Senior Kitizens
At Manchester Cat Clinic, we love our Senior Kitizens and want them to live the most comfortable lives they can.
Our Healthy Cat Plan helps owners to spread the cost of routine health checks and preventative care, ensuring that they get everything that they need to live a long and (most importantly) happy life.
There are a number of illnesses which are very common in older cats but may have previously been ignored and under-diagnosed as people may assume that old cats are supposed to be slow, or skinny, or have bad teeth! We now know that actually many of these conditions are treatable and that older cats can live much better lives if we detect them early and treat them promptly. Many of these conditions have no symptoms initially but can progress in ways that can shorten a cats life and make them less comfortable, so regular vet visits to screen for these issues are very important.
The most common health conditions we see in older cats are...
Dental disease
At every routine health check, we will perform a full physical examination including a dental check. If your cat has dental disease, we will discuss treatment options and preventative care with you.
For more information about dental disease and the treatment available at Manchester Cat Clinic, click here.
Petplan pay out more in claims for mouth and dental problems than any other condition in cats. This shows how prevalent dental disease is and how important it is to look for dental cover when choosing your pet insurance.
Kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most common diseases we see in middle aged to older cats.
This page from iCatCare gives a thorough explanation of what CKD is, how it is diagnosed and how we manage it.
At Manchester Cat Clinic, we start screening for kidney disease when your cat reaches 7 years of age by checking their urine concentration at annual health visits. Cats with kidney disease lose the ability to concentrate their urine, so it becomes abnormally dilute. As the disease progresses, they drink and urinate more and their urine becomes more and more dilute, putting them at risk of dehydration.
We can also screen for kidney disease using blood tests, and use them to stage the level of a cat's kidney disease. We follow the IRIS guidelines for staging and treating CKD.
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
High blood pressure is described as "the silent killer", as many cats have high blood pressure without showing any symptoms but without treatment it can have serious effects on the rest of the body.
This page from iCatCare gives a thorough and detailed explanation of hypertension in cats.
At Manchester Cat Clinic, we start screening for hypertension when your cat reaches 7 years of age by checking their blood pressure at their annual health visits. Senior and Super Senior cats on our Healthy Cat Plan have their blood pressure checked every 6 months.
Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is a common condition of older cats, caused by an abnormally high production of thyroid hormone.
The iCatCare website and the Hyperthyroid Cat Centre have lots of information about the diagnosis and treatment of hyperthyroidism.
At Manchester Cat Clinic, we often screen older cats for hyperthyroidism using blood tests to check their thyroid hormone levels. Yearly thyroid blood testing is included in the Healthy Cat Plan for cats over the age of 10.
Osteoarthritis
Just like in humans, cats often get degenerative joint disease and arthritis as they age. The symptoms are often subtle as cats are experts at masking the signs of pain. They are unlikely to limp, but might show subtle changes in behaviour and day-to-day habits.
This page from iCatCare has lots of information about the signs arthritis in cats and how to manage it.
Zoetis, the manufacturers of Solensia, also have lots of helpful information on their website about spotting the signs of arthritis pain in your cat.
