Cats are animals that can tolerate illness. It is not easy to see that cats are uncomfortable before the condition becomes extremely serious. Therefore, it is very important for cats to develop regular health checks! The growth rate of cats is about 4 to 5 times faster than that of humans. A cat's year can be said to be four years of humans. Therefore, it is best for older cats to have health checks every six months. Even young cats need to have health checks every year!
1. Health checks allow the owner to master the various physical values of ordinary cats
The biggest benefit of regular health checks is that they can grasp the various values of cats when they are healthy. Generally, the standard is collected from many healthy cats. However, the values of some cats when they are healthy may be outside the range, or they may be higher or lower. If you usually understand the values of your own cats, you can immediately determine whether they are abnormal and whether further inspection is needed. Especially if cats enter the advanced age, regular health checks are indispensable!
2. Three common health problems in elderly cats
1. Chronic kidney disease
After cats enter the advanced age, the proportion of kidney disease is very high. Therefore, middle-aged and elderly cats over seven years must undergo "blood tests" and "urinary tests"! The first symptom that causes depression in kidney function is that urine will become lighter; however, urine is usually absorbed by cat litter, and few owners can detect it by themselves. The kidneys are organs that are not easily found abnormal, and when the owner feels something is wrong, the situation is usually quite serious! If the urine test finds abnormal values, the kidney function is usually damaged by more than 2/3; and when the blood test also shows abnormal values, the kidneys usually have lost more than 3/4 of their functions! But even so, as long as it can be found, it can be treated for the cat's condition. As long as the kidneys are careful not to continue to burden the kidneys, it is still possible to survive for a long time!
2. Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is also one of the diseases that are prone to occur in elderly cats. During blood tests, as long as the thyroid hormone value is high, you must doubt whether it is hyperthyroidism. Thyroid hormones can improve the body's metabolic function and activate the body's functions. Therefore, the initial symptoms of hyperthyroidism are increasing appetite and increasing water consumption. If you don't pay special attention, you will mistakenly think that cats are very healthy and vital recently, which often makes it impossible for the owner to discover them immediately.
And as the condition progresses, the cat will suddenly become thinner, and most of the time the owner will find out that he will take his cat to the doctor. If you find that your cat looks particularly energetic recently, with shiny eyes, meowing in the middle of the night, eating a lot but suddenly becoming thinner, etc. are symptoms of hyperthyroidism, you must hurry to the hospital for a detailed examination!
3. Oral problems
Through oral examination, you can observe the cat's tartar condition, whether there is stomatitis or periodontal disease, whether there is any abnormality under the tongue, etc. Cats generally don’t like being touched in the mouth, so some cats must use anesthesia. When cats have oral problems, the first symptom that can be discovered is bad breath. Next, such as the head will shake when eating, the food will fall off easily, the drool will make noise when eating, the front foot will easily get burial because of wiping the mouth... etc., are all symptoms of oral problems. If it hurts, the cat will become ignorant. Periodontal disease and stomatitis are prone oral diseases that cats have. There are many reasons for stomatitis, mostly caused by diseases such as cat AIDS and cat white blood. Tooth extraction is a relatively effective solution. After removing the teeth of the lesions, 60% of cats will improve. In addition, cats with poor kidneys may also experience oral, stomach and intestinal ulcers due to uremia.
In addition to the above three common diseases, older cats, like humans, will have a higher chance of developing certain tumors/cancers as older. Therefore, please develop the habit of taking your cat for health checks regularly so that they can be detected and treated as soon as possible!