Prevalence of Disease and Age-Related Behavioural Changes in Cats: Past and Present

Sordo, Lorena; Breheny, Craig; Halls, Vicky; Cotter, Amy; Tørnqvist‐Johnsen, Camilla; Caney, Sarah; Gunn-Moore, Danièlle

doi:10.3390/vetsci7030085

Cited by 24 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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Section: The Association Between Individual Risk Factors and Infections Of Hemoplasma Or Bartonellamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, higher hemoplasma-positive rates were observed in 1 to 10-year old cats that are generally more aggressive in interacting with each other, thus increasing the risk of infection. On the other hand, older cats (≥10 years) might spend less time roaming outside [ 17 ], thus reducing the risk of vector exposure, resulting in lower infections for both hemoplasmas and Bartonella . Among other risk factors, the significantly higher prevalence of hemoplasmas and Bartonella in cats with stray history, and that of B. henselae in cats without ectoparasiticide use, were apparently related to the higher chances of animal exposure to vectors (e.g., fleas).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Prevalence of hemoplasmas and <i>Bartonella</i> species in client-owned cats in Beijing and Shanghai, China

Zhang

Lou

et al. 2021

J. Vet. Med. Sci.

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A year-round molecular epidemiological survey (2017 to 2018) was conducted on three hemoplasmas and two Bartonella species with zoonotic potential in client-owned cats in Beijing and Shanghai. Among 668 specimens, the overall hemoplasma-positive rate was 4.9% (3.4% for Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum, 0.9% for Mycoplasma haemofelis and 1.2% for Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis). The overall Bartonella-positive rate was 8.5% (4.8% for B. henselae and 4.3% for B. clarridgeiae). Age, breed, ectoparasiticide use and stray history, but not city, season and gender, were significantly associated with the positive rates of one or more pathogens. This is also the first report on the prevalence of Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis in cats in China.

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Section: The Association Between Individual Risk Factors and Infections Of Hemoplasma Or Bartonellamentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of hemoplasmas and <i>Bartonella</i> species in client-owned cats in Beijing and Shanghai, China

Zhang

Lou

et al. 2021

J. Vet. Med. Sci.

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“…To alleviate this problem and limit instances where a cat reported by their pet owner to be healthy had actually started developing a yet undiagnosed dental disease, we set an age limit to our control healthy cohort of 1-3 years. This limit was set due to the well-established connection between age and dental disease 31,34 . A potential drawback of this age restriction could be that our healthy control cohort could be biased towards the oral microbiomes of younger cats and not be representative of older cats with no dental or systemic diseases.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an oral swab based microbiome test for the detection of feline dental disease

D¹,

Yang²,

Nisperos³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Variations in the microbial composition of the mouth (the oral microbiome) have known associations with dental and systemic disease. While this is relatively well understood in humans, research on this topic in companion animals, and in cats in particular, has been limited. In this study, we used oral microbiome data obtained from shotgun metagenomic sequencing of 38,000 cats (data gathered through a direct-to-consumer cat DNA testing platform) to reveal the staggering diversity of the feline oral microbiome, identifying 8,344 microbial species across the entire cohort. We used a subset of these data points (6,110 cats) to develop a feline dental health test able to assess whether a cat is at risk of having periodontal disease, tooth resorption and halitosis based on their oral microbiome. After filtering out classified microbial reads with low abundance, we were able to detect, on average, 606 microbes per oral microbiome sample, identifying not just bacteria, but also viruses, fungi, archaea and protozoa. Due to the shortage of available published research on the microbial signature of tooth resorption and halitosis in cats, we used our periodontal disease feline cohort (n=570) to validate our approach. We observed microbial compositional abundance trends consistent with previously reported findings from feline, canine and human studies on periodontal disease. We used compositional abundance-based statistical methods relying on pairwise log-ratio (PLR) transformation to identify microbes significantly correlated with each of the three dental conditions of interest. We identified a set of 27 microbes that are predictive for all three dental conditions, as well as microbes specifically predictive of periodontal disease, tooth resorption or halitosis. We used the compositional abundance profiles of predictive microbes to develop a risk score based model assessing the probability that a cat is suffering from each of the three dental conditions. The model had highest sensitivity for halitosis (72%) and highest specificity for tooth resorption (78%). Lastly, we observed relatively consistent dental disease risk profiles when we compared data from sample collection methods targeting the whole mouth versus those targeting the gum line specifically. In contrast, samples collected in triplicates from the same cats using a sampling method targeting the whole mouth showed more variation in the generated risk profiles. This was likely due to a failure to consistently collect sufficient sample material from areas of the mouth where microbes relevant to dental pathology would be found in highest amounts (i.e., the gum line). For this reason, we have modified the instructions of the test to emphasize the importance of targeting the gum line during sample collection. Regular at home or in clinic screening with the feline dental health test described in this study has the potential to facilitate early detection and prevention of dental disease.

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“…In a study conducted by the authors, cat owners reported whether each of the age‐related behaviours increased, decreased, or remained the same, when compared to when their cats were younger. Graph modified and used with permission from Sordo et al 2020 18 …”

Section: Behavioural Changes In Cats With Cdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a study conducted by the authors, cat owners reported whether each of the age-related behaviours increased, decreased, or remained the same, when compared to when their cats were younger. Graph modified and used with permission from Sordo et al 2020 18 F I G U R E 2 Main causes of increased vocalisations in cats with CDS, as reported by their owners. Graph modified and used with permission from Cerna et al 2020 19 including a T-maze and matching tasks.…”

Section: Cognitive Decline In Cats With Cdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Dysfunction in Cats: Update on Neuropathological and Behavioural Changes Plus Clinical Management

Sordo

Gunn‐Moore

2021

Veterinary Record

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Cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) is an established condition in cats that shares many similarities with human Alzheimer's disease (AD), where cognitive decline ultimately results in dementia. Cats with CDS display behavioural abnormalities, including excessive Vocalisation, altered Interaction with owners (increased affection/attention), altered Sleep-wake cycles, House-soiling, Disorientation (spatial and/or temporal), alterations in Activity, Anxiety, and/or Learning/memory deficits (i.e., VISHDAAL). These cats develop neuropathologies, such as accumulation of β-amyloid and hyperphosphorylated tau deposits. Because of its similarities to those in the brains of people with cognitive impairment and AD, the domestic cat could be a natural model for human dementia studies. It is important to diagnose CDS promptly in cats, ruling out other causes for these behavioural changes, to provide effective management. Interventions include environmental enrichment (e.g., easy access to key resources, calming pheromones), dietary supplementations (e.g., Senilife, Aktivait for cats, SAMe), specific diets (e.g., containing antioxidants, medium-chain triglycerides) and, potentially, medication (e.g., selegiline or propentofylline). This article reviews the literature about CDS in cats, its causes, neuropathology, clinical signs, diagnosis and potential management options. By doing so, it furthers our understanding of this condition and allows improved health, welfare and quality of life of affected cats. K E Y W O R D Sbehaviour, amyloid-β , cognitive dysfunction syndrome, diagnosis, management, tau deposits BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES IN ELDERLY CATSSince behavioural changes in aged pets often appear before other signs of illness, they can be useful earlyThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

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Prevalence of Disease and Age-Related Behavioural Changes in Cats: Past and Present

Cited by 24 publications

References 42 publications

Prevalence of hemoplasmas and <i>Bartonella</i> species in client-owned cats in Beijing and Shanghai, China

Prevalence of hemoplasmas and <i>Bartonella</i> species in client-owned cats in Beijing and Shanghai, China

Development of an oral swab based microbiome test for the detection of feline dental disease

Cognitive Dysfunction in Cats: Update on Neuropathological and Behavioural Changes Plus Clinical Management

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