What changes with age
Cats look young for a long time and hide pain and illness, so the signs of ageing slip by easily. An older cat sleeps more, jumps less, may groom less, and its appetite and thirst can change.
Some of this is natural, but more thirst, weight loss or changed habits at the litter box can be signs of illness. Once a month, weigh your cat and note how it eats, drinks and uses the box: it makes a change easier to spot.
A comfortable home
When the joints ache, jumping up to a favourite high spot gets harder, so put steps or a box there for a halfway jump. Keep the bed in a warm, quiet place, and choose a litter box with low sides so getting in is easy.
If your home has several floors, each should have a water bowl and a litter box. A cat drinks more when water is in several places or runs from a fountain.
Play and attention
An older cat still needs to play and hunt, just for shorter spells and more calmly. A few minutes a day with a wand toy or a hidden treat keeps both body and mind going.
If a younger pet joins the household, make sure the older cat has a place where it can rest undisturbed.
Vet visits and grooming
Your vet may suggest health checks more than once a year for an older cat, with blood pressure and blood and urine tests: this is how kidney and thyroid disease are picked up earlier. Mention every change you have noticed, however small.
An older cat keeps its coat less well, so help by brushing, especially along the back and near the tail. Check the claws too: a cat that scratches less does not wear them down, and overgrown claws can grow into the pads.
Food by age
Older cats differ: some put on weight because they move less, others lose weight and absorb food less well. Food for older cats is marked "senior" on the pack; when to switch depends on the cat's health.
Wet food helps a cat take in more fluid. If the cat has an illness, such as kidney disease, what to feed should come from your vet.
When a cat counts as senior
- Cats from 11 years
An approximate threshold from the international feline life-stage guidelines. For the age in human years, see the cat age calculator.
Changes worth noticing
Cats hide illness, so these changes can go unnoticed until a disease is well advanced. If you notice any of them, it is worth talking to your vet, and each sign's page explains what it can mean.
- Drinks more than before, sits by the water bowl or the tap more. Cat drinking more water
- More and bigger clumps of urine in the litter box. Cat urinating more
- Loses weight, the spine and hips start to show. Cat losing weight
- Eats more but does not gain, or even loses weight. Cat always hungry
- No longer jumps up to favourite high spots, or does it carefully, in stages. Cat no longer jumping up
- Goes to the toilet next to the litter box. Cat going outside the litter box
- Grooms less, and the coat turns matted or greasy. Cat grooming less
- Has bad breath, eats more carefully or drops food. Cat with bad breath
- Hides more, avoids people or other pets. Cat hiding
- Vomits more than the odd hairball. Cat vomiting
When to see a vet urgently
See a vet straight away if your cat breathes with its mouth open, suddenly loses the use of its hind legs, cannot urinate or strains in the litter box without result, has not eaten for more than a day, vomits repeatedly, has a seizure or suddenly cannot see.