Talk to me about old people food.
Or, well, old cat food.
I didn't bother with it for Charlie until the last couple of years, in which he developed a taste for Royal Canin 12+ in gravy. It doesn't particularly cost any more than the usual stuff, and I find myself so easily swayed by the swish marketing talk that tells me various ingredients will help aid against kidney problems and arthritis and certain destruction...
Those in the know... what do you think?
Right, here's a bit of my cat "history" and association with cats
First cat was a 1st birthday present from a cousin - Jenny - she died just before my 21st birthday, so she was knocking on 20 - she was fed a typical 1960-80's cat diet -whatever the pet food companies thought were right at the time, nothing special, Felix biscuits and stuff from the fish mongers - in fairness my mother did all of the looking after, but that's where I get my understanding of cats from
Squeak - actually my sisters cat - ginger tom - hit by a motorbike and survived, ended up with leukaemia and was pts far too young - so this doesn't really count but was fed the same as Jenny
Tori and Pink - two sisters - both pretty much looked after by my mother, again, Tori was hit by a car around 10 years of age, Pink was hit by something and smashed her leg but survived - she was hit by a car a second time didn't survive - she got to about 14 not on any special diet
Jess - my lovely Jess - again, she was MY first proper cat, I chose her from the rescue (well she chose me, but you know what I mean) - she didn't really have a special "aged" cat diet until Mrs Voltz came along - she got to 14-17 years of age, can't remember exactly, she had all her teeth removed - so I'd recommend biscuits featuring in a cats diet more than it did with Jess, she was pretty much, from memory wet food - cancer got her
Bob - "acquired" by an ex - he was a stray who used to scavenge from the local bins when she took him in - she left, Bob didn't - he was a food bin, simple as that - never really had a special diet until Mrz Voltz came along - but feeding Bob was never difficult - he got to "officially" 20 years of age when his kidneys packed up - he'd been on a renal diet/any damn food we could get into him probably for the last 6-8 months of his life
Rusty - she was No 3 cat when we had Jess and Bob at the same time - again, from the start nothing special on the diet front - she got to 16-18 years old before we lost her to cancer
FiFi - we got her when she was about 10 years old - she's officially an "old dink" and is on and will only really eat Purina Old Dink Food (+7 years old biscuits)
Casper and Clive - got them when they were about 2 years old - so I've got them on cat food, nobby cat food, but cat food - I'm still trying to settle on a food they like, but we're coming down to Bonzita biscuits being a bit of a favourite (thank you
Epona for mentioning them in a aaaggggeeeesssss ago post - they seem to hit the target) and I'm still after a wet food for them - at the moment, pretty much any wet food seems to make them a "little loose" - but the wonder that is Zooplus is giving me LOADS to choose from
So, back to your original question (I DO go on a bit, don't I)
I genuinely believe that pet food dietary knowledge has improved massively over the years - I can remember with Jenny getting to 20 and people were genuinely amazed at such an old cat and I remember thinking at the time that any cat getting to 10-15 years old was having a good knock
Now
I'd feel cheated if we don't get at least another 5 years with FiFi and I'll expect more - so I'm expecting her to hit 17+ Mrz Voltz will have her on old dink biscuits with the occasional treat, but she doesn't really "do" treats and as she gets older the diet will change - we'll almost certainly start looking at a diet to help her kidneys as she gets older
The boys - again, I'm expecting them, barring getting hit by something and where we live that's vanishingly unlikely, to be around a LONG time - in my head they're our last but one or two "round of cats" before we die - there's a cheerful thought for you - but I'm 54, the boys are 2 - so another 15+ years and I'll be coming up to 70 - there you go - one more "round of cats" to go