Nutrition Tips For Ageing Felines

Cats are not as big as us or as dogs, but they undergo the same aging process.

- Dr. Dhananjay Pandit

Your senior cat may still look and act young, but that doesn't mean you should fill its feeding bowl with the same food it has always eaten. Depending on its health, your aging cat's diet may require a change.

Your cat may still be a kitten at heart, but from a nutritional standpoint, the commonly accepted correlation between human age and feline age is - one year in cat age is equal to seven human years.

During the first year of life, felines age to the equivalent of a human teenager. By the time most cats are two years old, they are like a 24-year-old adult human being. After two, they age at the rate of about four human years per cat year. Cats show middle age and retirement age at approximately 7 years and 11 years respectively. By the time a cat reaches his twelfth birthday, he is the equivalent of a 64-year-old human.

In their senior years, felines start to fall prey to many of the same ailments as we do. Some older cats experience a decreased immune response, altered glucose tolerance, decreased kidney function and several other changes like disorientation, reduced interaction, change in sleep patterns, house soiling, and reduced activity. So cats entering old age may benefit from eating food that is modified to meet some of their changing nutritional requirements.