Senior Cat Food?

[Krienze]

Does anyone have any senior cat food recommendations? I'm thinking it's time to switch Isabel to senior cat food, but... i'm at a complete loss.

Has to be wet food, as she has no teeth.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Of all the cats I've ever had, I've never fed any of them senior food. I just don't feel it's necessary. Personally, I think it's kind of marketing hype. And I have read different articles on it. Mainly the articles written by cat food manufacturers say they need different nutrients. Articles written by Vets say there is no evidence that they do.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! Any particular reason you want to transition Isabel to senior food? If nothing is going on, I would keep her on her current food. Feeby (16+ yo) is not on senior food, although I have looked into them. When comparing them to 'standard' foods, there is not enough of a difference to bother - unless you have a specific reason for thinking you need to do so.

 

[Krienze]

Of all the cats I've ever had, I've never fed any of them senior food. I just don't feel it's necessary. Personally, I think it's kind of marketing hype. And I have read different articles on it. Mainly the articles written by cat food manufacturers say they need different nutrients. Articles written by Vets say there is no evidence that they do.

Oh, really? =/ I'm sad to hear that. I was under the impression maybe there was nutrients in the food that she wasn't getting in regular food. I normally feed her Tiki Cat but we haven't been giving it to her lately because we haven't been able to get to Petco due to the weather in our area. So she's been eating I and love and You. If senior foods aren't that big of a deal maybe I should just keep her on the Tiki? I've been worried she's not getting the nutrients she needs.

Hi! Any particular reason you want to transition Isabel to senior food? If nothing is going on, I would keep her on her current food. Feeby (16+ yo) is not on senior food, although I have looked into them. When comparing them to 'standard' foods, there is not enough of a difference to bother - unless you have a specific reason for thinking you need to do so.

Yeah! Isabel is 16, turning 17 this year. Most of the time she acts like a kitten still, but I'm worried lately that she's been over doing herself. We had two situations where she's sort of collapsed, yowled in pain....then got right back up the second we opened a can of food and was perfectly fine the rest of the day. We talked to the vet and he said to watch her, if it starts to happen more frequently to bring her in because these flop/yowl situations are literally only seconds before she bounces back and is perfectly fine -- plus we weren't sure if she tumbled. First time it happened it looked like she got spooked, stumbled back and flopped off the counter onto the floor. Honestly the very first time it happened I thought saddle thrombus, because that was what it looked like, but then my mom opened a can of food and she jumped up like 'Yeah, I'm fine. Can I have that?' The second time, she had jumped on the dryer and I think she might have caught her leg between the dryer and the washer and stumbled. She's pushing 17 and still thinks she's a kitten, so everyone seems to think what the issue is is her overdoing herself and getting stunned for a second when she realizes she CAN'T make those running leaps or jumps anymore. I thought maybe senior food might help, because she's ALWAYS ravenous, too. She goes through about 3 and a half cans a day, and always seems to want more. I don't believe she has parasites of any kind, because she's the ONLY one who uses the utility room litter box (specifically so I can monitor her usage of it given her age - that and she outright doesn't like the other litterboxes because the other cats use it x.x) and I haven't seen anything abnormal in there at all. No worms, etc.

 

[FeebysOwner]

We had two situations where she's sort of collapsed, yowled in pain....then got right back up the second we opened a can of food and was perfectly fine the rest of the day.

Maybe some arthritis that is provoked by her actions? Certain movements she makes might trigger some aggravation where the joints are being affected by arthritis. Has she ever had x-rays done to check for it? Might be worth it just to see. She can always be given joint supplements (glucosamine, chondroitin, and/or green lipped mussels).

As long as she is maintaining her weight, being ravenous is apparently just 'her'!! Go ahead, for your own peace of mind, and compare a couple of brands between the standard adult food and the senior food so you can see if there is any meaningful difference. As I said, on the few that I did that with, I just didn't see anything significant. I also did the same thing with kitten food, thinking that might be an option for Feeby, but again I just couldn't find enough of a difference for me to think it would matter.