My 12yo Male Cat Is Going Into The Senior Years...what Food,medicine,etc, Can I Add To Help Him?

[empirefalls]

'My 12yo male Cat is going into the senior years...What Food,Medicine can i add to help him?'

Over the past 4 decades, I have had 3 cats hit the 18yo age, before passing away.
My 12yo male Cat is now going into the senior years. He is healthy however slowing down,starting to lose bone/muscle mass,perhaps hips are starting to be sensitive.

What traditional and new state of the art measures can i take to help him? I am thinking specialty food,vitamins, antioxidants. I have found Broccoli is doing wonders for me, wondering if broccoli is toxic to cats. I got the extra padding, extra comfy beds for him.
I am especially concern at this time of his losing bone/muscle mass, And doing what i can do for it.

 

[Ardina]

While broccoli is technically not toxic to cats, it really does nothing for them - cats can't digest plant matter effectively. To prevent muscle loss, you should feed a high quality, canned diet that has meat as the first several ingredients. The high protein will help slow or stop muscle wasting.

I would also suggest a vet visit, especially if he's losing weight. A "senior" visit every 6 months with regular bloodwork is not a bad idea either, so you can catch problems early.

 

[empirefalls]

"....high quality, canned diet that has meat as the first several ingredients. The high protein will help slow or stop muscle wasting...."

Any special-formula, name brand recommendations?
There are the Hill brands.

 

[denice]

The main thing is vet visits with blood work done more often. Many vets use what they call a senior panel to check on organ function.

High quality protein is the best thing for cats. A complete food which is the meat and liver in proper proportions and the needed supplements added to the food. A cat's system really isn't set up for things like broccoli. High quality protein does for cats what the veggies do for us humans.

 

[empirefalls]

I will skip the broccoli unless i see it as an ingredient in a cat food. One cat i had that lived to 18, liked eating broccoli. That left an impression as a possible key to longevity. Could be misleading too.
Blood tests definitely need to schedule and do.
Also, going to get my own scale so i can frequently weigh him instead of every 6 months.

 

[di and bob]

If you have had three cats live to 18, just keep up what you are doing! I applaud you for being such a good caretaker!
I found my seniors absolutely love heated beds, even when it is warm. Encourage lots of water too, dehydration is easily one of the problems encountered with seniors. As they reach that really old stage, I fed them what they would eat to keep them eating, they get pretty picky. My senior would meet me at the door meowing to see what I brought him. His favorite was Arby's roast beef and baked chicken from the deli.

 

[orange&white]

The fellow with two of the longest lived cats on record, fed his cats "among other things" bacon and eggs, asparagus, broccoli, and coffee with heavy cream. I expect it was the "other things" that kept them alive to the ages of 34 and 38.

I had a cat who loved broccoli and I'd give him one bite when I was preparing it for myself, which was not too often. So a little broccoli won't hurt your senior, but it's unlikely that it will do much for his longevity.

My own kitty is a senior now; he turned 13 last fall. I did a terrible thing and let him become overweight, but have him back to a good weight now. I'm afraid the excess fat did cause him a bit of arthritis in his hind legs/hips. To try to counter that, I supplement his diet with some unflavored gelatin which is rich in collagen protein. Getting gelatin into him would have been less expensive if he liked my homemade unseasoned bone broth. He doesn't like that, but he does like the unflavored product.

Senior cats simply do need more quality (animal-sourced) protein to combat "skinny old cat" syndrome. My cats eat a raw diet which I mix to be at least 50% protein. Preparing a homemade diet for your cat is a bit extreme for most cat owners, but you could supplement your kitty's diet with an ounce of meat (cooked or uncooked) every day or two as a healthy treat. Chicken or turkey breast have the highest grams of protein per ounce, without adding fatty calories. Other than that, look for cat food products with the highest protein content and make sure that protein is a meat-source, not corn or peas or other vegetable proteins.

 

[maggiedemi]

I was thinking the same thing! If your other cats lived until 18 years old, then obviously you are doing something right! Maybe you can give us some advice, my babies are only 3 1/2, but I want them to live until at least 18. I agree that canned food probably helps, since the moisture is good for them.

 

[Ardina]

"....high quality, canned diet that has meat as the first several ingredients. The high protein will help slow or stop muscle wasting...."

Any special-formula, name brand recommendations?
There are the Hill brands.

I'm not particularly up to speed on brands, since I feed my cats homemade raw. That being said, Hill's is generally considered poor quality since it's filled with corn, wheat, and other fillers. I would suggest going to the local pet store, picking up a few different brands, and just reading the ingredients. Price is not necessarily correlated with quality. For example, fancy feast classics is fairly high in animal proteins but also on the cheaper side in terms of cost. Nature's variety Instinct is also high in protein, but tends to be expensive. Weruva is considered good, but is heavy on fish. And of course, picking the best quality food doesn't mean your cat will be willing to eat it either. So you may have to experiment with different brands, flavors, and cuts. I would also avoid any "senior formulas" or "for mature cats" - they tend to be lower protein and lower calorie.

 

[empirefalls]

The last cat i had that lived to 18, loved broccoli. She would smell it on someone's plate and beg for it. Also,some dog food flavors have broccoli in it. When we gave the dog a can of dog food with broccoli, the cat would pick eat the broccoli out of the dog food. I am taking the advice of people in this thread about broccoli and cats, just wondering why one cat we had, had such a craving for it. People who are their 80s,90s, often get asked, what's their secret. Broccoli has been an answer. William Shatner for one.

Incidentally, a Maine Coon. Male.
I have seen cat food especially for "Maine Coons". Expensive. Are they that special?

 

[Ardina]

Maine Coons, while very big, are still cats and have the same nutritional requirement for animal protein, just a lot more of it. The breed specific foods are just silly branding so they can charge you more. Again, I'd look at the ingredients before picking a food.

 

[empirefalls]

Thanks everyone for replying.

About My 12yo male Cat going into the senior years.
Should i start considering, giving him a Cosequin type medication?
Seems his hips may becoming more sensitive...does not like them touched even light taps. He still jumps up on tables ,etc.

 

[happilyretired]

As with humans, all meds have negative side effects, so I would not give anything unless sure it was absolutely necessary. As others have mentioned, getting a good 'senior' check up by a vet would be good, and a vet would be able to assess whether or not the cat is in any pain or simply has more limited mobility with age.

A cat who continues to eat well and eliminate normally is usually fine. By 'senior' time, they spend a lot of time sleeping, and that's just natural for their age.

 

[empirefalls]

Re Good advice