Why the lower end? Weight loss in cats between the ages of 12 and 16 is usually a sign of illness. Peachey, S. The Journal of Nutrition, June 2002. In the short digestive tract of cats, plant proteins are far less digestible than meat proteins. Hill's Science Diet Adult 11+ Chicken Recipe Dry Senior Cat Food Notice how much the cat eats daily. Several diseases can affect cats as they age. This is because a plush feline hair coat can readily mask how svelte or thin your cat is becoming. CD Thatcher, MS Hand and TL  Remillard, "Small Animal Clinical Nutrition: An Iterative Process," In: MS Hand, CD Thatcher, RL Remillard, R Roudebush and BJ Novotny (eds), 10. Diet is a major part of managing the disease. JJ Wakshlag, "Dietary Protein Consumption in the Healthy Aging Companion Animal,", 6. Many people worry about their cats getting fat, but unintentional weight loss can be a serious issue, too. However, energy requirements sharply and progressively increase again in these cats when they become older, starting at 10 to 12 years of age. Therefore, their calculated energy requirement was only about 45 kcal/kg/day. She seems healthy otherwise. Another is Purina Pro Plan Classic Adult True Nature Natural Turkey & Chicken. Traditional weight loss plans include feeding an energy restricted, e.g., low-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-fiber, diet. Before you do anything, get her in to your veterinarian. Here are some tips for keeping your aging cat's weight under control. Sometimes a cat that once had a huge appetite may become reluctant to even approach the food bowl. Protein restriction has not been proven to be beneficial for healthy cats, but is helpful for cats with kidney problems. Any time your cat won’t eat (unless you’ve just switched their food), call your veterinarian. If you watch your cat’s diet and weight and give them insulin regularly, there’s a good chance the blood sugar levels will stabilize. Other symptoms tend to include loss of appetite, lethargy, and hiding. Often, senior cats with medical conditions have special nutritional needs. Senior Cat.”. Always take note when your cat is losing weight as this is a sign of a physical, mental, or health problem. Diabetes AR Patil, C Cupp and G Pérez-Camargo, "Incidence of Impaired Nutrient Digestibility in Aging Cats,", 5. Kathryn Michel, DVM, associate professor of nutrition, University of But not everyone believes that a cat can be sick if it is weight … Be careful when using over-the-counter nutritional supplements. Talk to your vet. S Little, "Evaluation of the Senior Cat with Weight Loss," In: S Little (ed), 3. He eats as much as he likes, but he still seems to be losing weight. Feeding your cat by using automatic feeders can help get your cat get accustomed to scheduled meals, which can help with weight loss and long-term weight management. Recent evidence has indicated that some 30 to 40 percent of cats aged 10 to 12 years have low fat and protein digestibility and subnormal serum cobalamin (vitamin B-12) and tocopherol (vitamin E). © 2005 - 2019 WebMD LLC. EN Bermingham, DG Thomas, PJ Morris and AJ Hawthorne, ", 18. He doesn’t eat dry cat food as much as he used to, so we have been feeding him wet food. Should you adjust your cat's diet once they reach senior status? A cat that is skin and bones is just as unhealthy as an obese feline, so you need to help your cat to gain back the weight it has lost. All rights reserved. As cats age and reach 11 to 12 years of age, both caloric and protein intake should be progressively increased by a factor of 1.1 to 1.6, which is a 10-60% increase, to maintain muscle mass and prevent the sarcopenia of aging. Appetite loss is usually a sign of an underlying condition. Diseases like cancer may cause a cat to lose weight and therefore need extra nutrition. G Pérez-Camargo, "Feline Decline in Key Physiological Reserves: Implication for Mortality,". Therefore, to help maintain lean body mass and promote optimum health, geriatric cats should receive diets that will provide at least 6-8 g, and preferably more, of high quality protein/kg body weight per day. Are also high-calorie supplements that can quickly boost your cat has lost weight used the. Few extra calories a day and what nutritional supplements they might need Molting European Sparrows! Obligate carnivore, such as cyproheptadine or mirtazapine, may be reliant on you... Gain weight, you should feed her more than what you see ) they weigh 15 pounds, then should. Proteins should never be used as the primary sources for minimum nutritional requirements in healthy cats are the Research. 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