How to make life better for the older Maine Coon cat companion (infographic)

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Maine Coons in general have shorter lifespans than the domestic cat population because of inherited diseases. Generally, with exceptions, there are more 'disabled' Maine Coons than in the general domestic cat population too because of the same reason. The infographic highlights some pointers that can make things a little better for elderly cats.

It is a little strange to me to think that Maine Coons (MCs) become adults later than most domestic cats. I am not sure why but we are told that it might take until the age of 4 to become adult. By that time, they may have a heart murmur due to HCM. 

Lifespan

And we are also told that their average MC lifespan is around 12.5 years. The average moggie might add another 5 years to that. This is 40% more! Weird. Perhaps the data is slightly inaccurate. 

But what is accurate is that MCs will be older earlier than normal in general - there will of course be exceptions.

This I think makes the infographic useful. There is another usefulness. The joint defects to which the MC is predisposed, hip dysplasia and patella luxation, can make the older MC more like an elderly cat as in the non-purebred population in which arthritis in elderly cats in prevalent.

The effects of arthritis is similar to that of the aforesaid inherited diseases.

Hip dysplasia

I will briefly touch on hip dysplasia which regrettably is quite debilitating and there are limited options. The clinical signs, as you may know, is limping and other difficulties in walking and jumping or in general physical activity. A cat might demonstrate to their owner that they feel pain when the hip is touched or they might lick and chew the area.

Weight

What the caregiver can do is to ensure that their MC is not overweight. That's common sense but also the advice of Ursula Krotscheck DVM the assistant professor of small animal surgery at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

To be honest, I have hardly ever seen and obese Maine Coon cat. They might be predisposed to not becoming obese. I don't know. But Ursula also states that in order to keep the muscles around the hip joint strong it is helpful to encourage gentle exercise.

This might mean encouraging your cat to jump onto the sofa or to hide food under the sofa so that they have to crouch to find it.

Surgery

Other than these common-sense suggestions, I'm told that surgery can be successful to relieve the more severe cases of hip dysplasia. The surgery is called a micro total hip replacement. The hip joint is removed and replaced with an artificial one.

An alternative is to remove the femoral head which is the ball part of the ball-and-socket joint and the muscles do the job of holding the joint together. That obviously means ensuring that the muscles are strong which means exercise. 

It would mean an unusual and unnatural joint but apparently it works and of course without pain because there is no bone-on-bone contact.

This operation will leave the cat lame and the operated-on limb will be shorter but the range of movement will be normal and the function, all being well, will be excellent.

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