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Cat Health

Adapting your home for an older cat

By Marieke Knies, DVM · European veterinary internal medicine specialist · 13 september 2026

Je huis aanpassen voor een oudere kat
Adapting your home for an older cat

In brief

A cat is generally considered senior from around 10 years and super senior from 15. Age is not a disease, and older cats are wonderful companions. Pain, muscle loss, reduced vision or hearing, and disease may nevertheless make everyday tasks harder. Small adaptations can support independence. A new limitation still warrants veterinary assessment.

Consider the route, not only the destination

Your cat may still love the same windowsill but no longer reach it easily. Examine the entire route to important places:

  • Is a high jump required
  • Is the floor slippery
  • Is an intermediate surface unstable
  • Must another cat be passed
  • Is an entrance narrow or high
  • Are resources available on every relevant floor?

Record how your cat walks, jumps and uses stairs when useful. Small hesitations may be easier to see on video.

Resting places: warm, safe and accessible

An adult cat resting comfortably on a soft rug
Photo: Lord Photon via Pexels

Keep favourite places accessible when this can be done safely. Add stable intermediate steps, a wide stool or a secure ramp. Provide grip and avoid steep, narrow constructions.

Offer:

  • Several warm, draught-free beds
  • A low resting place and an accessible raised option
  • Soft support that does not make standing difficult
  • Rest away from busy routes
  • Distance from children, dogs or intrusive cats.

A heated bed may be comfortable when it is safe, temperature-limited and easy to leave. Avoid placing an unregulated hot-water bottle against a cat who may sense heat less reliably.

Food and water

Place food and water in calm, easily reached locations. Several water stations may help when stairs or competition are difficult. Choose wide bowls that do not constantly press against the whiskers.

A slightly raised food bowl helps some cats but is not universally better. Observe what your cat uses comfortably. Record what and how much is genuinely eaten, including brand, variety, treats and supplements.

Reduced intake or weight loss is not automatically ageing. Seek advice when appetite, chewing, swallowing or weight changes.

Litter trays

An older cat should reach and enter a tray without pain, urgency or obstacles.

Consider:

  • Trays on every relevant floor
  • A large tray with a low entrance and perhaps one higher side to contain litter
  • Non-slip footing before and along the route
  • Clean, predictable litter provision
  • Enough trays in separate quiet locations
  • Preventing another cat from blocking access.

A sudden accident outside the tray is not misbehaviour. Pain, urinary disease, kidney disease, diabetes, cognitive change, constipation and an unsuitable tray are among the possibilities that require assessment.

Grip, stairs and height

Secure non-slip runners can create safer routes across smooth floors. A mat that moves is itself a hazard. Good lighting and grip may help on stairs. Prevent dangerous high jumps and offer broad intermediate levels.

Do not force exercise. Suitable activity supports muscle function, but pain, cardiac or respiratory disease and neurological problems require an individual plan.

Coat, claws and mouth

An older cat may find it harder to groom the back, hindquarters or claws. Calmly check for matting, soiling and overgrown claws. Help only in ways your cat tolerates and seek advice if handling causes pain or distress.

Bad breath, dropping food, chewing on one side or avoiding hard food warrants oral assessment. “Still eating” does not rule out dental pain.

Predictability and orientation

Cats with reduced sight, hearing or cognitive change often benefit from a predictable layout. Do not move every essential resource at once. Consider gentle night lighting, approach a hearing-impaired cat where you can be seen, and preserve familiar scents and routines.

New disorientation, night-time vocalisation, altered interaction or house soiling can have several medical causes. Investigate before attributing it solely to cognitive decline.

What can you monitor each month?

Record:

  • Weight and body shape
  • Muscle condition over the back and hindlimbs
  • Appetite and actual intake
  • Drinking, urination and faeces
  • Jumping, stairs and rising
  • Coat, claws and signs of oral discomfort
  • Sleep, interaction and orientation.

Videos of unusual movement or behaviour and a current list of food, medication and supplements can help your veterinarian.

When should you call your veterinarian?

Seek advice for any new or progressive change. Do not wait with food refusal, obvious pain, breathing difficulty, collapse, sudden weakness, repeated vomiting or difficulty urinating.

A senior-friendly home may reduce difficulty but should never be the only response to loss of function. Investigation and immediate improvements in comfort can happen together.

Final thought

The best adaptation is often neither large nor expensive. It is the change that lets your cat reach a favourite place, a clean tray or a calm feeding area without hesitation. Older cats do not need to behave like young cats to have a good life; they deserve a home that changes with them.

Join Pip’s Post to receive Pip’s friendly senior check.

Medical disclaimer

This information does not replace individual examination or treatment advice. Discuss new changes in mobility, behaviour, appetite, weight, drinking, urination or faeces with your veterinarian.

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