What diseases do senior cats commonly get?
The major health risks seen in older cats are: • Obesity • Hormonal disorders such as hyperthyroidism and diabetes mellitus • Kidney disease • Liver disease • Neoplasia or cancer • Infections such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) • Periodontal disease • Heart disease • Osteoarthritis It is important to remember that while young cats usually have only one disorder at a time, this is often not the case in older patients, where diagnosis and treatment may be complicated by the concurrence of multiple interacting disease processes. While it is true to say that “old age is not a disease”, it does merit special attention. This is important so that if your cat develops disease, we can recognize and treat it as early as possible, thereby maintaining its quality of life for as long as possible.
