How to make your old cat happy

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Hercule04isis04We asked our angels Hercule and Isis to teach us good advices on how to make an old cat happy. You know, we’re still young kitties (very young, Pixie, indeed), and we don’t have that kind of knowledge yet.

Here are their advices :

  1. As we are what we eat, give your old cat good and healthy food, digestible, tasty, and easy to chew if he has some teeth issues. If you’re lost because there is plenty of different kinds of senior food and complements, ask your vet.
  2. Play with your old cat ; he’s maybe not as fast as before, but his inside kitten still loves to play with you ! It will keep him fit too. Think of adapting the speed, the intensity and the duration of the game session, he shouldn’t die from breathlessness either.
  3. The outside is getting more and more dangerous for him : your old cat can easier get lost, injured, or attacked : if it’s possible, try to keep him in a safe and fenced area of the garden, or inside if he accepts it. Hercule was fed up with freezing his bottom, and Isis didn’t like being disheveled by the wind, then they didn’t get out more than the end of the nose.
  4. Make sure that your old cat can reach easily all necessary places : favorite nap spots, food bowls, and litter box. Adapt every access by removing mess, installing staircases or ramps to help him reach these places. Or be a full-time slave and carry him where he wants to go.
  5. Let your old cat sleep in peace, don’t disturb him or annoy him. Don’t make him move or do anything, he’s too old. Moreover, who would like to be woken up middle of his nap ?
  6. Some litter box issues may happen : put the litter box on an easy-to-clean floor, and forgive your old cat. He is as embarrassed as you.
  7. As old cats are more likely to have health problems, go more often to the vet for regular checkups (several times per year) – Hercule, how can you make us write something like THAT ?!?
  8. Don’t forget to give your old cat a lot of love and to pet him. Yes, he can maybe smell a bit because it’s now difficult for him to wash properly, yes, his fur is not so shiny than before anymore, but he’s always your beloved little furry ball !

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26 thoughts on “How to make your old cat happy

  1. Timmy Tomcat

    Being da elder states cat here ah do like all you say.
    Dad has me on good food for some time now as I was a kibble addict and was a big fat cat with sore feet from all the weight. Living with Dad fur a few years I am a healthy 14. Ah like to run just not as long.
    Thanky Thanks
    Pixie you listen to Zorro. He a smart house Panfur
    Yer Buddy
    Buddy Budd

  2. Kitties Blue

    We like the idea of #4 and making Mom or Dad carry us everywhere when we get old. This was an excellent post with very good info. THANKS. “Hi,” to Zorro and Pixie. XO, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

  3. Maxwell, Faraday & Allie

    So very, very true. And a nice assist up to the bed – like a step or a chair – wouldn’t be amiss either !
    Old cats should never ever be abandoned like so many we see at our shelter. It hurts our hearts to think someone would just bail on them because they are aging!!!

  4. da tabbies o trout towne

    great advice zorro & pixie….we would like to include that sometimes our hearing and sight isn’t as good as it used to be either ♥

  5. Nerissa's Life

    Accordin’ to the charts, I’m gettin’ up there. Turned eleven, this year. But I’m still a kitten at heart and quite frankly, I’m plannin’ on stayin’ that way.

    Purrs,
    Nissy #Niss4Senate – tell the PM, today.

  6. Oui Oui

    Very good advice! Our mom takes Julie & Carl in to be groomed once or twice a year, just to help them out with all that work. They are brother & sister and are 17 years old.

  7. Piranha Banana

    Our older cat in the family Hobie (he was one week shy of 22 when he passed) stopped grooming himself. So we had to brush him often and at times take him in for a grooming…. I guess geriatric cats go through this…

    When cats stop grooming themselves, their fur can become clumped because the cat no longer grooms out the extra fur on his body (hence occasional hairballs cats spew). Brushing is needed to keep this in check and sometimes more.

  8. Robin

    Pawsome tips! When our cats get old, we have to make each day count. You never know how many days you will have left together! It is so important to adapt to their changing needs and love them as much as you ever did. 🙂

  9. Hannah and Lucy

    What age is a cat considered old? We know we aren’t yet – the last cat before us was about 20 when she died and she still could jump up via a wall and a pillar onto the garage roof but alas she couldn’t see well enough to jump down safely as her sight was very poor so Mum used to have to life her down.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

  10. Kitty Cat Chronicles

    Very good info! We are all still very young here, but one day we will be old and we hope our mom will do all of these things for us! We know she will 🙂

    P.S. We have nominated you for a few awards over on our Thankful Thursday post today!

  11. Marg

    That is some mighty good advice for older cats. We have three or four older cats here and they all appreciate some good attention and ask for it. This is a great post.

  12. Fur Everywhere

    This is really great advice. Senior pets deserve some extra pampering! If Jewel wants somewhere where she has to jump, I will put her up and get her down because she can’t jump anymore. But there’s no reason she shouldn’t have a human slave to help her get to where she wants to go 🙂

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