Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How owner personality affects quality of life in cats
By Muthmann, Sofie et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2025·Clinic for Small Animals (Internal Medicine, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Influence of Owner Personality and Other Owner-, Cat- and Treatment-Related Factors on the Perception of Quality of Life in Cats With Hyperthyroidism.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 500 cats with hyperthyroidism were studied to see how their owners' personalities and treatment choices affected their quality of life. The results showed that cats treated with radioiodine therapy had a better quality of life compared to those on low iodine diets or no treatment at all. Additionally, owners who experienced more negative emotions seemed to perceive their cats' quality of life as worse. This suggests that both the type of treatment and the owner's emotional state can influence how well a cat with hyperthyroidism is doing overall.
People also search for: cat hyperthyroidism treatment options · radioiodine therapy for cats · how to improve cat quality of life
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Assessment of quality-of-life (QoL) is becoming increasingly important in veterinary medicine. In human medicine, it is known that the assessor's personality might affect QoL. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of owner personality and other owner, cat, and treatment-related factors on the health-related QoL (HRQoL) of hyperthyroid cats. ANIMALS: Five hundred hyperthyroid cats. METHODS: A prospective, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study, conducted between April 2023 and February 2024. Owners completed the HyperthyroidismQoL-cat and the Big Five Inventory-2 to assess the cat's HRQoL and owner's five personality domains, respectively. Additional information about owner-, cat-, and treatment-related factors was collected. Univariable and multivariable linear regression modeling was used to assess associations between owner personality, other factors, and the cat's HRQoL. Significance was p < 0.05. RESULTS: In multivariable analysis, radioiodine treatment (RAIT; p = 0.001) and having a comorbidity (p ≤ 0.001) resulted in better HRQoL, whereas negative owner emotionality (p ≤ 0.001), having children ≤ 18 years of age (p = 0.04), treatment using a low iodine diet (LID; p = 0.023), no treatment (p = 0.03) and being hyperthyroid (p ≤ 0.001), hypothyroid (p = 0.004) or unknown thyroid status (p = 0.001) resulted in worse HRQoL. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: When interpreting HRQoL data, the potential impact of the personality domain negative emotionality (tendency to experience anxiety, fear, negative emotions) should be considered. Based on HRQoL, RAIT is the treatment of choice, whereas LID or no treatment are the least favored options. These findings should be considered when counseling owners about their cats' hyperthyroidism and its management.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40231815/