How to help my senior cat cope with long-term depression and grief?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | Tonkinese | Female | spayed | 14 years and 8 months old | 10 lbs
I have a 13 year old cat who for the past 3 years has shown signs of depression and grief over the death of her brother of 10 years without getting better. I need help with how to help her.
2 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on September 10th, 2018
Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! Poor Mystique! I would start with a Vet exam as she is a senior cat to be sure the symptoms you are seeing aren't medical in nature. At almost 15 I would worry about kidney and liver disease, diabetes, an over active thyroid and cancer or even arthritis for her depression. It has also been 3 years, animals do feel sadness when the house hold changes but that is a long time to assume her behavior is due to that. If she medically checks out fine I would try to enrich her environment to stimulate her and get a few Feliway diffusers. If you want to repost with her symptoms of depression we can get specific with tips. Good luck! https://indoorpet.osu.edu/sites/indoorpet/files/assets/documents/Herron10_EE_for_Indoor_Cats.pdf https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/comfort-zone-calming-diffuser-kit-for-cat
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on January 24th, 2019
Pets do get sad about things like the death of a housemate but they don’t get depressed like humans can. Things that can make them happy in general are devoting time every day to play with their humans. Buy a tall cat tree or put in shelves so that Luna has opportunities to climb. A Feliway diffuser can also help. You may also get Luna checked out by her vet just in case she is sick. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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