How aging affects cat welfare and what owners can do to maintain quality of life for cats in their senior and geriatric years.
Aging cats experience progressive welfare challenges that are often unrecognized because cats are stoic and pain-masking. Arthritis causes chronic pain that limits mobility and grooming, but owners may simply notice a cat that moves less and attributes this to old age rather than pain. Kidney disease causes chronic malaise, nausea, and loss of body condition. Dental disease causes constant pain. Regular veterinary assessment of senior cats, targeted pain management, and environmental modifications that accommodate reduced mobility can dramatically improve the quality of life for the rapidly growing population of elderly cats.