Feline Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome

Introduction

Cognitive dysfunction is a condition of the older cat, and so of growing importance to the practitioner as the feline population demographic ages. In the USA, there has been a 15% increase in the number of cats over 10 years old within the last 20 years, and more than 18 million cats in the USA are now 12 years or older (1), whereas in the UK there are an estimated 2.5 million senior cats, about 30% of the owned population; across Europe, the total is around 20 million (30% of the pet cat population) (2). Accordingly, there is a need for the veterinary profession to focus more attention on quality of life issues and not simply accept certain changes as inevitable. Unfortunately, there is no consensus at which a cat becomes physiologically senior, since individuals may age at different rates. A pragmatic way to classify older cats is to consider those between 7-10 years old as “middle-aged”, those between 11-14 years old as “senior”, and those over 15 years old as “geriatric”. When it comes to brain deterioration, 50% of cats have signs of dementia at 15 years of age; in humans, approximately 50% of 85 years old have such signs (3-5). In this article, for the sake of simplicity, the term “senior” refers to all older cats.

Key Points

• Cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) is a condition of the older cat and is of growing importance to the practitioner as the feline population demographic ages.

• CDS must be distinguished from other age-related changes which may cause superficially similar signs.

• CDS cannot be cured, but its progress can be slowed, and clinical signs may be improved with medical and behavioral intervention.

• There is a need for the veterinary profession to focus more attention on quality of life issues and not simply accept certain changes as inevitable.