Changes to Expect as Cat Ages?

If you have an older cat, are there any changes that are inevitable as there are as humans age?

Will they use the litter box more... or maybe less? Does poor eyesight become an issue even if there's been enough taurine in the diet? Lethargy?

And what about sleeping habits? Will mature cats (like over 8 years) start sleeping longer... or maybe not sleep as much? I realize that cats differ and I know I could google it or read a book but I'm more interested in your personal stories about older cats instead of dry book or Internet facts.

 

Older cats get aches and pains like we do, so sometimes they don't want to be picked up anymore.
They also slow down and don't have such fast reflexes anymore. A cat I used to have that died 17 years ago, became very docile and allowed herself to be picked up easily, but when she was young she was more hyper and didn't always want to be picked up.

 

A lot changes can take place, even their personalities can totally changes. My aunt's old cat started to change a lot when he got old, he didn't like to be pet anymore, and would hiss at you if you even tried doing that. Later he started to pee everywhere!! Then poo outside his litter box! But that happened when he was really old! It can also happen with younger cats, specially when you move to a different place... that confuses cats. In older cats I guess it's mostly because they're very old and can't control it.

You can expect a lot major changes as a cat ages, so you better be prepared and get enough info so you learn how to deal with this kind of issues properly.