Gitchie Goomy and Feline Geriatrics
|
It is in our nature to celebrate age. When people turn 100, the tradition is to expect a letter from the Queen as this milestone, although becoming more common, is an accomplishment. Although there is no celebratory letter for our geriatric cats, we can celebrate that when they turn 20 they have reached the equivalent milestone.
This case features the life of the amazing Gitchie Goomy. She is a goal for all of our cats to live to. |
|
How do cats age relative to people?
It used to be said that 1 cat year was equal to 7 human years. This is not quite true. A cat of 7 or 8 months is old enough to mate and have kittens but a cat will also live to about 20.
Therefore, the new age chart is as follows:
Therefore, the new age chart is as follows:
By this age chart, cats over the age of 7 are considered "mature", cats 12 - 15 are "senior" and cats 15+ are geriatric.
Gitchie's Story (as told by her "dad" Rick)
The little one adopted me by showing up at my back door one day when I lived on an acreage in Port Coquitlam, BC, back in the spring of 1990. I was somewhat allergic back then so there was no intent to keep her, but as it happens, she grew on us and the next thing you know she progressed from the blanketed bottom drawer of the Duncan Fyfe dresser on the back porch, into the house. From her size, I figure she was around 4-6 months old at the time.
After deciding to keep her, I took her (thought it was a 'him' at the time due to what I thought were testicles) to be neutered. A couple hours later the vet called to say they couldn't neuter the cat, I asked why, they said because he is a she. I said what about those testicles, and they explained they were not testicles but rather a swollen vulva. I told them to then go ahead and have her spayed. They called back an hour later to say they couldn't spay her, I asked why, they said that she'd already been done. Well the poor thing underwent anesthetic and a shave, but that was it.
Over the years she remained an indoor/outdoor cat and had free reign of the properties I lived on, she always seemed to know where the boundaries were. For a period I worked in California for 1 to 5 week stretches and left her at home alone with only an open cat door to her great outdoors litter box, and a friend to pop in and feed her. She'd of course would give me hell when I got back, but she was always there.
A few years ago she was diagnosed with early kidney disease, and after not being too satisfied with the local 'farm & country' vet, I discovered the folks at the Cat Clinic and have never looked back. We maintain her on the special geriatric and kidney diet and purchase all her food at your clinic. I can't say enough positive things about our experience with this clinic, and I share that with all our cat owner friends. The Sasha's Blend glucosamine and Renal supplements to her diet have had a noticeable positive effect. She is responding well to the prescribed hydration/potassium IV supplement, and seems to be doing well. Apart from the fact that she sleeps about 20 hours a day, she's eating per usual, no bathroom issues, still grooms herself often, and can still leap a 2 foot gap and get up on the bed. She does take a break sometimes half way up the stairs, and of course her hearing and eyesight aren't what they used to be. Whereas she used to be all gray, some of her coat has been going brown over the last couple of years.
In her twilight years she certainly is craving touch and affection, which she gets tons of, and she purrs lots and seems quite content on a day to day basis. We love our Goomy to bits!
After deciding to keep her, I took her (thought it was a 'him' at the time due to what I thought were testicles) to be neutered. A couple hours later the vet called to say they couldn't neuter the cat, I asked why, they said because he is a she. I said what about those testicles, and they explained they were not testicles but rather a swollen vulva. I told them to then go ahead and have her spayed. They called back an hour later to say they couldn't spay her, I asked why, they said that she'd already been done. Well the poor thing underwent anesthetic and a shave, but that was it.
Over the years she remained an indoor/outdoor cat and had free reign of the properties I lived on, she always seemed to know where the boundaries were. For a period I worked in California for 1 to 5 week stretches and left her at home alone with only an open cat door to her great outdoors litter box, and a friend to pop in and feed her. She'd of course would give me hell when I got back, but she was always there.
A few years ago she was diagnosed with early kidney disease, and after not being too satisfied with the local 'farm & country' vet, I discovered the folks at the Cat Clinic and have never looked back. We maintain her on the special geriatric and kidney diet and purchase all her food at your clinic. I can't say enough positive things about our experience with this clinic, and I share that with all our cat owner friends. The Sasha's Blend glucosamine and Renal supplements to her diet have had a noticeable positive effect. She is responding well to the prescribed hydration/potassium IV supplement, and seems to be doing well. Apart from the fact that she sleeps about 20 hours a day, she's eating per usual, no bathroom issues, still grooms herself often, and can still leap a 2 foot gap and get up on the bed. She does take a break sometimes half way up the stairs, and of course her hearing and eyesight aren't what they used to be. Whereas she used to be all gray, some of her coat has been going brown over the last couple of years.
In her twilight years she certainly is craving touch and affection, which she gets tons of, and she purrs lots and seems quite content on a day to day basis. We love our Goomy to bits!
What Goomy's doctors have to say...
We were privileged to meet Goomy when she was getting ready for a road trip in the summer of 2009. Already 20, we found her to be in excellent health and showing the normal changes we would expect in an older cat.
Common aging changes in cats include:
Common aging changes in cats include:
- Arthritis: New research indicates that 90% of cats that are 12 years old have arthritis and 100% of cats 15 and older have arthritis.
- Eye changes: As cats age, the lens of the eye becomes cloudy. Although not a cataract process, this can still lead to a decline in vision. For that reason, some of our older patients can benefit from night lights to help support their night vision.
- Dental disease
- Kidney changes: Goomy was known to have been drinking more and urinating more - the hallmark symptoms of chronic kidney insufficiency.
So why has Goomy aged so gracefully?
As mentioned with the mouth, Goomy has good genetics behind her. In addition to good genetics, she has been provided with excellent care such that the most "at risk" factors for aging and age-related disease have been kept to a minimum. This includes:
Having excellent dental health. Gitchie Goomy has wonderful dental genetics. We would rate her mouth as being that of a 5 year old for the level of tartar and gingivitis that was present. A large amount of credit for Goomy's good mouth comes from her genetics. Cats, like people, can develop tartar and gingivitis at different rates. Goomy's mouth develops periodontal disease at a slower rate then most cats.
Maintaining an ideal body weight: Goomy has never been a big kitty. She currently weighs about 6lbs and has never been overweight or obese.
Spaying early: Although Goomy was found spayed, spaying a cat before her first heat cycle can decrease the risk of certain cancers, including mammary carcinoma (breast cancer).
Having excellent dental health. Gitchie Goomy has wonderful dental genetics. We would rate her mouth as being that of a 5 year old for the level of tartar and gingivitis that was present. A large amount of credit for Goomy's good mouth comes from her genetics. Cats, like people, can develop tartar and gingivitis at different rates. Goomy's mouth develops periodontal disease at a slower rate then most cats.
Maintaining an ideal body weight: Goomy has never been a big kitty. She currently weighs about 6lbs and has never been overweight or obese.
Spaying early: Although Goomy was found spayed, spaying a cat before her first heat cycle can decrease the risk of certain cancers, including mammary carcinoma (breast cancer).
Work-up on Goomy
Lab work was done on Goomy in December 2009 as her health had shown a slight decline. The frst, and least invasive, work-up step after a physical exam is to run lab work including blood and urine analysis.
The findings were as follows:
The lab results supported the observation that Goomy was drinking more/peeing more by diagnosing primary kidney insufficiency (also known as chronic kidney disease or CKD). CKD is a state in which the kidneys are slowly losing function and normal tissue is burning out and being replaced with scar tissue.
As kidney disease progresses, the body cannot concentrate urine well so a kitty will drink more and urinate more. Despite this increase in water intake, they are often dehydrated. In addition, the kidneys cannot filter out waste products so blood work will show an increase in BUN and creatitine. When these waste products build up, the kitty will often feel like they have a hangover (nauseated and like they have a headache). In later stages of kidney disease, as the body becomes more and more acidic because of the high waste products, bone demineralization can occur. When bones demineralize, calcium and phosphorous can be leached out. Current theories indicate that it is the excessive filtering, by the kidneys, of the phosphorus that causes the kidney disease to progress. In addition, cats with high levels of phosphorous generally have a poorer prognosis (outcome) then cats with normal phosphorous levels.
Goomy's thyroid levels were low, not because she is hypothyroid, but because of a cat-condition known as euthyroid sick syndrome. Euthyroid sick syndrome occurs when the thyroid gland decides to stop working normally because of another problem in the body (in this case kidney disease).
It is important to know that kidney changes are common as cats age, so it was not an unexpected finding in a 20 year old.
The findings were as follows:
- Low urine concentration (also known as urine specific gravity or USG)
- Low normal blood potassium levels
- High blood creatitine levels (creatine is a muscle waste product)
- High blood urea nitrogen levels (urea is a protein waste product)
- Low blood calcium
- High blood phosphorous
- Low thyroid hormone levels
The lab results supported the observation that Goomy was drinking more/peeing more by diagnosing primary kidney insufficiency (also known as chronic kidney disease or CKD). CKD is a state in which the kidneys are slowly losing function and normal tissue is burning out and being replaced with scar tissue.
As kidney disease progresses, the body cannot concentrate urine well so a kitty will drink more and urinate more. Despite this increase in water intake, they are often dehydrated. In addition, the kidneys cannot filter out waste products so blood work will show an increase in BUN and creatitine. When these waste products build up, the kitty will often feel like they have a hangover (nauseated and like they have a headache). In later stages of kidney disease, as the body becomes more and more acidic because of the high waste products, bone demineralization can occur. When bones demineralize, calcium and phosphorous can be leached out. Current theories indicate that it is the excessive filtering, by the kidneys, of the phosphorus that causes the kidney disease to progress. In addition, cats with high levels of phosphorous generally have a poorer prognosis (outcome) then cats with normal phosphorous levels.
Goomy's thyroid levels were low, not because she is hypothyroid, but because of a cat-condition known as euthyroid sick syndrome. Euthyroid sick syndrome occurs when the thyroid gland decides to stop working normally because of another problem in the body (in this case kidney disease).
It is important to know that kidney changes are common as cats age, so it was not an unexpected finding in a 20 year old.
Goomy's Long Term Care Plan
As there is no cure for CKD, the goal is this case (as with any other senior kitty) is supportive care and helping Goomy age gracefully. Our treatment plan for her focused on:
We would like to thank Rick for allowing us to present Goomy's case to the world and for all the lovely photos of his lovely lady.
- Arthritis care: glucosamine supplementation
- Helping support the kidneys:
- Diet change: Kidney diets are designed to be low in phosphorous and moderately low in protein. By lowering these two ingredients, kidney diets produce less waste products and decrease the amount of phosphorus that needs to be filtered by the body.
- Potassium supplementation: With all that drinking and urinating, kidney cats flush out too much potassium and need to be supplemented. Low potassium can cause inappetence and muscle weakness.
- Preventing dehydration through subcutaneous fluid therapy
We would like to thank Rick for allowing us to present Goomy's case to the world and for all the lovely photos of his lovely lady.
