Question:
I have an elderly cat of almost 17 years. She is looking rather frail now - but seems healthy. I just wonder if there is anything special I should be doing for her? She has 3 younger cats to keep her active plus two Jack Russells. She is a very demanding cat in the food department, and likes to eat wet food for the most part, but she always has dry food available. She doesn't seem to tolerate wet food for *Senior* cats, so feed her whiskers tins.

Answer:
At 17yrs I would probably just give her what she likes,make sure she has a spot where she can rest away from the JR's and the younger cats....she is after all an old lady
A friend of mine has a 19yr old Siamese cat,you can see every bone in her body,but she is healthy and very bossy..but she crawls into the kitchen cupboard to get some peace away from tho other cats.
I am surprised you have 2 JR's with your cats,must be a lively house-hold.JR's are known to attack,even kill cats...
My son has an adorable JR,but I won't let her near my cats.

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I have been doing just what she wants us to do - she has us well trained The JR's think their cats are wonderful, but any other cat who comes near the house is in for a shock. That goes for rabbits and squirrels as well. You don't know of any food that woulds be better for her (and the other cats) than whiskers - or the whiskers dry food. The two grey siamese I have are 12 (twins who hate each other) are also getting up there in years. I do entertain the *old lady* with a lazer pen-light, which she loves, and still chases around (along with our 5 yr old baby cat - who is a dingbat and refuses to leave kittenhood)

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I love senior cats! As Chico said, just make sure she has a place she can retreat to to "get away from it all" if she wishes.

If you find she is eating a lot, but losing weight, she should be taken for a blood test, as diabetes and thyroid probs are quite common with elderly cats.

Check her teeth - they often need maintenence at that age, and her nails too. They can become overgrown and distorted at that age. Cats often lose the ability to retract their rear claws and they may need regular trimming .

Do you have a pic of your old gal? Here is my Sweet Pea at 16 years old. I still miss her!:

(Dont know why the image code is not working on this forum)

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Lucky,what a beautiful cat,she looks so proud...I bet you miss her:(

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LuckyRescue - your cat looks wonderful. I will take a picture of Tikka and post it. I will get her thyroid checked, as she eats and eats and eats and is always asking, but is skinny. Even skinnier when she had a sinus problem (she's over that now - the snot fairy visited us on a pretty regular basis - rather like my grandsons :( ) She is now putting on weight, but not in proportion to the amounts of food that she DEMANDS. I do feel at time that she forgets she has a half full bowl or ate an hour ago. Her head isn't so skinny now.

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