Senior Cat Care Guide

Cats are considered senior at 11 years and geriatric at 15. In a species whose lifespan has doubled in the last 40 years due to better nutrition and indoor living, those are not edge cases — a significant percentage of cats in American households are in this age bracket. The challenge with senior cats is that they are extremely good at hiding illness, their owners often attribute behavioral and physical changes to "just getting old," and by the time symptoms are impossible to miss, the underlying condition has often been present for a year or more.

The conditions most worth watching for in cats over 11 are hyperthyroidism, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dental disease. These five diagnoses account for the overwhelming majority of serious illness in senior cats, and all of them have a window — sometimes a long one — where early detection and management can dramatically change the trajectory. Hyperthyroidism, for example, is almost universally curable with radioactive iodine therapy or daily medication if caught before it has had years to stress the kidneys and heart. Chronic kidney disease progresses over years; cats identified in early stages with dietary modification and hydration support regularly live comfortably for years after diagnosis.

The behavioral signs most owners miss: subtle weight loss (if you cannot feel your cat's ribs and spine more than you used to, or if you can feel them more than you used to), increased drinking and urination, changes in litter box behavior including going outside the box (often a sign of pain or cognitive change), vocalization especially at night, reduced grooming or changes in coat quality, decreased jumping or willingness to use stairs or elevated surfaces, and changes in appetite in either direction. None of these is diagnostic on its own, but any one of them in a cat over 11 is a reason to schedule an exam rather than wait for the annual visit.

For cats over 11, we recommend semi-annual wellness exams plus a basic blood and urine panel annually. The cost of the bloodwork is typically $85-145 and screens for all five of the major age-related conditions listed above. The cost of not catching them early is, in money and suffering, dramatically higher. If your senior cat has not had bloodwork in the past year, please book a visit — this is one of the highest-value things you can do for a cat in the second half of their life.