Why is our 16 year old cat biting a lot and twitching his head ??

by Emily
(Ontario, Canada)

We have a 16 year old male black cat, and tonight we noticed that he started twitching his head.. he doesnt scratch his ears or anything so we know he deffinetly doesnt have ear mites. He is also starting to bite us quite often.. sometimes he will just come up to sit with us and just start biting for no reason..

I'm wondering of he has anything wrong with him/in pain for some reason.. or is this just a normal part of old age in cats??
Please let me know ASAP
Thanks !!

Answer by Kate
Hi
I would still check inside his ear for things like ear mites or a build up of wax (canker) these can be uncomfortable and can cause ear shaking.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-ear-mites.html

he is a very old cat now and he may well be starting to suffer from a form of dementia. this may be causing the biting i.e he may suddenly feel afraid or trapped when hes on your lap and so lashes out. See this page for more on old cat symptoms

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/senior-cat.html

It is always a good idea to have old cats checked by a vet every six months or so to make sure that they are not developing any illness which may be causing them some distress in some way.

best wishes Kate

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