Like all of us, a cat’s health can go gradually downhill with aging. If you’ve got a kitty that’s more grey fur than black nowadays, you’ll need to keep an eye on them to ensure they are in good health. Take a look at these common symptoms in aging cats and what they might be to make sure you’re not missing something important.
Vomiting
Before you panic, cats vomiting can be for nothing. Causes of vomiting can range from a simple furball, to eating something they shouldn’t have, to an infection, to urinary tract diseases or even diabetes.
Vomiting can leave your kitty dehydrated, so give them some water once they’re done. If they keep vomiting or continue to be ill, contact your vet right away to get to the bottom of what the problem is.
If it does turn out to be something as simple as a furball, you’ll have spent a lot of money to figure that out at the vets, unless you have cat insurance, and you will be covered on vet bills, even for something as simple as a furball.
Feline UTDs
Some vets estimate that as much as 3% of cats have a condition as a part of FLUTD, or feline lower urinary tract diseases. They are a collection of conditions that are grouped under the term and are more common in overweight, unfit, or dry food eating cats.
The most common sign of FLUTD is problems with the bladder, so if your cat is having trouble urinating, has blood in the urine, is urinating in odd places or is licking the urinary area a lot due to pain, you should take them to the vet. Being unable to urinate is always an emergency, no matter what’s causing it, so get them to the vet as soon as possible and let them dig deeper. Other symptoms you might want to look out for is dehydration, depression, no appetite or, like the weird uncle not invited to Christmas dinner, it’s back: vomiting.
Fleas
Fleas are an issue for a lot of pets, and an issue for pet owners. It might be a hassle but it’s also relatively easy to treat and easy to spot. Look out for a lot of scratching and licking, hair loss, irritated skin, or skin infections.
They are easy to treat, but they do risk anemia in your cat, so it’s best treat it as soon as possible. There are a lot of options out there, including powders, oral medication, foams, and topical medications. You’re on your own with getting them still enough to apply them, though…!
Tapeworms
Tapeworms are harder to spot because they’re making your cat ill from the inside out. They are worms that live in the small intestine and can sometimes grow to as much as 2 feet inside the cat, usually because they have swallowed a flea.
The best way to spot a tapeworm is by noticing weight loss, and, you guessed it, vomiting. But there is a cheat sheet way of spotting them. Look at its feces and around its anus. You’re looking for tiny worms about the size of rice grains.
Treatment starts with taking care of the flea problem in your cat before moving onto options that include medicinal applied with an injection, orally, or with a topical medication.
Diarrhea
There are a lot of things that can cause diarrhea, and like vomiting they range from the temporary and mostly harmless, like their tummies just not agreeing with the food, to bigger problems like allergies, liver disease and cancer.
Start with treating the dehydration that comes with diarrhea with fresh fish and clean water. Take your cat to the vet if you spot blood in their stool or if the usual suspect, vomiting, turns up.
