the feeding of wet food (cans or sachets) has advantages. Providing some moisture in food means that cats have to drink a little less to keep hydrated, which in turn is likely easier on their kidneys. Feeding wet food is also a more rewarding ‘ritual’ between you and your cat - they enjoy the smell of wet food more, and so tend to interact with you more when you are putting food down. This predictable daily ritual provides security and an increased sense of wellbeing for your cat.   

Although there are some people who advocate feeding solely wet food, there is no evidence that this has any advantage over a mixed diet of wet and dry food. In addition, eating wet food does not help keep teeth clean at all.  Although dry food isn’t perfect either, it does play a role in keeping gums healthy.  Also, dry food can be scattered around the house, hidden in puzzle feeders, and used as a treat during training exercises.

2. A complete and balanced diet, or AAFCO approval.  This is a minimum baseline, not a gold standard. “Complete and balanced’ is a term applied to a food that can be fed alone for a period of time and will meet all the basic nutritional needs of your cat.  Most cat biscuits available in New Zealand are complete and balanced. Many wet foods, broths, treats and raw food diets are not (AAFCO approved foods are usually clearly labelled, while non-AAFCO approved often refer to being fed as an occasional treat). 90-100% of your cat’s daily diet should be ‘complete and balanced’.

3. A high quality diet.  This is where cost comes into play. Although you can buy ‘complete and balanced’ diets at very low cost, they are unlikely to be the same quality as a more expensive option.  

When we talk about quality we mean: 

- the quality and source of the meat protein used 

- the consistency of the protein used in the diet (some brands will use different sources of protein for each batch of food, depending on what is cheapest at the time - these changes can upset your cat’s stomach)

- the amount of cereal-based fillers used (higher quality foods use less fillers, which means you feed less)

- the amount of ‘optional extras’ (such as fish oil for a shiny coat, added anti-oxidants etc). 

We recommend you buy the highest quality food you can manage - those available at pet stores and vet clinics tend to be higher quality than those at the supermarket. Pet food up on the top shelf of the supermarket tends to be higher quality than food at eye level.

4. Kitten or adult food?  If you have a growing kitten, you should feed it a diet formulated especially for kittens. We recommend feeding a kitten diet until your cat is approximately 12 months old.  

5. Water, not milk.  Cats should be offered fresh water at all times. Most cats are lactose intolerant and cannot digest milk properly. Pet milk is lactose free, and may be enjoyed as a treat.

6. What about raw diets? In line with human dietary trends which are moving away from processed foods, feeding pets a ‘more natural’ raw diet has become increasingly popular. These diets are usually made up of a mixture of meat, tendon and offal, and are usually stored frozen. Some, but not all, are AAFCO approved.  At this point, there is no evidence that these diets have any health benefit over high quality commercial diets. They can expose animals and their owners to harmful bacteria and parasites (such as diarrhoea causing E.coli and Salmonella). If the diet is not balanced, then nutritional deficiencies (such as taurine deficiency) can develop.  Veterinarians are driven by science and evidence - we know that commercial diets are effective, healthy and safe when fed long term, but at this point we are not able to say the same about raw food diets.

7. How about bones?  Never feed your cat bones, including chicken bones. 

Stay tuned for my next post about HOW we feed our cats……

MARCH 22, 2018

About Dr Kate (well, kind of about Dr Kate…).

The first two were Sally and Cindy…two black domestic short haired farm cats, that arrived when I was two. I remember that despite having no distinguishing markings, I could tell them apart by the shape of their faces. They weren’t particularly affectionate, living mainly outdoors - we put their food down in a shed outside.  I can’t recall which cat went first, but they were only about 8 or 9 years old, and one died shortly after the other…

Then came ‘my’ first kitten, when I was seven - our neighbours bred Persians, and I got to choose my own from the litter - a calico girl who I named Scallywag. I was about 7 years old, and I would put her in a baby bassinet to sleep, dress her up in dolls clothes and celebrate her birthday every year. She too wasn’t particularly affectionate. She needed bathing and clipping regularly - her coat wasn’t designed for an outdoor way of life on the farm. I would put her in the sink, cover her in shampoo, rinse her, then blow dry her with my mum’s hairdryer. Persian’s aren’t the most robust breed - her squished up face meant her tear ducts didn’t work well - her eyes would run, and she would sneeze, and her face was permanently dirty. Sometimes she would sit on my lap for a short period of time, and she would let me carry her in my arms like a baby, but in general she acted as if she loathed me, actually hated me. She would glare at me, look down her nose, swish her tail and walk away, giving me a clear view of her backside as she went.  To top it off, I was allergic to her, sneezing and developing hives over my arms after cuddling her. One day when she was in her teens, I came home from university to find she had gone completely blind. She was navigating her way around the house using her whiskers - she was so good at this my mum hadn’t even noticed. 

Off I went to university in Auckland, flatting on a street where a small, scabby, friendly little cat (another calico) would frequent all the houses - sleeping on chairs and beds, and presumably getting fed somewhere. Coincidentally I later moved into the house which fed her and found out her name was Possum. I claimed her and took her to a vet where a flea allergy was diagnosed. I was also told she was ‘very old’ as most of her teeth were gone. This was 1997. Possum moved flat with me several times, and eventually was relocated to my parent’s house in Christchurch when I left to study Veterinary Science in Melbourne. “That bloody cat” was a frequent refrain…despite not liking cats particularly, she squirrelled her way into my father’s affections, eventually claiming a spot on a specially placed pillow between my parent’s heads on their bed.  Don’t worry, I’d told them when I left her with them in 2002 - she’s very old, she won’t last long. It was nearly another eight years when she developed kidney disease and needed to be euthanased. My parents now have a framed picture of her, displayed proudly on the shelf in their bedroom, alongside ones of their children. 

In Melbourne, I moved into another house with a resident cat - Pot the blue domestic medium hair (she was named after a glass of beer - these are called pots in Victoria). She was friendly, and playful with us, but generally timid. She existed on a diet of raw kangaroo, which made her fat and unhealthy, and I quickly realised at risk of all sorts of deficiencies. After two years of vet school, and while working part time as a vet nurse, I got her diet sorted, her weight down, and she was a much happier, more energetic cat. She came back to New Zealand with me and settled into life firstly on a farm in North Canterbury, then later to our home in Christchurch.  She was in the house on the day of the February 22nd 2011 earthquake, but immediately fled (as did we) - I came back daily to call for her, and she came out of the bushes eight days later, skinny, but otherwise unharmed. We had to relocate to my parent’s house for some months, so she came with us. When we moved home, she was too frightened and traumatised to settle back in, so she became yet another cat to retire with my parents. They never really warmed to her like they did Possum, but they took good care of her, and she enjoyed the childless peace of my parent’s house, until her chronic pancreatitis got the better of her and she was euthanased at 14 years old. 

For the first time in memory, I had no cat. The hiatus lasted some years, then in 2016 Beanie entered our lives - under the pretence of a birthday gift for my son, he came through the RSPCA. A black and white tuxedo boy - I’ve always loved black and white cats. And my first male cat! He’s gorgeous, we love him, he’s funny, and playful, but will lie alongside me in the bed at night - squishing right up against me. He lets my son pick him up and carry him around the house. He’s become a hunter though - he will catch a mouse daily, which is fine, but now has started on the birds, which is not…