CUIDADOS de GATOS MAYORES: cambios físicos, de comportamiento y entorno que debes conocer y adaptar

Totoro, you're already 33 years old. It's time for us to start taking care of ourselves and your cat. H. Hello. I'm Carlos, a clinical veterinarian at Small Animals. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. It's possible that your cat is already old and you haven't even realized it. Do you know at what age we consider cats to be seniors? Wait, wait, wait. We're going to play a game. Let me know in the comments at what age you consider a cat to be senior, and I'll tell you the result in no time. And why am I making this video about senior cats? Seniors like little old people. Like, it happens to all of us. Cats and other animals. Their needs change throughout their lives. And when they become very old or quite elderly, they have specific needs that need to be met. But before we get into it, I have to answer the question I just asked you. When do we consider a cat to be senior? He's already quite old. Considering that a cat's life expectancy is usually around 15 years, according to the Internet. Although there are some cats that can live for more than 20 years, we consider cats to be seniors when they reach eight years of age. As you can see, it's practically nothing. In other words, your feline companion may already be a very senior cat, over 10 years old, and you haven't noticed. Why? Do you still see that your cat is very active? Or did you think that was only for older cats? And now that we know each other, the question will come in the comments. And how much is eight cat years? Well, eight cat years. There's no need to do any calculations or transformations. Just keep in mind that from that age onwards, some changes may begin to appear in your cat's behavior or in its way of acting in general. And another thing that I'm seeing through the camera, that is happening right now in a lot of houses. Oh, my God. My cat is already 10 years old. But how come I didn't realize that he's already a senior cat? What should I do? Well, calm down. That's what we're making this video for. And that's why today I'm bringing you the Senior Cat Pyramid, which is something I just made up just to explain the video. But anyway, I'll put it here for you. In this pyramid, we're going to see what you need to look for, on the one hand in your cat, on the other hand in their routines, and on the other hand in their environment. And also, what things can you change or adapt to make Your cat's life much better from now on. And if you stay until the end of the video, I'll tell you the age of the oldest cat I've ever cared for in my entire life. Let's start with the cat. The first and most important thing is that any change in these cats is significant. If you'll pardon the redundancy. If there are any changes, even if they are very small and your cat is over eight years old, the first thing you should do is call the vet, tell them about it, or take them to the clinic to see them. There you go. And that's all I have to do. End of video. No, no. Even though I'm not going to do your vet's job, I do have to tell you about the most important changes that can appear in older cats, which are the teeth and gums. Logically, if their oral hygiene has been a bit poor and we haven't worried about the condition of their teeth throughout their lives, it's normal for problems to start showing. From this age on, I recommend that you take a look at their mouth. And to do this, although I've already told you in other videos on the channel, you'll have to lift their lip and roughly see the color of their gums. Gums should normally be a pinkish color like ours, a little paler. If you see them red, that means there is a problem there and it is probably bothering your cat. Inflamed gums, as I have told you before, are a very important reason why cats stop eating. And at this age it is very important that cats are well nourished. Lets move on to number two weight. Older cats lose weight very easily. How can you tell if your cat is losing weight? Well, by weighing them. In fact, it is a very good exercise that you can start practicing with your cat. From the age of 8, you can weigh them about once a month by weighing yourself on the bathroom scale at home, with the cat in your arms and then by yourself. The difference will be the weight of the cat. And if you see that your cat is losing weight, you will have to act at that time. And how much weight is it normal for a cat to lose? Well, normally they do not lose any because they tend to remain stable. If you see that they are already starting to lose weight, more or less £2 is a significant amount of weight that the cat is losing. In other words, you should be concerned about that. If you don't have a scale at home, you can tell by touching your cat. Cats that are very thin are more bony and all the protrusions of their bones are more noticeable. So when you pet them, you will notice that their spine, the bones of their legs, and so on are perfectly visible. Let's move on to point number three. Have you noticed that your cat wets the litter box more or that they pee more in large quantities inside or outside of their litter box? This can be common in older cats because they tend to suffer from kidney problems, fractures, for example. So when they have these types of problems, they pee much more and also drink more water. Normally, your cat would continue to pee the same amount as it has always done. Let's move on to point number four. Has your cat's hair always been very silky and shiny? Isn't it true? Well, sometimes older cats start to have dirty, matted hair, and that could indicate that they don't groom themselves enough because their body hurts, because they can't twist and turn like the contortionists there to lick those areas. And that's why the hair starts to get greasy. In older cats, it's very important that we reinforce the hygiene that we give them. And if you didn't brush your cat before, you might have to start brushing them from the age of 8 to remove all that dead hair that they're shedding because you can't see it. Okay, let's go to the second vertex of the pyramid, which is routines. Well, these changes aren't as important as the changes you see in the cat itself. Physical changes tend to appear much more frequently, and you have to be a little more attentive to help your cat. Cats, like people, reduce their activity as they grow older. They don't play as much as they do when they're kittens. So you'll have to be on top of your cat to give it a little play, to encourage it to move a little, to exercise its joints a little, and to stop having its muscles looking like ornaments. But be very careful. Don't overdo it by giving your cat play if it's already older, because sometimes they hurt themselves and we don't realize it that day, we realize it the next day, which is when it starts to hurt and the cat doesn't want to get out of bed at all. Hey, you might notice this when cats are much older, but when it happens, keep it in mind. Also related to exercise and sports, it's very possible that since the cat moves less, it starts to gain weight. Okay, I know I told you before that you should be concerned if your cat is losing weight, because, well, that has to do with other diseases. That have developed with age. But if the cat is gaining weight, it is because it is burning fewer calories than it is consuming. That is why it is important to change the diet of older cats and give them a specific diet with slightly fewer calories and much higher quality proteins. Another reason why the cat may be moving a little less is because it has arthritis. Joints also wear out in older cats. It is very possible that you have noticed that your cat used to jump great heights, could climb easily, or climbed up to sleep on the sofa, and now has stopped doing so. Suspect osteoarthritis. If you are seeing this in your cat. Luckily the vet will be able to provide a solution to this problem of osteoarthritis and make their life much more comfortable. And as I always say, in these cases, you can help them a lot. Put things within reach, lower the bed to the floor, or if they jump on the sofa because they like it, put a step so they don't have to make such a big jump. But also related to behavior, some older cats start to behave a little strangely, like wandering around the house, not finding where they belong, suddenly meowing in the middle of the night for no reason. In these types of cases, it is very possible that the cat already has a little senile dementia. I already talked about this on the channel a long time ago in a video that you probably haven't seen, which I'm going to leave a link here so you can go and take a look. In any case, if your cat does this, don't make too many changes in their life. Always keep things more or less in the same place where they can easily find them. Also, if you've noticed that your cat has started to do its business outside of the litter box, give it more litter trays so that it doesn't have to look for them around the house and always has them where it can get the most. And now let's move on to the last vertex of the pyramid, the environment. And what's more basic in a cat's environment than its litter box? Is it possible that your feline companion has had a top door litter box all its life? Well, they're not the best idea for older cats because they have to climb up there to get into the tray. If the cat has any type of mobility problem related to arthritis, which I mentioned before, there are some litter boxes that are specially adapted for cats over 8 years old and with mobility problems, which are like a kind of dustpan, one of the parts is very, very low so that they can enter without having to lift their paws. Cat proofing an older cat's environment also requires you to make some small changes. For example, if your cat is losing some of its vision, these types of plugs that are used for small children may be very helpful so that they are not afraid of the night. They provide a little light so that they can better navigate at night when you and your family are asleep. And if we are talking about catification, it is also very important that you think about their toys to encourage them to move, which I have already recommended. You may have to put in a little more effort and the cat will be more interested in the toy. And how do you get a cat's attention? Well, obviously with food, the more succulent the food that you can put in, for example, in the toys, like the cat's toy or something like that that smells, the more incentive the cat will have to move. And in this way you will also encourage them to exercise and move. And that's it for our feline pyramid of older cats. But the foundation of the pyramid on which everything rests is that you need to take your cat to the vet more often for check ups. You might have taken your cat to the vet once a year when he was younger, thanks to which he got his vaccinations. In this case, I recommend that you increase the number of visits to the vet to around every six months so that any changes or problems, no matter how small, can be detected much earlier and addressed. And while making this video, I remembered the oldest cat I ever saw in the clinic, which was 24 years old. And I just have to tell you that I was younger than the cat itself. I was around 20 or 21 years old and I was still studying for a degree in veterinary medicine. He was quite a big cat, I. I remember. And he was a white cat or a light colored cat. And he also had very long hair, although a little dirty to be honest. And the cat was brought to the veterinary school hospital clinic and we were doing some X rays, but I don't remember exactly what he had. What a bad memory I have. And how old is your cat? Let me know in the comments. And also if you've started to see any of these changes that I've mentioned. And that's it for today's video. If you liked it, you give it a like and share it with everyone. Remember to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already. And remember that we also have a secondary channel here on YouTube called Questions and Answers from a Veterinarian. Go to it and subscribe. And on both, hit the bell so that YouTube will notify you if it wants every time we upload a new video. And today we meet nva, who wishes us good night with Fabiola, Fabi. And this little thing that makes you want to eat him is Zeus, who lives with Encarna and Penialberg. And we close with one of these diverse families. Noah, Igor, the Tao and lady live in Buenos Aires with Anita Mazzone. Thank you very much for following the Happy Pets and Families channel, and I'll see you in the next video. I mean, this shirt could be 12 years old or 10 years old, right? I know. I know what you're going to say. It could be 10 years old as the shirt. Come on.

Kind of offensive, right? Yeah, man. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. The Internet. You have to be very careful on the Internet. Please don't mess with the channel. I'm begging you. Okay.

And your cat, and your cat, and you.

And you and your cat.

Uh, Okay, I stopped you. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. Oh, oh, oh, oh. I did it really fast now. Yes. Uh, what you just told me. Can I put the outtakes? I don't know.

Seriously, I'm asking you. I don't.

No, I mean, whatever you want. When are we going to make that video? In May, right? Yeah, sure. Oh, I can't tell you the exact average age of a cat. The average age of a cat.