Protect carpet and furniture by putting down sheets of plastic
and spreading disposable diapers or products like Depend
Undergarments to catch the urine.
Bath Wipes for are alcohol-free pre-moistened wipes with skin
conditioners. They are soothing to inflamed skin, and come in
resealable packages.
3M Cavilon No Sting Barrier Film is a liquid barrier that dries
quickly to form a breathable, transparent coating to the skin.
This human product is designed to protect intact or damaged
skin from urine, feces, other body fluids, tape trauma, and
friction—and it is also ideal for pets with incontinence problems.
Products such as Dri-Dek elevate the pet from the floor to keep
her away from “accidents.” The waffle-shaped material comes in
sheets that can be fitted to your size needs.
CHAPTER 5—ADVANCED CARE OPTIONS
According to the American Animal Hospital Association, 84 percent
of owners surveyed said they refer to themselves as their pet’s “Mom”
or “Dad,” and 74 percent would go into debt for their pet’s wel being.
Because so many of us consider cats to be part of the family, we want
to prolong that relationship for as long as possible. To do that, more
and more owners seek a very high level of care thereby spurring
veterinary medicine to ever greater heights to answer the demand.
The local veterinarian has al the necessary training and skil s to
care for your aging cat throughout a healthy old age. Specific health
problems of geriatric cats, though, often benefit from the expertise of a
veterinary specialist.
Veterinary Specialists
After eight to ten years of study to attain their DVM or VMD (general
practitioner’s degree), veterinarians can continue with three to seven
or more years of further study to qualify as a “board-certified
specialist” in a particular health discipline. There are more than twenty
specialty boards, referred to as “col eges,” which provide certification.
A veterinary specialist is said to be a “diplomate” of a particular
col ege specialty. The designation for a cat specialist, for instance,
would be Dr. Stephanie Lord, DVM, DABVP (feline), which stands for
diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, with a
feline specialty. Feline specialists have a particular expertise in cat
care.
In general, veterinary specialists typical y have a wider range of
equipment, such as ultrasound and MRI (magnetic resonance
imaging) for diagnosing and managing health problems. Specialized
equipment and treatment techniques are often too expensive for every
local veterinary office to afford. Therefore, most advanced treatments
are available only at veterinary teaching schools—there are 27 in the
United States—or at multidiscipline specialty practices usual y located
in larger cities. Oftentimes, mobile practices bring specialists and
their advanced technology, such as cardiac Doppler ultrasound and
orthopedic surgery, to the general practitioner's office.
The specialists’ training provides them with the skil s necessary to
perform advanced surgical techniques and treatments, from
radioactive iodine therapy (for hyperthyroidism) and kidney dialysis to
chemotherapy and cataract surgery. You wil find the same kinds of
specialists in veterinary medicine as practice in human specialty
medicine.
There are currently only three certifications available in
complementary
alternative
veterinary
medicine:
acupuncture,
chiropractic, and homeopathy. “A new certification program in
physical therapy was just started at the University of Tennessee,” says
Dr. Beebe. The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association
provides a list of qualified complementary alternative practitioners on
their website.
People now recognize veterinarians are physicians practicing in a
medical field, and understand why a general practitioner would want to
for people to tel him, I wish my grandmother had gotten the care that
you’re providing for my cat. There are a few differences, though, that
you might not expect. “People have no problem cal ing me at three
o’clock in the morning, which they would never do with their physician,
even for their child!” says Dr. Marks.
The strong correlation between human and veterinary medicine also
has some negative effects when a human family member’s medical
experience has been less than pleasant. “When I say chemotherapy
they say, Oh no!” says Dr. Kitchel . Pets treated with chemotherapy
rarely have the side effects we’ve come to expect with the human
treatments. They don’t lose their fur, for example.
Specialty care tends to be more costly, just as it is in human
medicine. Surgery or radiation therapy can be expensive, while herbal
medications and diet changes might be comparatively less. Never
hesitate to ask your veterinarian about options. Universities may be
seeking candidates to participate in reduced-cost experimental trials,
or they may offer delayed payment plans. Dr. Kitchel says some
drugs are no longer under patent, which makes them not only
affordable alternatives but also offer very similar results to the
patented drug. Any therapy you choose must be right for you and your
cat, including the state of your pocketbook.
Specialties for Aging Cats
· Behaviorists (American Col ege of Veterinary Behaviorists, or
ACVB)
· Dentists (American Veterinary Dental Col ege, or AVDC)
· Diagnostic imaging specialists, including cancer radiologists
(American Col ege of Veterinary Radiology, or ACVR)
· Eye specialists (American Col ege of Veterinary
Ophthalmologists, or ACVO)
· Feline specialists (American Board of Veterinary Practice-
Feline, or ABVB (feline)
· Internists, including cardiologists, neurologists, and cancer
specialists, (American Col ege of Veterinary Internal Medicine, or
ACVIM)
· Nutritionists (American Col ege of Veterinary Nutrition, or
ACVN)
· Skin specialists (American Col ege of Veterinary Dermatology,
or ACVD)
· Surgeons (American Col ege of Veterinary Surgeons, or ACVS)
Geriatric Research
Veterinary science is constantly changing. Medicine evolves as
past breakthroughs become old news and fresh information is
discovered. Sometimes doctors find that information they’ve relied on
for years is incorrect. Other times new research builds on the past to
give a more complete understanding of medical issues.
Today, we know more about caring for senior cats than ever before.
Much of that has to do with our new perception of pets. According to
surveys, more than 84 percent of pet owners consider their cats as
their children. This unique relationship means cat lovers yearn to
preserve their relationship for as long as possible, and therefore they
&
nbsp; take better care of their cats than in the past. Today, owners want a
comparable level of veterinary care for their pets to that which is
available for their human family members. That drives veterinary
medicine to ever greater heights to answer the demand.
While younger felines more typical y develop acute (sudden)
diseases and conditions, such as a broken leg or cat bite abscess,
older ones more typical y suffer from chronic, long-term health
concerns. Acute problems are often best addressed by surgery or
other “al opathic” treatments, but chronic disease doesn’t always
respond as wel to these traditional Western medical therapies. Some
“old-fashioned” method such as herbal treatments, acupuncture, and
nutritional supplements offer great potential for maintaining quality of
life. “Acupuncture and herbs, the two mainstays of Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM), work together to achieve healing in the elderly cat by
improving the homeostasis of the body, rebalancing it, and helping to
stabilize and slow down the degeneration of body systems,” says Dr.
Beebe.
“Western medicine is very powerful and effective for certain things.
If you’re bleeding to death, you can’t give herbs and acupuncture. You
need Western medicine for that,” says Dr. Beebe. Yet when surgery
and state-of-the-art diagnostic tools are combined with alternative
methods, that offers the best of al worlds, says Dr. Beebe. Alternative
approaches are often ideal for keeping the old cat feeling wel during
chronic problems like cancer or arthritis. “Most of these holistic
systems have been around for several thousand years. Western
medicine has been around for 150,” says Dr. Beebe. “There doesn’t
have to be a choice between them.”
A 2003 survey by the American Animal Hospital Association
(AAHA) indicated that 21 percent of respondents used some form of
complementary and alternative veterinary medicine (CAVM),
compared to six percent in 1996. Today, many veterinary schools
include education in CAVM that may encompass acupuncture,
nutraceuticals, nutritional supplements, and physical therapy. Owners
and veterinarians agree that CAVM has a place in the care of our
pets.
Research is an ongoing process that is never complete. Feline
geriatric research is particularly daunting because it requires large
numbers of cats to study over a great many years. This is not only very
expensive, but finding large populations of old research animals is
nearly impossible. Instead, researchers often contact veterinarians
and ask for volunteers from among their senior cat clients. Because
there are fewer studies conducted, research that is available has a
much greater impact on the health of aging felines.
Nutrition Research
The major commercial pet food companies maintain their own
colonies of animals specifical y for answering questions about feline
health. A number of changes are now being made to “senior” cat
foods to address the needs of aging felines.
When senior cat foods were first developed, the focus was on
reduced calories, based on the premise that older pets don’t require
as much energy. They aren’t as active, many have been spayed or
neutered which may slightly decrease their metabolism, and often
they’re overweight. “We can replace those fat calories with some fiber
and slap a label on it, and you’ve got a whole new realm,” says Sarah
K. Abood, DVM, a clinical nutritionist at Michigan State.
Consequently, the label “senior” has been regarded as more of a
marketing ploy than being particularly helpful to older cats.
One of the biggest changes in the past three or four years in
understanding senior needs is new thinking on protein requirements.
“Dietary protein has absolutely no role in causing kidney disease, so
there’s no benefit to reducing protein,” says Dr. Carey. “It wasn’t as
big an issue in cats, because you can’t reduce protein in cats very
much because of their high requirements.” Studies by many nutrition
scientists indicate our older animals are at risk for developing other
problems if they don’t eat enough protein.
“Cats tend to break down protein at a steady rate whether you feed
it to them or not,” says Grace Long, DVM, a veterinarian at Nestle
Purina Pet Care Company. If they don’t get enough protein, they burn
their own muscles for fuel. For this reason, DM Diabetes Management
Feline Formula, introduced in July 2000, combines very high protein
with low carbohydrate content to al ow some diabetic cats to live
normal lives without insulin injections.
Dental health also benefits from nutritional research, says Bil
Gengler, DVM, a dentist at University of Wisconsin. Plaque is a
scummy material that col ects on teeth and eventual y crystal izes into
calculus or tartar. Once calculus mineralizes, it cannot be brushed way
—it must be scaled away with dental instruments by the veterinarian.
“If we can prevent or at least delay this biofilm from crystal izing, we
have more opportunity for it to be brushed away or worn away by
chewing,” says Dr. Gengler.
Sodium hexametaphosphate (sodium HMP) helps fight crystal
formation and is now added to some cat foods and treats. Another
dental innovation in food incorporates a woven edible fiber that makes
up the kibble. “It doesn’t break apart as quickly so the tooth goes in
and out of it several times. That has a mechanical abrading or
scrubbing activity,” says Dr. Gengler.
The most important nutrient of all is water. Cats tend to
drink less water than they need for their health, and many are
drawn to running water. Rather than leaving the faucet running,
a commercial "water fountain" such as one from Veterinary
Ventures pictured here, often stimulates the aging cat to drink.
Food Restriction
No long-term feline longevity studies have been conducted, but
research from the dog side has implications for cats. A canine
longevity study, conducted by Nestle Purina PetCare Company,
fol owed Labrador Retrievers over fourteen years as they matured.
Basical y, the research looked at the effect food restriction has on
dogs over their natural lifetime. “Food restriction is the only nutritional
manipulation that is known to extend life,” says Dr. LaFlamme. The
study involved two groups of 24 six-week-old puppies, each fed
identical diets. One group was fed 25 percent less of the food for their
entire life, says Dr. LaFlamme. This resulted in a significant reduction
in orthopedic problems in the group fed less food, and these dogs
also lived longer.
The dog results appear to paral el the results of an earlier study
in rodents, and researchers believe that staying thin throughout life
also would improve longevity in cats. “One would expect that, because
obesity is linked to a large number of problems,” says Dr. LaFlamme.
Antioxidants—Vitamin Age Protection
In the past few years, antioxidants have been found to offe
r great
benefits. Influencing the immune system using diet is a new frontier.
“As cats age, the immune function declines,” says Dr. Carey.
“However, if you use the correct blend of antioxidants, you can actual y
reverse some of that.”
Antioxidants are vitamins that protect the body against oxidation.
“Oxidation is the metabolic version of rust,” he says. “For example,
sun exposure is the result of ultraviolet radiation causing oxidation and
damage.”
Our bodies use oxygen to help release energy. By breathing, we
constantly bath al of our tissues in oxygen. Yet oxidation byproducts
are responsible for damage to the tissues. The youthful body is able to
keep oxidation and its byproducts in proper balance. “With age, the
ability to manage those oxidative processes decreases,” says Dr.
Carey. This balance tends to tip towards increased oxidation, which
further speeds tissue damage, hinders the immune system function,
and increases the effects of aging.
By giving the cat the right balance of vitamins, the oxidation process
is put back in balance and aging is slowed. “Vitamin E is one of the
antioxidants that do this. In cats it works quite nicely,” says Dr. Carey.
Research that measures the immune response on the cel s
themselves has shown that 250 mil igrams per kilogram of vitamin E
in the food can give the cat the immune competence of a much
younger cat. “But if you go too high, you lose the effect,” he says.
In experimental studies, antioxidants lessened the severity of age-
related hearing loss in rats. Wil iam W. Ruehl, VMD, says antioxidants
may also prove useful for senile cataract treatment or prevention.
“We’re going to see research just explode with regard to the
antioxidants and cytokines and interleukins and these immune
stimulators,” says Dr. Abood. She predicts that as pet food
companies wil apply al of this research even beyond “senior cat”
diets. In other words, if it’s good for old cats, why not feed it to younger
cats so they also get the benefits?
Since certain cancers show oxidation damage to DNA,
theoretical y, antioxidants should also help protect against cancer.
Early studies seem to indicate that antioxidants reduce DNA damage,
but it’s stil too early to say for sure.
Brain Research