I was feeding Pookey his treats, happy I found some with low protein he likes, and was thinking, many of the folks on the board have cats that are entering Senior-Hood (age 10ish and up). There are those of us on here with established seniors that can post tips we have learned thru the years...

The main thing that my vet and I firmly believe helped Stanley live to 16 and Pookey to 18 (?) is that I closely watched their protein levels after they became young Seniors (9-11). Young cats need the protein, but as they hit senior years, they need less for their kidneys, protein is harsh on the kidneys (Kidney Disease is a top killer in older cats).

So, here are some thoughts, I hope others with Seniors will help out with tips to help those with Freshman Seniors...

1. At around age 8-10, start taking your cat to the vet every 6 months vice once a year. Every six months, run a blood panel to see how things are. This is how we found Stanley in early Kidney failure at age 14 and he did remarkably well until age 16 with a simple switch to a special diet. You can get a jump on many treatable things if you take your senior in twice a year. (Every time or every other time, have them run the urnine panels, as well).

2. Around Age 8-10, you will likely need to switch to a Senior diet for your cat. In my cats, they both gained weight at age 9 and the vet said it was time -- weight gain is a common sign. Don't just run out and buy a commercial Senior food off the grocery store shelf. Many I found had very high protein counts. Higher than food for adult non-senior cats! I switched to a premium Senior that had lower protein than most (Nutro Natural Choice Complete Senior). That doesn't mean you need to switch to premium, just read the lables. I found Purina Indoor to be one that was better on the grocery shelf. Conversely, Purina Senior was awful with high protein levels.

3. I understand vaccinations are very tough on the kidneys, too. I stopped vaccinating Pookey and Stanley after Pookey lost his leg to a tumor caused by the Rabies injection at age 11.5. I had taken them down to just rabies every 3 years (by law) a few years before, to go easier on their kidneys.

Those are the biggies I can think to help thwart problems off in advance. Check them out w/a vet every 6 months and switch to a lower protein food when they are seniors.

If it were me, if I adopt more cats after I lose Pookey, I will probably switch to Science Diet KD (for kidney) dry food somewhere between 10-12 yrs old, if the vet approves it. Pookey is 18 and going strong on SD KD after being switched when his brother was at 14 years old. My vet attributes it to a main reason Pookey's kidneys have done well and are still pretty much in the normal range all these years.

I also recently realized there is a good treat out there that is about half the protein of most. Pounce Moist. The moist in the tall clear plastic shaker bottles. It has only 15% protein vs. all the other brands I've seen with upper 20's to 30 % protein. He loves them. Thankfully.

Food for thought (pun intended).

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(Off topic: No bloody nose since the one incident on 30 Dec)
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

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