Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Signs of cognitive dysfunction in older cats - what to look for
By MacQuiddy, Brittany et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2022·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Survey of risk factors and frequency of clinical signs observed with feline cognitive dysfunction syndrome.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A survey of cat owners found that 13% of older cats (8 years and up) showed signs of feline cognitive dysfunction (FCD), which can include symptoms like inappropriate vocalization. The study indicated that cats living in rural areas might have a lower risk of developing cognitive dysfunction compared to those in urban settings. While the survey highlighted the prevalence of FCD, it also suggested that environmental factors could play a role in a cat's cognitive health. More research is needed to understand how different living conditions affect cats' mental well-being.
People also search for: cat cognitive dysfunction signs · why is my cat vocalizing at night · older cat behavior changes · feline dementia symptoms · environmental factors affecting cat health
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to distribute a survey to cat owners to identify common clinical signs of feline cognitive dysfunction (FCD) and to evaluate for potential risk factors. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed and adapted based on previously validated canine cognitive dysfunction questionnaires. This questionnaire was distributed to 4342 cat owners who had presented to Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital between 2015 and 2020. Cats aged ⩾8 years with signs of cognitive dysfunction and no underlying medical conditions were classified as the FCD-positive group. Cats aged ⩾8 years with no signs of cognitive dysfunction were classified as the FCD-negative control group. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used to determine associations between categorical variables and avalue <0.05 was considered indicative of evidence of association. RESULTS: A total of 615 completed survey responses were recorded, which was a response rate of 14.2%. Among those, 80 (13%) cats were identified as the FCD-positive group and 114 (18.5%) were identified as the FCD-negative control group. The most common clinical sign in the FCD-positive group was inappropriate vocalization (32/80, 40.0%). The only variable determined to have an association with the FCD group (positive or negative), with avalue of 0.033, was the environmental setting. Cats living in a rural environment (FCD-positive or -negative) had the largest contribution to the χstatistic. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: The observed number of FCD-positive cats living in a rural community was less than the expected value based on the χtests. This is suggestive of an association between living in a rural environment and a reduced chance of cognitive dysfunction. There are many factors such as air pollution, social interactions and environmental enrichment that need to be studied further to determine how they relate to FCD as this could not be concluded from this study.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35536055/