Nutrition and hydration in the senior animal

In the senior animal several factors add up. The senses that drive appetite, smell and taste, fade, so a food that once thrilled can become uninteresting. The mouth is often a silent source of pain, between tartar, gum disease and diseased teeth, and an animal that chews with discomfort eats less without the owner linking the cause. The ability to digest and absorb some nutrients can decline, and muscle mass tends to fall over the years.

On top of this come the diseases of age. Several conditions common in the senior animal alter hunger, thirst and weight, sometimes raising them and sometimes lowering them. Precisely because these signals are non specific, that is common to many different causes, they should not be read alone: a marked change in appetite or thirst is a reason to contact the vet, not a fact to normalise as inevitable old age.

The value of the person who lives with the animal every day is noticing changes early and reporting them precisely. You do not need to diagnose: you need to describe well what changed, since when and by how much, because that is what guides the vet. This table lines up the most useful signals to watch.

The most reliable way to report these signals is to measure them, not recall them. Weighing the animal regularly on the same scale, noting how much food it leaves and having a sense of how much it drinks turns vague impressions into data the vet can use. Slow weight loss in particular is almost invisible day by day and becomes obvious only by comparing two measures far apart in time.

Many senior animals, cats in particular, tend to drink little, and good hydration supports general wellbeing. Without replacing any veterinary instructions, which remain the priority when there is a disease in progress, there are daily measures that help an animal drink more naturally.

• Increase the water points at home, with bowls in several rooms and away from the litter box and food bowls.
• Use wide, shallow bowls, which many cats prefer because their whiskers do not touch the edges.
• Try running water with a fountain, which tempts several animals to drink more.
• Consider with the vet a larger share of wet food, which raises water intake through the food.
• Keep the water always fresh and clean, changing it often because stale water discourages drinking.
• Make the bowls reachable without jumps or stairs for an animal with joint pain, which otherwise gives up approaching.

A common mistake is to look only at the number on the scale. In the senior animal two distinct dimensions matter: the amount of fat and the amount of muscle. An animal can stay stable in weight while losing muscle and gaining fat, and this loss of muscle mass, common with age, affects strength, mobility and general wellbeing.

1. 1

   Weigh regularly and always the same way

   Same scale, same time, noting the value. The trend over time matters more than a single measure.

2. 2

   Assess body condition

   Learn from the vet to read the body condition score with hands and eyes, so you tell weight loss apart from a mere change in perception.

3. 3

   Watch muscle mass

   Have the vet assess the muscle over the back, limbs and head, because its loss can happen even at unchanged weight.

4. 4

   Do not change the diet on your own

   Senior diets are not all the same and some suit only specific conditions. The choice should be made with the vet, based on tests and not on the age on the record.

5. 5

   Adapt how you offer food

   Raised bowls for those with neck pain, palatable food at room temperature, small frequent meals: small measures that ease intake.

6. 6

   Reassess at regular intervals

   Weight, body condition and appetite are reviewed periodically, because in the senior animal the picture changes faster than in the young adult.

Weight management in the senior animal is more delicate than in the adult. Weight loss should be investigated before being corrected with more food, because it can stem from disease; and calorie restriction should be run with care, because in cats in particular a fast or a sharp drop in intake has serious consequences. This is why the senior animal's nutrition plan remains a veterinary matter.

Many beliefs around senior feeding do more harm than good. The most widespread is treating every drop in appetite as fussiness, covering it with ever more palatable foods instead of investigating the cause. Here are the mistakes to avoid.

• Considering every change normal because the animal is old, and postponing the visit that would clarify the cause.
• Changing the diet constantly to stimulate appetite, confusing the gut and masking a problem.
• Adding supplements without indication, believing that if they do good they cannot do harm, which is not always true.
• Increasing rations to help a losing animal regain weight, without knowing why it is losing.
• Giving leftovers and human food to tempt, with the risk of imbalances and unsuitable foods.
• Ignoring the mouth, which is one of the most frequent and most overlooked causes of reduced appetite in the senior animal.