Change It Or Leave It?

[Graceful-Lily]

August 26th, Felix will be 9 years old. With his birthday coming up, I've had a lot of things on my mind with regard to his health and well-being. He's getting up there in age and I wanted to know if I should be adjusting his diet in any way or including things to support his aging body.

For example, maybe adding a supplement to support joints, eye sight, digestion, etc.

Should he be getting senior food? Does it really matter? As far as I know, senior food is less in fat and protein because of decreased mobility. Am I correct?

Felix doesn't move around as much as before so I had to cut back on his food and as a result, he's lost about 2lb.

Any and all advice is appreciate.

Thank you!

 

[kittyluv387]

Stick to high quality food, which is usually not the ones labeled for “seniors.” One good thing to do is feed him lower phosphorus foods. Kidney functions decline in cats as they get older. But you can mitigate this through lower phosphorus foods. Another beneficial thing for the kidneys would be to feed him 300mg of combined epa and dha per day. Kidney disease is inflammatory and Omega 3 fish oils are anti-inflammatory.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!

Kittyluve387 has great advice!

My boy is 14, loves his supervised backyard time, and I'm not utilizing senior food for either his canned or kibble

I think I'd try exercise, both for the mental as well as physical benefits as opposed to switching your baby's food.

These might help;

7 Proven Ways To Get Your Cat To Be More Active

Harness And Leash Training For Cats

Arthritis And Joint Pain In Cats

Nutritional Supplements: Does Your Cat Really Need Them?

What To Expect As Your Cat Ages

 

[Graceful-Lily]

How would I know which foods are low in phosphorous? And would sardines help with his omega 3 and 6?

 

[Furballsmom]

There is this that may be helpful with the phosphorus issue;

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

[Graceful-Lily]

Furballsmom and kittyluv387 - What do you guys think of FreshPet? Should I feed him that strictly then? Because from reading the chart, the foods I'm giving him are not that great.

 

[Furballsmom]

I will say I like that a big banner on their website says no ingredients from china, that's a big plus, and I personally also like that they don't utilize menadione. I think I'd tried freshpet with my Big Poppycat a while ago, I may try it again and see if his finicky palate has changed

Whether you feed him that only, or do a rotation is somewhat up to your budget. I'm one who gets paranoid of relying on one food/brand only and so my boy gets several brands.

 

[lakotawolf]

Do not fall into the "hype" of senior diets in regards to their protein content. Many vets (like mine) will try to tell you that your aging cat needs "less" protein. This is simply not true - do aging wild cats start switching to plant foods as they get older? Sigh.

Reducing protein in an aging obligate carnivore will only result in muscle wasting and loss of mass.

My old girl was diagnosed with kidney failure at age 14 and I switched her to an entirely-protein diet. My vet screamed bloody murder as he presented his case for the double-prong of "she is aging" plus "you need to take a load off her kidneys and reduce protein so you don't stress them as much". Let's just say that, long story short, she lived another 6 years on a raw diet - I never reduced her protein. It was only at the very end, when she was 19 years old, that her kidney failure got so bad that it finally started affecting her muscle mass and body.

2 lbs of weight loss is serious business in a critter as small as a cat. If your average kitty is 8 lbs, that's a loss of 25% of body mass! To compare, that would be as if a 140-lb human lost 35 lbs. It's really scary/worrying if it happens over a short amount of time - since Felix is aging, you may wish to invest in a baby or pet scale that has very precise measurements. It's worth it; with senior kitties you want to keep almost-daily track of their weight.

You might want to consider a vet appointment soonish; have his kidney values tested (both via bloodwork and urinalysis) and have his thyroid tested (T4 test). It's worth testing those values well in advance of any "obvious symptoms" as those conditions are nearly ubiquitous in older cats and cats hide obvious symptoms extremely well. My cat did not show ANY symptoms of her kidney failure until she was 14, and at that point, she had lost 80% of her kidney function. Catching that kind of stuff early is invaluable.

Also - Omega 3s are good stuff, but I would go for a high-quality Omega 3 supplement before I would feed actual sardines. Fish are NOT a good food for cats even in small amounts - it is an "unnatural" protein source for them and it can actually be harmful - Dr. Hofve goes over it in her article here: Why Fish is Dangerous for Cats – Little Big Cat

Long story short - I went through 6 years of nutrition research, hair-tearing, vet-shaming, and experience with my senior kitty - and I learned that it's best NOT to reduce protein in an obligate carnivore.

 

[Graceful-Lily]

No vet visit necessary. He had hyper-t so he's had several blood test and t4 checks between last year and this year. They told me his kidney's are good.

I learned to stop trusting that the vet has to say about diet when I had a puppy and all my cats on raw meat. The vet's reaction was equivalent to someone admitting animal abuse. She scolded me for such a "dangerous" choice in pet food.

Anyway, I'll have to invest in some omega-3 and omega-6. I only have evening primrose and I wouldn't want to give him that.

He's been getting goat milk and is loving it so far.

Forgot to mention... He started losing weight because back in April, the clinic he went to for treatment told me to cut back on his food so that's what I started doing. He still has his little beer belly. Not sure how or if that'll ever shrink up.

 

[Furballsmom]

He still has his little beer belly. Not sure how or if that'll ever shrink up.

Hi! Don't be concerned over the primordial pouch in relation to weight, my boy and lots of other cats have those

 

[Furballsmom]

If you haven't seen this before, it might be of use so that you know what to look for regarding an appropriate weight for your kitty;
https://www.petmd.com/sites/default/files/nestle_purina_cat_body_condition_chart_crop.jpg

 

[movinintime]

Do not fall into the "hype" of senior diets in regards to their protein content. Many vets (like mine) will try to tell you that your aging cat needs "less" protein. This is simply not true - do aging wild cats start switching to plant foods as they get older? Sigh.

Reducing protein in an aging obligate carnivore will only result in muscle wasting and loss of mass.

My old girl was diagnosed with kidney failure at age 14 and I switched her to an entirely-protein diet. My vet screamed bloody murder as he presented his case for the double-prong of "she is aging" plus "you need to take a load off her kidneys and reduce protein so you don't stress them as much". Let's just say that, long story short, she lived another 6 years on a raw diet - I never reduced her protein. It was only at the very end, when she was 19 years old, that her kidney failure got so bad that it finally started affecting her muscle mass and body.

2 lbs of weight loss is serious business in a critter as small as a cat. If your average kitty is 8 lbs, that's a loss of 25% of body mass! To compare, that would be as if a 140-lb human lost 35 lbs. It's really scary/worrying if it happens over a short amount of time - since Felix is aging, you may wish to invest in a baby or pet scale that has very precise measurements. It's worth it; with senior kitties you want to keep almost-daily track of their weight.

You might want to consider a vet appointment soonish; have his kidney values tested (both via bloodwork and urinalysis) and have his thyroid tested (T4 test). It's worth testing those values well in advance of any "obvious symptoms" as those conditions are nearly ubiquitous in older cats and cats hide obvious symptoms extremely well. My cat did not show ANY symptoms of her kidney failure until she was 14, and at that point, she had lost 80% of her kidney function. Catching that kind of stuff early is invaluable.

Also - Omega 3s are good stuff, but I would go for a high-quality Omega 3 supplement before I would feed actual sardines. Fish are NOT a good food for cats even in small amounts - it is an "unnatural" protein source for them and it can actually be harmful - Dr. Hofve goes over it in her article here: Why Fish is Dangerous for Cats – Little Big Cat

Long story short - I went through 6 years of nutrition research, hair-tearing, vet-shaming, and experience with my senior kitty - and I learned that it's best NOT to reduce protein in an obligate carnivore.

THIS IS EXACTLY TRUE w/ SO MANY VETS!

Sorry for yelling, lol, but it frustrates me, as either vet school taught zero nutrition (which is the case), latest studies are skewed toward the money interest of study performers or... the vets stand to lose as how can they profit from raw diets? They can't thus -- WHY they avoid it or say, it'll cause contamination or horrible diseases.

Cats have eaten from dumpsters or the animals/prey they killed (often sitting out in hot sun for hours/days) for centuries & how often you hear a cat getting salmonella, ebola, botulism, bubonic plague, etc.? I never heard any of this happen actually. Hmm...