Senior Cat Food question

[Mark]

Just wait until I start my animal nutrition unit 

  hope the tutor isnt sponsored by .......... insert any animal food manufacturer you care to name 

You will soon know if I come on praising the merits of go-cat or I MS 

[puggy1975 Zoe]

I cant wait Mark. I so interested in food.

Think will prob go for senior light dry when the time comes and ordinary wet so they get a good mix, more for Ollies benefit

[Gillian Harvey]

Just wait until I start my animal nutrition unit 

  hope the tutor isnt sponsored by .......... insert any animal food manufacturer you care to name 

[Mark]

Do they have 'senior mouse' in the wild 

No, but cats do live longer these days because of things like this? 

Just wait until I start my animal nutrition unit 

[puggy1975 Zoe]

Its more for Ollies sake i was thinking about it, due to his epilepsy medication protecting his kidneys and liver is important, he has no problems with them just now but there is a high posibility in the future he may have

Thanks for the advise, food really baffles me and i just want the best for Ollie ashe gets older

[Gillian Harvey]

I have never used senoir food and Kocka got to 20, Franta and Ducha are 17, Sasa is 10 and Misa 8 

Same here - and my Elsa also got to 20 

Do they have 'senior mouse' in the wild 

[Ellen2010]

Ok I have a cat with kidney problems and has to have a medication added to her food and I got told to keep her on the food that my other cats eat.  She is 17 years old and with her diet of mainly chicken whiskas and her medication everything has gone back into normal range and has stayed like that for over a year now.  Think the choice is yours or under instructions of veterinary surgeon on what to do as to the regards of putting a cat on senior cat food.

[Mark]

I think it is a case of Russian Roulette - given the high number of cats who get kidney problems. Admittedly, not all, but it does reduce the strain on them - after all, you can't undo damage. It doesn't do them any harm and it could do them a lot of good. There are also light versions of senior foods. Even purina one senior says on the bag 'reduced phosphorus to protect kidneys'

[Desley (booktigger)]

I dont feed senior to my current cats due to teh calorie content - Zi did have some last year when she needed to lose a bit of weight, but I stopped it once she had. I dont class cats as senior till they hit 12.
Susanne - the theory is that feeding lower protein before they have kidney problems reduces the strain on healthy kidneys, keeping them healthy for longer.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I gradually started to introduce some senior food when Jaffa was about 8.  He has about half senior and half adult.  If there is a senior version of something he likes I tend to buy that, but I wouldn't feed all senior as many are lower calorie and Jaffa does not need to lose weight.  Some can be lower protein too which I don't want as Jaffa doesn't actually have kidney problems.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I have never used senoir food and Kocka got to 20, Franta and Ducha are 17, Sasa is 10 and Misa 8 

[Mark]

It's not set in stone. I know some people feed adult food. I mix & match myself. I think senior wet food must be blander than adult as they don't seem to like it. If your cats eat wet & dry, a good compromise is feeding senior dry & adult wet. One of the important things about senior food is the lower phosphorus which is gentler on aging kidneys.

btw - I just ordered my senior dry from vetuk. They seem to have 2 offers running together. It could be a mistake but the senior food (regular & light) is 1/3rd off if you buy 3 or more bags. They also started a 20% off all Hills Science plan food which ends today. For some reason, the adult food doesn't have the 1/3rd off - anyway, I ordered 1.5kg bags of senior light which is £6.80 with the 1/3rd off and then used the discount code and got another 20% off - so 3 bags cost me £5.60 each  (It is £11.99 a bag in PAH)

[puggy1975 Zoe]

I was just wondering what age a cat should change from Adult food to senior cat food.

Ollie and Tyler will be 7 in October and I have seen some foods say they should have Senior fod at age 7 and some say age 8

Anyone one know what the correct age for senior food is??

Food really baffles me

Thanks

Zoe