What to Feed an Older Cat That Is Losing Weight?

If you keep your cat from his or her babyhood, he or she will accompany you for 10 to 15 years in the most ideal case. For most species of cat, 10 years old means entering the ranks of the elderly.

As your cat ages with you, a lot of changes happen to your cat silently. The needs of your cat’s body also vary with age and cats are more likely to fall ill during their golden years.

It is not a surprise that your cat loses weight after entering his or her old age because many diseases tend to attack older cats. Taking care of an older cat can be a challenge for any owner and you should learn how to adjust your cat’s diet according to the condition.

When do Cats Start to Get Old?

7 years old is in the middle age for most cats and “senior care” programs will be suggested to be provided to your cat.

From 0 to 2 years, it is the growth stage. Two years old for a cat means 24 years old for a man. After that, your cat becomes an adult and grows slowly. He or she will enter into the senectitude at 10 years old, 56 years old for a man.

The wasting and weakening of the tissues accompany the senescence of your cat. The older your cat is, the more diseases are likely to come to your cat. Due to aging bones and body function decline, your cat will be less likely to exercise and get a poor appetite.

Fortunately, you still have plenty of ways to help your cat live more comfortably during his or her final years.

High Protein vs Low Protein

Food supply is one of the most important parts of caring for your older cat. What to feed an older cat was a debated topic. The major point of contention is the daily intake of protein.

The old-fashioned view is to feed elderly cats a reduced protein diet. For many years, veterinarians recommended reduced protein diets for older cats. From their point of view, the protein in commercial pet foods is of poor quality and the long-term intake of this kind of protein compromises your cat’s kidney and liver function.

To reduce your cat’s digestion burden, low protein food is more suitable for an elderly cat.

However, these veterinarians failed to take the physical needs of elderly cats into consideration. For animals, food has to meet their needs. So, what kind of food to feed your cat must depend on what he or she needs.

Luckily, an increasing number of veterinarians are becoming aware of the fact that elderly cats actually need more protein than when they were young. And the experimental results show that strict control of the protein intake didn’t contribute to adding years to older cats’ life or enhancing their health.

As a carnivore, cats can’t live without protein. Dr. Delmar Finco’s work uncovered the fact that cats who have been fed low protein diets developed hypoproteinemia and the less protein your cat takes, the more severe the case will be. The real culprit of kidney disease is phosphorus in food.

The best way to get your older cat to gain weight and stay healthy is to provide him or her with food and water as needed. The specific diet plan should be drawn up with your veterinarian. However, the plan is just the beginning to help your cat. Implementing the diet plan and recording the taken food weight is significant because it needs to adjust the plan according to your cat’s condition.

Feeding your cat by hand shows your care for him or her, but makes it difficult for you to measure the daily intake of your cat. Fortunately, Lionpapa’s automatic cat feeder and the cat water fountain are designed to help you.

The former has the best timed automatic cat food feeder system that supports both automatic and manual modes and you can set the scheduled time and food portions strictly according to your plan; the latter: the transparent water level window design allows you to easily know the water level status and how much water your cat has drunk.

Hope every cat can enjoy his or her old age in peace.