Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How to measure itching severity in cats using owner scores
By Colombo, Silvia et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2022·Servizi Dermatologici Veterinari, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Development and validation of an owner-assessed Visual Analog Scale for feline pruritus severity scoring (VAScat).
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study developed a new tool to help cat owners assess itching in their pets, which can be hard to notice since cats often lick or scratch more when uncomfortable. This tool, called the VAScat, uses two scales: one for licking and one for scratching, allowing owners to score their cat's itching severity. In tests with 153 cats suffering from skin issues, the VAScat effectively tracked changes in itching after treatment, showing significant improvement in scores after therapy. This means that if your cat is itching a lot, this new scale can help you and your vet understand how severe the problem is and how well treatment is working.
People also search for: cat itching treatment · how to tell if my cat is itchy · cat skin disease assessment · feline pruritus scale · cat scratching behavior
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Assessment of the severity of pruritus is difficult in cats, because they manifest discomfort by increased licking, increased scratching or both. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to develop and validate a feline-specific pruritus scale (VAScat). METHODS: The scale was designed as a double Visual Analog Scale (VAS), one VAS for licking and one for scratching, with severity and behavioural descriptors. The highest score (VAS-max) on either VAS was taken as the pruritus score for each cat. Owners of 153 cats with skin diseases and of 108 healthy cats scored their pet's pruritus using the VAScat. Ninety-six of 153 cats with skin diseases also were re-evaluated after four to eight weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Pearson's correlation value between VAS-licking and VAS-scratching scores was r = 0.26 (p < 0.01), and Cronbach's alpha was 0.41. Both indexes indicated that the two scales measure different manifestations of pruritus and supported the use of a dual assessing system. Comparison with a numerical pruritus severity scale (0, absent; 1, mild; 2, moderate; 3, severe) suggested that VAS-licking and VAS-scratching scales taken alone are unsuitable for measuring absent to mild pruritus (grades 0-1), while VAS-max is (p = 0.001). VAS-licking, VAS-scratching and VAS-max all were suitable to assess higher levels of pruritus (grades 2-3, p < 0.01). The VAScat was able to measure pruritus improvement following therapy, as post-treatment scores were significantly decreased compared to pre-treatment ones (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The VAScat proved to be a useful tool to assess pruritus in cats and for monitoring the response to treatment for pruritus.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35920060/