Tag Archives: senior cats

June is Adopt A Cat Month, and here at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, we’re celebrating our feline friends with an entire month of blogposts devoted just to cats. I’m hoping many kittens and adult cats will find their “fur”ever homes this month. While many new pet parents will welcome playful kittens, some will choose to adopt older cats—and today’s blogpost is for them. I’ll be discussing a set of behavior changes occurring in senior cats: feline cognitive dysfunction, a disorder similar to dementia in humans.

The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), of which AMC is a member, maintains guidelines for the life stages of cats in conjunction with the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP). These purr-fectly tailored guidelines help veterinary professionals make recommendations for wellness care for cats of different life stages. The guidelines address four feline age groups: kittens (birth to 1 year of age), young adult (1-6 years of age), mature (7-10 years of age) and senior cats (> 10 years of age). In today’s blogpost, I’ll discuss the nuances of veterinary care for each of these age groups and the one thing all cat owners should do to ensure the health and vitality of their feline friends.

A week ago, the owner of an elderly cat contacted me because her cat was not doing well. “Fluffy looks so frail,” she said during our telephone chat. When I

Rudy (pictured) is one of my oldest feline patients. At 17 years of age, Rudy has a number of health conditions including small cell intestinal lymphoma, congestive heart failure, asthma