Latest / The Hissing Feline / Cat dementia: Signs, causes, and essential care tips

Transcript

Cat dementia: Signs, causes, and essential care tips · The Hissing Feline

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: This is the Hissing Feline Podcast, a weekly program that is about everything cats.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: The Hissing Feline features experts and other cat aficionados who share their knowledge and perspectives about dealing with felines.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: From strays and ferals to adoption, health, and cat psychology.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: We hope the topics give you helpful and interesting insight into the world of cats.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now, here is the host of the hissing feline, Clark Breeder.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Watching our cats age is not easy, especially when they have chronic pain, kidney disease, weight loss, arthritis, and other debilitating conditions.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Some cats experience mental decline or feline dementia, also known as feline cognitive dysfunction.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: What can cat parents recognize if their pet might have that condition?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: What steps can people take if their cat has been diagnosed with feline dementia?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: What treatments are available for the disease?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Joining me on this podcast episode to discuss feline dementia is Dr.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Melissa Bolden, associate veterinarian at Trailside Animal Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: She is also a contributing author of articles about cat and dog health topics to PET MD.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Bolden, I'm pleased to visit with you today on the Hissing Feline.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you for having me.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm happy to be here.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start by talking about what is feline dementia.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: Feline dementia is very similar to what we think of as Alzheimer's in people.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: When you hear people talking about senility or becoming senile, all of those are very synonymous with dementia in cats.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: In the veterinary world, we call it cognitive dysfunction.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Essentially, it's that age-related loss of brain cells, the little neurons that are in our brain that act as the workhorse for memory and learning, spatial awareness.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: All of those things are tied up into those brain cells that we lose as we get older.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are there other things that are happening in a cat's brain that would affect them and have have the types of results that we might see in older cats?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: So that's one of the things we've discovered is that cats are similar to humans and that they can have an accumulation of this protein called beta amyloid.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: And those beta amyloid proteins form plaques in their brain, which can disrupt blood flow, and that's what leads to the death of these brain cells.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so when we see that, we'll start seeing them act confused, and they can have a variation of signs and different severity depending on how many of these plaques they have.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: And they can mimic a lot of other conditions.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: So we can see in particular, we can see them act confused.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: So sometimes they will seem lost or disoriented.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: That tends to be more severe for cats that are severely affected.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: They seem to forget where they are.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we'll see kitties that will vocalize for no reason and they're just yowling.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's probably one of the most common reasons that I see people in the exam room that bring their cats to me is oh my gosh, they just won't shut up.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: We had an old cat that did that for a period of time, and uh that's what our vet said.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's very possible she has dementia.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's probably one of the most common early signs is that yowling.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it is important if you notice your kitty doing that, that you bring them into the vet because there's a lot of other medical conditions that can cause similar signs.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, in particular with the yowling, hyperthyroidism and hypertension both also cause an increase in vocalization.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: I would say that's probably number one for hyperthyroidism is yowling.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Then we'll see weight loss, increased vomiting.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Those are things we see with hyperthyroidism.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so people and dogs will get low thyroid.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: Cats uniquely get a high thyroid condition where they have a benign tumor making too much thyroid.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: So they'll yowl quite a bit.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, other things though, kiddies sometimes will forget where their litter box is.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: You think about people, whenever they get dementia, they forget where things are and can kind of get disoriented.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Cats are the same way.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: They may forget where their food or water bowl is, they may forget where their litter box is and have to pee, so they just go where they are.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but if you think about urinating outside the litter box, that's a common topic in cats.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, probably one of the most, I would say, hands down, the most common reason I see a kitty in my exam room is for peeing outside the litter box.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it could be because they forgot where the litter box is, or it could be because they have a UTI, or because they have chronic kidney disease and they're drinking and peeing more.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: So we like to get them in and and do some testing and make sure that that's what it what is actually going on.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: But for sure, lots of things we can see.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that that's a really good suggestion is if you think something is happening with your cat is to you really need to see your vet to uh to diagnose the right thing and not guess and you know, hopefully look things up.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think humans do the same thing.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think I have this disease while you got something else, you know.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: So that's right.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Dr.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Google can be a scary place.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's not always cancer.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes is is uh feline dementia.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, does it have a range in it?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Does it go from mild or severe?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: What's gonna happen?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And are people gonna see in a cat something early on versus later on?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Early on, people tend to notice either the increased vocalizing, or I would say the other super common thing people will say is that they appreciate that they are their kitty is is not sleeping at night, they're up more at night and wondering and often meowing at night.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's a big thing, is this disruption in the sleep wake cycles.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, which a sleep wake cycle isn't something I ever really think about.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think most pet parents do until your pet's sleep wake cycle is disrupted.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: And then by God, it's in your face because you're not getting a single night's sleep.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: So that's probably one of the early things that we see.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Later on, or more severely affected kitties.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they can be lost and just staring aimlessly in a room.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: They can actually get anxiety from forgetting where their resources are or interact differently with their humans in their life or other pets.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: They can become aggressive towards another animal that they used to be happy-go-lucky with because they've forgotten who they are or had just changes in how they process in the world around them.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: So what cats are most likely to get dementia?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: So senior cats obviously are are the most likely.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um we have actually studied this pretty intensely, and cats that are over 11 have a greater than 25% chance of developing dementia.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: And if you have a kitty who's over 15, over half of those cats have dementia.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: So sometimes you may have a kitty that has dementia and you just haven't recognized it yet because there's a language barrier.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a little more challenging sometimes to notice that change whenever you're not having conversations every day with uh your pet like you would a person.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um aside from age, there is no breed predilection.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: There's not a certain breed that's prone.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: However, there are factors that can increase your cat's risk.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Obesity is a big one.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that beta amyloid protein I talked about earlier, uh, the way that that is formed, and one of the main reasons that it doesn't get eliminated is when there's too many free radicals.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: So there's always free radicals in the body.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's part of metabolism of making energy in the cell.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we call, but when there's too many, we call that oxidative stress.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: And there are factors in a kitty's life that can increase their oxidative stress, much like humans.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: And we've studied this pretty extensively in human beings to try to figure out how we can reduce our risk of getting age-related cognitive decline.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Smoking is a big one.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: So even though your cat obviously isn't going to go buy a pack of marble, they can get secondhand smoke, which can increase free radicals.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Obesity is huge.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: We know that obesity can increase free radicals in the body, make you more prone to inflammation, more prone to endocrine disease, which endocrine diseases like diabetes or hyperthyroidism, all of those diseases also increase the cat's risk.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Having an underlying disease like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is heart disease, that can impair blood flow and increase that oxidative stress, which increases the risk.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: So short answer, no, there's not a certain breed, there's not a certain thing, but if you can keep your cat trim and avoid things that cause free radicals like second-hand smoke and keep their mind engaged and keep them active, those are all helpful things to reduce risk.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: So things that are just basic, like uh uh I've heard the term enrichment where you make sure that you play with the cat.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing that you would have in humans.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Or uh mental exercise, basically, is really good for the cat too.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: So they can't do crossword puzzles like we can to try to keep our mind sharp.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you can do regular play behavior where they're interactive and having to think.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: There are treat puzzles you might find to buy and let your cat explore.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: There's all sorts of different ways they make them where your kitty has to try to figure out well, if I bop it this way or move it this way, how do I get the treat to fall out?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a cognitive exercise.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: So it's helpful to keep their brain sharp, especially as they're aging.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: We were talking a little bit earlier about a couple of things that might give people uh at least a hint that the cat is having some type of cognitive problems, uh something like yowling.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And are there some other things that uh would be really important for people to think really to observe what their cat is doing?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Big thing to look for are going to be behavior changes.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: So your cat has a routine, um, right?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you appreciate changes in your cat's routine, like maybe, and I've mentioned this before, but I think it's because it's a common thing that I hear, they've eaten and then they come to you and just start meowing like they haven't just eaten.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: But they didn't used to do that.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: That's a new thing they're doing.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that could potentially indicate we're forgetting that we've already been fed.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: That sleep-wake cycle I mentioned earlier is huge.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: So if you notice your cats wandering a lot at night, that's probably one of the biggest ones in dogs, too, is that you've got a dog who's seeming to get up in the middle of the night.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Dogs and cats both, that's a common thing if you're they're wandering more at night.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: Now, some cats, because they can be on or you can have a young cat who's trying to attack your feet and being wild and knocking things over in the night.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's normal.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's more when you've got that established routine.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's the break from the routine where normally your cat sleeping next to your pillow or on your face, or they're they're normally sleeping and getting you up at XYZ time, and all of a sudden now they're up and meowing at this time.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: That's something to look for.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Any of those unusual interactions too, if there's a behavior change, that's something I would watch for as well.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: What's the diagnosis process that a veterinarian would go through to eliminate other illnesses that might mimic dementia?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Typically, I would expect for your kitty to have labs done.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and if you have a senior cat, if your cat's over 11, it's a good idea to have some blood work done in general.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: We almost always want to start with that because that's how we're gonna pick up the big three, as I call them: hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, and diabetes.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: So screening for that can be immensely helpful because there are things we can do to intervene.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: And if your cat doesn't take pills, it's not the end of the world.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: I hear that a lot.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm not gonna, I don't want to know, you know, why look and find something when I know there's no way in heck I'm gonna be able to get a pill into my kidney.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: Science is has evolved and we have such wonderful ways, like for kidney disease, for example, the primary way we manage that is nutritionally.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: So we put them on a low-protein food.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Kidneys are paramount and metabolizing proteins.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: So if you reduce the protein, you reduce the workload, you can double their lifespan with kidney disease.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: So that can be a simple change.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: I say simple, they're real proud of prescription foods.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: So throw that out there.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: If you've ever had a cat on a prescription diet, you're like, good God, that's a lot for cat food.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: But at least it's the difference.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, at least you're just feeding something rather than having to fight the battle of poking a pill down.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: If they're on a medication though, um, there are transdermal preparations for a lot of McKe medications now where you rub it on their little ear flap and it's absorbed through the skin.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: That has made my life a lot easier in helping manage these kitties.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: So lots of things we can screen for with blood work.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, a urinalysis is another big one.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: And your vet probably has, if your kitty hasn't just peed on the floor where you can suck it up with a little syringe and put it in a baggie or in your vat tub, um, you can get these little beads from your vet that don't absorb liquid.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: So you replace your litter with these little beads, and then when they pee in the box, they just float, and that way you have the liquid and you're able to pour it into a little baggie and send it into the clinic so that we can look in the pee.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: And that can urine can be helpful to not only screen for urinary tract infections, which make them pee outside the box like dementia can, um, but also how are the kidneys functioning?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: Is it way too dilute because they're not doing what their job?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: Is there glucose in the pee because they have diabetes?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: It can be helpful too.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, blood pressure also is really helpful because hypertension is common in seeing your kitties.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes x-rays, I would say that's another big thing I haven't mentioned.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: Arthritis can have a lot of similar signs as dementia.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then one of the things I forgot to mention earlier is that kitties with dementia often don't groom themselves like they used to.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: They forget.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: They just they're not getting pretty for the day like they used to do.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and arthritis is another huge one that makes kitties not groom themselves very well and is almost a sure thing.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Cats, 100%, all senior cats will get osteoarthritis.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: They get primary osteoarthritis like humans do.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: So 100% of cats will get it if they live long enough.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um and they don't complain.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: So being able to screen and find that, we have wonderful interventions for arthritis now.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: In particular, Cilencia has changed my life and how long I'm seeing kitties.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: Clark, you mentioned that you had a cat that lives to be 21.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um 15 years ago, I would have been like, no way, show me pictures.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: I need proof.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: But now I'm seeing more and more kitties.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's not a random outlier.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm seeing lots more cats live to be 20 because they still have quality of life.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's not that we're giving them a drug that's giving them more years, we're we found ways to make them have quality life and be comfortable and happy to where we're not having to put them down because they're miserable.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's the big thing.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: So if you have a senior cat who seems to have slowed down and be stiff, I I don't work for them, but by golly, I've been really impressed with salencia for arthritis.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then it's a once-a-month injection.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I throw that out there for and it certainly gives it gives hope that they can enjoy their their cat longer.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: The technology and advances in medicine really give pet parents hope that they can spend a little more time with their four-footed children, as it were.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to the Hissing Feline podcast.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Clark Greer.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: My guest today is Dr.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Melissa Bolden.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: She is associate veterinarian at Trailside Animal Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: After the break, Dr.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Bolden will talk about treatment options for feline dementia, what cat owners can expect over time after a diagnosis, and some resources for better understanding of the disease.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Please stay with us.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: There's magic in watercolor painting.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_03: It's fluid and transparent, defining control and turning brush strokes into collaboration with chance.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: Hi, I'm artist Crystal Jolly.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: I want to invite you to experience my world of creativity and color at CrystalJollyArtist.com.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: Whimsical paintings where ordinary moments are re-imagined with charm and curiosity.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: Abstract art that turns emotion into color, movement, and peace.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Please stop on my website and let me know if you are interested in my work.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_03: CrystalJollyArtist.com.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Hissing Feline Podcast.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Clark Greer.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode deals with feline dementia.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Helping us understand the disease is Dr.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Melissa Bolden, Associate Veterinarian at Trailside Animal Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Bolden, what types of medication-related treatments are available for cats with feline dementia?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good question, Clark.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: There isn't actually a FDA-approved medication for feline dementia.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: There's no one drug we have to treat it that's been determined to be effective.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that being said, there are a lot of medications we will use to try and help that haven't been officially tested and approved for the condition.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: In particular, when we talk about medications, there's been a lot of anecdotal reported success.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then also there's been some studies that support the use of silaguline and then also vivitonin.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: Both of those are prescription medications that can be helpful in reducing the signs of cognitive decline.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: A big thing with those two medications in particular, which are probably the most prescribed true, like here's your prescribed medication for dementia.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: When we talk about that though, I feel like it's really important for pet parents to know that you're looking at four to six weeks before you see signs of improvement.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not a miracle speedy drug by any means, but it can help just kind of slow things down, help sharpen the mind a little bit.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: So for some people that have kitties that readily will eat a pill hidden in a little pill pocket, I say, heck yeah, let's try some selein and see how they do.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's not one of the medications that's available in an injection form or a transdermal form.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't come in a food, it's gotta be a pill.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: So if those are uh obstacles for your cat, I don't know that I see a big enough change that I would go that route.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it's something that exists, and I will always tell parents about it, but you've got to have the right situation for that medication to work.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's pretty specific then.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: Now there are medications we use a lot though that are treating more some of the clinical signs that we see associated with dementia, in particular that nighttime, yowling at night, keeping you awake, pacing around.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I really am a big fan of gabapentin for that.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we have jokes in the veterinary world about kitties that they just have a vitamin G deficiency.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: And that G stands for gabapentin because gabapentin, and I know a lot of humans have been prescribed gabapentin and maybe had good or bad experiences.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: Gabapentin is marketed as neurotin in the human world.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: And it works in particular in humans, we use it for inflammation of our nerves, right?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: Or nerve pain.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: In cats, it has another indication.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: While it works on pain, which the nerves go all through our body, and if you have a senior cat that has dementia, chances are really, really good that they're over over 11 and that they've got some arthritis going on.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: So you're gonna get that pain uh reduction from gabapentin, um, which kitties tend to really respond well to it.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: But additionally, it causes some mild sedation.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: So it can be really helpful, and you can even go higher on the scale where you get heavy sedation.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: It can be really helpful for nighttime when you have a cat who wakes up in the middle of the night scared and disoriented, and where am I?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: What time of day is it?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Who knows?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Their body doesn't know.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, gabba pen can help reduce that to where you're getting you and your cat are getting rest at night, which is is helpful.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Are there some treatments that pet parents can do outside of medications that would at least help the cat through this through this time in their lives?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, definitely.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I would say when you're managing dementia, it's a lot more of the other things than medication.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: In particular, when we talk about treating dementia, it's threefold.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: So you're doing some sort of medication oftentimes, and that's usually to get you through the nights, right?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, and to manage arthritis, which those two I think go hand in hand because they're both senior cat diseases.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, also, supplements are really, really big.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: And the third is your environmental or enrichment, like we briefly talked about in the first segment.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: So when we talk about supplements, those are huge in the dementia world.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: And essentially with supplements, we're trying to reduce those free radicals.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: So we talked about earlier how dementia is the product of oxidative stress and free radicals, anything you get that causes increased free radical increases that oxidative stress.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot of supplements out there to reduce that.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: In humans, we talk about eating a lot of blueberries because they are um antioxidant, right?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: So we're trying to reduce those oxidants.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: In kitties, you can do supplements that like SAME, that's probably one of my favorite supplements, is SAME.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Vetrcience, I know, makes a SAM-e product.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: Co-Q10 is another good supplement that can be helpful.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: Omega-3 fatty acids, wonderful for senior cats.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a huge omega-3 fatty acid girl.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: I even in my own life, we've just demonstrated many, many ways across the board that they can be helpful as you're aging, not just for your joints, but also for your mind.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: And if your kitty doesn't like supplements, they do have omegas that come not just in capsule form, which Nordic naturals are awesome, but also in pop form where you can pump the omegas onto their food.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Just it's very, very fishy, and cats tend to like that.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_03: Or fish.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, yeah, it could be as simple as giving them a little bit of salmon on a regular basis.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Salmon is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Most of our supplements are sourced from krill because salmon is more expensive.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: But if you have salmon in your diet, share it with your kitties.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Salmon is great, very rich in omega-3s.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: And then the final category, which is probably the biggest one for kitties with dementia, is your environmental enrichment.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: So that's not just keeping their mind sharp preventatively, like what we talked about earlier with tree puzzles, but also trying to reduce the stress that they find from this age-related decline.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: So sometimes that can mean putting on leaving a radio or TV on a low volume to where there's or a little bit of music or ambient talking, like a talk show, something that makes them feel when they wake up in the middle of the night, not so scared and alone, because you can hear voices and it feels more like, oh, I'm at home, something that sounds like the daytime, to where it's less disorienting.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: A night light can be helpful too, because that feeling of where am I?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm confused, I'm alone, we found that it's lessened whenever you can tell where you are.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, this looks familiar.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I hear these sounds that look familiar, and that can reduce anxiety.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some pet parents find putting them in a smaller space where all their resources are right there, especially at night.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: So if you've got one bedroom and here's our litter box, which has a low entry, right?
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: We're not having to jump or do any acrobatics to get into it because we have dementia, which means we probably also have arthritis.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: So easy to get there.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: Here's food, here's water, here's my bed.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Everything is in this space so that when I am disoriented and I have these moments of confusion, I can get to everything I need and not have to wander the house looking for these things that are that are gone.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: So that can be helpful too.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: If you have a kitty that wants to eat at two o'clock in the morning, and that's obviously not when you want to get up, sometimes having a feeder that has timers so that you can portion out your meals and then it opens at that time to where they've got a little meal ready.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: If they're not a free grazer, because we're trying to keep them trim, that those little timer feeders can be helpful too.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: Those are the big things I do environmentally.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: What is the prognosis for cats with dementia?
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think it depends on the severity and how much it's affecting their quality of life because it's very much a scale.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um when we talk about end of life in cats, it's all about quality.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: We don't want them just to live as many years, eke out as many as we possibly can.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: We want them to be happy years, and we are fortunate enough in veterinary medicine that when they lose that quality, we can alleviate suffering and make them peaceful and have integrity.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um usually when we're seeing dementia, it's an advanced senior cat.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about how half of these cats of that are over 15 have dementia.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's a long-lived kitty.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: So when we're diagnosing dementia, usually these cats are already advanced seniors.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so when we say prognosis and how many years do they have left, well, they're already a senior when they're diagnosed.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: So it it really kind of depends on what's encoded in their genetics as far as what other concurrent diseases do we have.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: Chances are good they have arthritis, chances are really good that they have kidney disease.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: Those are common senior cat diseases.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: So it's more how comfortable are we?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: And how how severe is the the dementia?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: Have we gotten stressed by not knowing where we are?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Are we do we seem lost all the time and are yelling and miserable because we're confused and growling and hissing and not wanting to interact with other people?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, to me, that's a kitty that that doesn't have good quality of life.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: And if I can't manage that with things like salincia to help their arthritis or gabapentin to help their stress and make them happy and quality life again, well, then it may be time.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really difficult decision.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: I know it was for us, but our cat had a lot of those things.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: A little bit of dementia, she had heart failure, and she had thyroid problems.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: There were just a lot of things that the cat was going through.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was a difficult decision.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's that's the truth.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I I liken to my clients when I'm talking to them.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: I liken kitties are similar.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: All of us, human beings, all living things are very similar in my mind to a vehicle, and that when you have a vehicle with a lot of miles in it, it's in the shop a lot.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: And that's similar for us as our yeah, as our bodies get older and things change and kitties' bodies are aging, um, there's just a lot of things that start having misfires and dysfunction.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's good to have that working relationship where you're you're in the clinic a little bit more to catch things early on.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's much better to change the belt when it first makes the noise rather than waiting until it's then affected other parts in your car, very similar with them and then trying to tinker a little bit here and there in a way that doesn't negatively impact their quality of life.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: So if you, like I said, if it's like pilling is a nightmare and causes stress for both of you, then that may not be the best route for your pet, but it may be something where we change food or add a little supplement we pop on here or do a little gel on the ear, little things we can tweak to try and help give them best quality.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Are there some resources for understanding and about uh what the cat is going through for pet parents and maybe helping to manage some of the dementia around the house?
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Are there some like websites or sources that you would recommend?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, I think PetMD does do a good job.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: They've started writing most of their articles.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: They actually were purchased by by Chewie not too long ago, and they started replacing a lot of their editorials rather than just being an unnamed editorial by somebody you don't know.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: They've they've tried to reach out to different veterinarians and and make sure that their sources are all good.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: So they've done a really nice job with that.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Hills Pet Nutrition has done a really good job too of putting out a bunch of resources and information for pet parents.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a huge, huge fan of Vinn, which is the Veterinary Information Network.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: And while they have a large arm of it that is towards veterinarians and helping us with continuing education, they also do a really nice job of putting out articles for pet parents that are a little less medical jargon and more easy to read and very reputable.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Same goes with Blue Pearl and VCA.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: They both put out, and VSC, they both put out lots of articles for pet parents that are very easy to read, easy to understand.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's very helpful.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: Today's program, I hope it has been helpful to cat parents to better understand dementia and some symptoms to watch for in your cat and treatment options.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, if there's an issue or a question is to see their veterinarian sooner rather than later, if that's going to be a situation that might get worse over time, you know, when dementia is not curable, but perhaps the vet can have some input, at least provide a diagnosis that will help them really understand where their cat is.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and your vet can be a really good resource too for helping you figure out how can I keep them comfortable and when are they not comfortable anymore.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: Usually I know with my patients, I especially by the time they're they're reaching 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and up, I've known them for many, many years.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's nice because I know they're normal and we get to know them as extensions of our family.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's great to have that relationship because you'll have a resource of somebody who who sees similar things every day and can help you figure out when we're getting close to needing to intervene, whether that's with environment or medication or supplement.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Boldon, I want to thank you very much for joining me on this week's podcast.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's been really good to talk about feline dementia.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's a very difficult subject, but I'm I'm hoping it's it's helpful for uh cat parents to uh to understand a little bit more about the disease.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being on the show today.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my pleasure.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to tell your friends about the hissing feline and click the follow button where you listen to the show.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Also, please leave us a five-star rating that will help other people find the podcast.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Join me for the next episode of the Hissing Feline to learn about chronic kidney disease in cats.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hope you have a great day and remember to keep hurting.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: Content on the Hissing Feline podcast is for information and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended to provide medical, veterinary, or legal advice.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Please consult your veterinarian and local and state authorities before dealing with feral and straight cats.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: Opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily those of Duracho Cat Media LLC.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: References to products or services do not imply an endorsement.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: The Hissing Feeling podcast is a production of Doratio Cat Media LLC, and has been blessed by our rescue cats, Bridget and Maddie.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: All content is used with permission or under fair use.