Mary Allen
Cats are also getting older and the first ailments appear. But don’t worry: with the right diet, your senior cat will stay fit and healthy even in old age! Even possible chronic diseases and their treatment by your vet can be optimally supported with the right food for old cats.
The Right Food for Old Cats
There is no such thing as the “right” feeding method. Appropriate nutrition for your cat depends in particular on its needs! And not only growing cats have special demands on a species-appropriate diet. Especially when your cat is getting older and the first ailments appear, it has a high need for high-quality nutrients.
For senior cats, creating a good feeding plan with high-quality feed is essential so that they stay healthy and active even in old age! With age, cats often find it more difficult to utilize the nutrients offered. The teeth are no longer the best either, and chewing is more difficult. The cat is losing weight. In addition, there are possible chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney diseases, or obesity. In these cases, you should feed a special feed.
The Food Selection
With senior cats, it is, therefore, all the more important that the food offered is easy to digest. As with the composition of the food for adult cats, you should pay particular attention to a high-quality composition. Animal proteins are particularly easy to digest for cats – as carnivores, they do not need carbohydrates to produce energy. Any harmful ingredients such as animal and vegetable by-products should also be reduced as far as possible.
When buying ready-made feed, you can use the following criteria as a guide:
- Meat is at the top of the list of ingredients, if possible with a percentage and type of food.
- Caution: “Animal by-products” should be precisely defined!
- Plant components such as cereals and vegetables are also precisely specified. Vegetable by-products are listed separately. Depending on the species, they can make a valuable contribution to better digestion in old cats.
- There are no other undefined ingredients.
Wet food is often more suitable as food for old cats, as it is usually better to eat than hard dry food croquettes. Moist food has another advantage: it contains significantly more moisture than dry food.
In dry feed, the natural water content is greatly reduced during production in order to make the feed compact and durable. Since cats mainly ingest the necessary fluids through their food, a deficit can arise here, which can contribute to the development of kidney and bladder diseases. This is particularly dubious in older animals with possible previous illnesses!
Also not to be forgotten: in the production process of dry feed, vegetable components such as potatoes, peas, or alfalfa are often added. Even grain-free dry food therefore often contains up to 50 percent carbohydrates – a food component that cats only need to a small extent and can hardly use. This can stress the drainage organs. Wet food, on the other hand, suits the cat’s natural diet.
Chronic Diseases
In cooperation with the veterinarian, the feeding plan should also address any chronic illnesses of your senior tiger.
In cats with chronic kidney disease, a large proportion of the kidney tissue is often destroyed. The job of the kidneys is to filter metabolic waste from the blood and excrete it – this function is severely limited, especially in the chronic course. In order to relieve the organ, the salt, phosphate, and protein content of the feed should therefore be reduced or adapted to requirements, and, above all, high-quality feed components should be used. For cats with kidney disease, the vet often recommends a special food that is kind to the kidneys. Wet food is definitely preferable to dry food so that the cat receives enough liquid to flush the kidneys through.
The diet of cats suffering from diabetes mellitus also requires special attention. Our furry friends are able to maintain their blood sugar level only through the utilization of proteins – without any carbohydrates. Cats with diabetes are hardly able to use glucose for energy production due to a lack of the hormone insulin. The glucose accumulates in the blood and no longer reaches the body cells. By changing the diet to special diet foods and regular, precisely calculated feeding, the blood sugar level can be stabilized and any excess weight can be reduced. High-quality cat food with little or no carbohydrate content is always preferable. The exact feeding plan of a diabetes diet should definitely be discussed with the veterinarian!
If the Cat Does Not Accept the Food
It all sounds very simple, doesn’t it? But older house cats often know exactly what they want – and what they don’t. And they can be incredibly consistent when it comes to refusing high-quality special feed that is completely tailored to their nutritional needs. A few tricks are often required here.
When changing feed, it is important to proceed gradually. To slowly get your cat used to the new food, mix a small amount of the new cat food with the familiar food.