How nutritional needs change as cats age and how appropriate senior nutrition supports quality of life in older cats.
Senior cat nutrition is a welfare area where appropriate dietary management can extend the comfortable period of old age and prevent or delay the development of common age-associated diseases. The nutritional transition that occurs in aging cats - reduced digestive efficiency, higher protein requirements, changing caloric needs - requires active management rather than passive maintenance of adult diets. The common welfare failure of allowing senior cats to lose weight without investigation allows treatable conditions to progress unchecked. Regular veterinary geriatric health screening, monthly body weight monitoring, and proactive nutritional adjustment based on individual health status are the pillars of welfare-positive senior cat care.