Everyday changes worth tracking
Eating, drinking and litter-box changes in senior cats
Appetite, body weight, thirst, urination and toileting are useful health signals. Persistent changes deserve attention rather than being dismissed as an inevitable part of ageing.
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Eating and weight changes
Changes in appetite, body weight or muscle condition can be important in an older cat and should not automatically be attributed to ageing.
Not eating, repeated vomiting, rapid weight loss or marked weakness warrants prompt veterinary advice.
Patterns that are useful to notice
Eating less or losing weight
Reduced appetite or weight loss can have many causes in an older cat, including oral discomfort and medical disease. It should not automatically be attributed to age.
Eating more but losing weight
An older cat can sometimes remain hungry or eat more while still losing weight. That pattern is useful veterinary information rather than a reason to simply increase food without assessment.
Drinking or urinating more
A noticeable increase in water use or urine volume can accompany several common health problems in older cats. Track the change and discuss it with a veterinarian if it persists.
New litter-box problems
Missing the litter box may result from access difficulty, pain, urinary or gastrointestinal disease, cognitive change or another cause. A new toileting change should be investigated rather than treated as deliberate behaviour.
Urinary difficulty can be urgent
Repeated straining to urinate, frequent unproductive litter-box visits, producing little or no urine, crying or obvious distress requires urgent veterinary attention.