Senior cats face a predictable cluster of health challenges including kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, dental disease, and hypertension. Proactive screening and management dramatically improves their welfare in their later years.
Senior cat welfare suffers from a chronic under-recognition problem. Cats hide illness and pain with exceptional effectiveness, and the gradual onset of age-related conditions means owners adapt to declining function rather than recognizing it as abnormal. A hyperthyroid cat losing weight is not 'eating well but just getting older' - it is experiencing a treatable hormonal disease causing muscle wasting and cardiac stress. A cat with hypertension may be slowly going blind while appearing normal at home. Catching these conditions early through annual blood and urine screening transforms the welfare trajectory - hyperthyroidism can be cured, CKD progression can be slowed, and hypertension can be treated before irreversible damage occurs.