The years pass for everyone, and although we would like our pets to be eternal, they also have old age. But what behaviors indicate that you have an elderly cat at home?
Comparing them to dogs, cats are more difficult to detect that they are getting older because they do not show physical signs as evident as our dog friends. What identifies an elderly cat is, rather, its behavior.
If you want to know if your cat has reached old age, these signs will give you a clue:
1. Your hygiene decreases
Cats groom themselves continually. An older cat will get less and less clean, something that can be caused by muscle or joint pain.
2. Changing mood
An older cat, enjoy time alone to rest more. So it is no wonder that it is calm and suddenly irritated if you try to interact with him.
3. Lack of agility
Cats are very agile animals; therefore, it is very representative in an old cat to see that it moves much less. Attitudes like running or jumping will be less and less frequent.
4. Weight gain
By exercising less, it is very normal for the elderly cat to gain weight.
Therefore, it is essential that you, as the owner of that cat, encourage it every day to move around a bit and play and, in addition, provide it with adequate food for its age and needs.
5. Eat less
It can also happen that the cat, instead of gaining weight, loses it. This may be because you have done the right thing by changing your diet to one appropriate for your age, but this does not eat the necessary daily amount. It could be because when its metabolism slows down, it fills up earlier or because it suffers from a pain in its mouth that prevents it from eating everything it needs.
