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Successful treatment of abnormal feeding behavior in a cat
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February 2017
... In the process, the human-animal bond will also be fostered. Adjunctive medical therapy may be used to mitigate anxiety, if the circumstances of the individual case strongly suggest stress, the primary cause of pica (27). In the case under report, ingestion of >20 litter pellets, presumably with adsorbed radiopaque mineral salts like calcium carbonate, was apparently accidental. ...
Infertility is a reproductive system disorder that results in the failure to conceive following a normal mating. Idiopathic infertility is one of the most common causes of infertility, and it can be caused by anti-sperm antibodies, anti-ovary antibodies, or anti-sperm and zona binding by anti-sperm antibodies (ASAs). ASAs found in both systemic (blood and lymph) and local (seminal fluid, cervico-vaginal mucus, or follicular fluid) samples are cytotoxic and agglutinating. These ASAs target sperm surface antigens, which play a role in fertility, and significantly reduce the chances of pregnancy by interfering with several gamete functions such as sperm survival and motility, acrosomal exocytosis, and gamete interaction, resulting in male or female immunoinfertility.
... 80 According to the literature, pica (eg, eating of non-food items) can be considered either a compulsive disorder or a feeding disorder. [91][92][93] Pica in cats may involve various materials such as wool, cotton, fabric, rubber or plastic. 66,94 Some authors have suggested that pica could be a coping mechanism, 95,96 and it may also have a genetic component, as Oriental breeds show this disorder more frequently. ...
Domestic cats are exposed to a variety of stressful stimuli, which may have a negative effect on the cats' welfare and trigger a number of behavioural changes. Some of the stressors most commonly encountered by cats include changes in environment, inter-cat conflict, a poor human-cat relationship and the cat's inability to perform highly motivated behaviour patterns. Stress is very likely to reduce feed intake, and stress-related anorexia may contribute to the development of potentially serious medical conditions. Stress also increases the risk of cats showing urine marking and some forms of aggression, including redirected aggression. A number of compulsive disorders such as over-grooming may also develop as a consequence of stressful environments. Some of the main strategies to prevent or reduce stress-related behavioural problems in cats are environmental enrichment, appropriate management techniques to introduce unfamiliar cats to each other and the use of the synthetic analogue of the feline facial pheromone. As the stress response in cats depends, to a large extent, on the temperament of the animal, breeding and husbandry strategies that contribute to the cat developing a well-balanced temperament are also very useful.
© The Author(s) 2015.
... Various treatments have been suggested, and some case reports have been published in the literature but, to our knowledge, none have been subjected to an extensive peer-reviewed study to validate their efficacy. 9,11,12,14,[23][24][25][26] The aim of this study was to characterize pica behavior in cats. Once the behavior is better defined within a given cat population, it may become possible to focus on potential causes in that population and assess respective treatment efficacy. ...
The aim of this study was to characterize pica behavior in cats.
Cat owners were recruited to participate in a questionnaire survey on pica behavior exhibited by their cats. Emphasis was put on the type of item ingested. Questions on early history and environment, as well as general health and gastrointestinal signs, were asked. Owners of healthy cats not showing pica were also recruited into a control group. Associations between variables and groups were statistically tested.
Pica was directed most commonly at shoelaces or threads, followed by plastic, fabric, other items, rubber, paper or cardboard and wood. Some cats ingested specific items but only chewed others. A significant positive association was found between sucking and ingesting fabric (P = 0.002). Ad libitum feeding was significantly lower in the pica group than the control group (P = 0.01). Prevalence of self-sucking behavior was significantly higher in the pica group than the control group (P = 0.001). Cats with pica vomited significantly more often than control cats (P = 0.01).
Pica, the ingestion of inedible items, does not seem to be the consequence of a suboptimal environment or early weaning. Cats with pica were less commonly fed ad libitum than healthy cats. As frequently reported, pica and vomiting were related, but the causative association is not well established and thus warrants further investigation.
© The Author(s) 2015.
Behavior can change as a result of medical problems or physiological changes, and behavior changes are likely to be the first signs of stress, disease, and poor welfare in any animal. If shelter operations, behavior, and/or medical staff identify behaviors that may have an underlying medical cause, they can be addressed immediately, relieving suffering and increasing the adoptability of the animal. Conversely, if medical conditions that cause or exacerbate problematic behaviors are missed, time may be wasted on training or attempted behavior modification, thus prolonging suffering and time spent in the shelter. Only by safeguarding both physical and emotional health can we improve overall quality of life for animals in our care, facilitate their placement in homes, and help prevent their return to the shelter.
In this article, we review cats' feeding behaviors, and discuss ways of feeding cats that promote physical and mental/behavioral health, while providing cats with choices that allow expression of preferences. We address the management of several feeding issues that cat owners may face, such as obesity, pickiness, begging for food, and feeding in multi-cat households. Food puzzles are one way to provide environmental enrichment for cats, and food can be used in multiple ways for behavior modification in the clinical setting, including counterconditioning and differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors.
Behavior can change as a result of medical issues or physiological changes. It is well understood that dogs and cats continue to express many of the behavioral patterns expressed by their wild ancestors. The behaviors typical of sick animals represent a highly adaptive behavioral strategy, so it is not surprising that many of these behaviors have been retained in spite of domestication. A variety of different studies have suggested that monitoring of sickness behaviors in the cat may be an excellent additional means of evaluating feline welfare and that the cats' behavior is a more reliable indicator of their level of stress than their physiological responses. Urine-marking behavior is more common in intact dogs and is considered a normal form of communication. When neutered animals mark, it is often due to situations involving conflict, frustration or anxiety.
To determine clinical features and outcome in dogs and cats with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Retrospective study.
103 dogs and 23 cats.
Records of patients with OCD were analyzed for clinical features, medication used, extent of behavior modification, and outcome.
Most dogs affected with OCD had been obtained from breeders. Male dogs significantly outnumbered females (2:1). Female cats outnumbered male cats by 2:1 in a small sample. Most affected dogs lived in households with 2 or more humans and other dogs or cats, and had some formal training. Client compliance with behavior modification was high. A combination of behavior modification and medication resulted in a large decrease in intensity and frequency of OCD in most animals. Clomipramine was significantly more efficacious for treatment in dogs than was amitriptyline. Only 1 dog and 1 cat were euthanatized because of OCD during the study.
OCD in dogs does not appear to be associated with lack of training, lack of household stimulation, or social confinement. In cats, OCD may be associated with environmental and social stress. Obsessive-compulsive disorder appears at the time of social maturity and may have sporadic and heritable forms. With appropriate treatment (consistent behavior modification and treatment with clomipramine), frequency and intensity of clinical signs in most dogs and cats may decrease by > 50%. Success appears to depend on client understanding and compliance and the reasonable expectation that OCD cannot be cured, but can be well controlled.
A postal survey was conducted of the owners of 152 cats, mainly of oriental breeds, which exhibited pica (defined broadly, as chewing, sucking or ingesting non-nutritive materials). The most common material was wool (93% of cases), followed by cotton, man-made fabrics, rubber/plastic and paper/cardboard (8%). Actual ingestion was as likely to occur in Burmese cats as in Siamese, in contradiction to a report from the USA (Houpt, 1985). Pica appeared to be linked to infantile behaviour in non-oriental cats, but possibly not in orientals. Onset of pica could occur at any time during the first 4 years of the cat's life, but was most frequent in the 2 months following rehoming. Onset in other cases could not be linked to rehoming, but tended to occur between 6 and 18 months of age, and may therefore be linked to the onset of sexual maturity or territorial behaviour. Neutering had little effect on the expression of pica.
Sixteen domestic cats were used to investigate the pituitary-adrenal, pituitary-gonadal and behavioral consequences of an unpredictable handling and husbandry routine. After a 10-day baseline period of standard laboratory procedures, eight cats (‘stressed cats’, STR) were subjected to a 21-day period of altered caretaking characterized by irregular feeding and cleaning times, absence of talking and petting by humans, and daily unpredictable manipulations. Eight control cats (CON group) were maintained for 21 days on the standard caretaking schedule. Behavior was recorded on time-lapse video 24 h day−1, urine was collected daily for cortisol analyses, and hormone stimulation tests with synthetic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) were conducted before and after the 3-week treatment period. Results indicate that the STR cats were chronically stressed by the altered caretaking routine. Urinary cortisol concentrations were consistently elevated throughout the 3-week period, adrenal sensitivity to ACTH was enhanced and pituitary sensitivity to LHRH was reduced. Active exploratory and play behavior was suppressed, and STR cats spent more time awake/alert and attempting to hide. Hiding was negatively correlated with cortisol concentration and, therefore, may be an important behavior for coping with uncontrollable and unpredictable captive environments. These results indicate that qualitatively poor caretaking is a potent psychological stressor for confined cats that may eventually compromise reproduction through behavioral or physiological mechanisms. To promote well-being, caged cats should be provided with appropriate places for concealment.
Individuals often cope with stress by consuming calorically-dense, highly-palatable 'comfort' foods. The present work explores the stress-relieving properties of palatable foods in a rat model of limited sucrose intake. In this model, adult male rats with free access to chow and water are given additional access to a small amount of sucrose drink (or water as a control). A history of such limited sucrose intake reduces the collective (HPA axis, sympathetic, and behavioral-anxiety) stress response. Moreover, the stress-dampening by sucrose appears to be mediated primarily by its rewarding properties, since beneficial effects are reproduced by the noncaloric sweetener saccharin but not oral intragastric gavage of sucrose. The present work uses an alternate strategy to address the hypothesis that the rewarding properties of sucrose mediate its stress-dampening. This work varies the duration, frequency, and/or volume of sucrose and assesses the ability to attenuate HPA axis stress responses. The data indicate that HPA-dampening is optimal with a greater duration and/or frequency of sucrose, whereas increasing the volume of sucrose consumed is without effect. This finding suggests that the primary factor mediating stress-dampening is the number/rate of reward (i.e., sucrose) exposures, rather than the total sucrose calories consumed. Collectively, these data support the hypothesis that stress relief by limited palatable food intake is mediated primarily by its hedonic/rewarding properties. Moreover, the results support the contention that naturally rewarding behaviors are a physiological means to produce stress relief.
Experience of childhood abuse is prevalent among patients with eating disorders, and dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is implicated in its pathophysiology. Neonatal maternal separation is considered as an animal model of stressful experience early in life. Many of studies have demonstrated its impact both on the activity of HPA axis and the development of psycho-emotional disorders later in life. In this paper, a series of our researches on developing an animal model of eating disorders is reviewed. An animal model of neonatal maternal separation was used; Sprague-Dawley pups were separated from dam daily for 180 min during the first 2 weeks of life (MS) or undisturbed. Anxiety-/depression-like behaviors were observed in MS rats at the age of two months with decreased serotonergic activity in the hippocampus and the raphe. Post-weaning social isolation promoted food intake and weight gain of adolescent MS pups, with impacts on anxiety-like behaviors. Sustained hyperphagia was observed in the MS pups subjected to a fasting/refeeding cycle repeatedly during adolescence, with increased plasma corticosterone levels. Anhedonia, major symptom of depression, to palatable food was observed in adolescent MS pups with blunted response of the mesolimbic dopaminergic activity to stress. Results suggest that neonatal maternal separation lead to the development of eating disorders when it is challenged with social or metabolic stressors later in life, in which dysfunctions in the HPA axis and the brain monoaminergic systems may play important roles.
It may be difficult to differentiate the possible causes of hyperglycemia in the cat. The following investigation was on transient hyperglycemia in 320 cats. The frequency and degree of stress-hyperglycemia and its relation to different types of primary diseases was proven. Animals with overt diabetes mellitus or pancreatic diseases were not included in this study. Plasma glucose was analyzed with the o-Toluidine- or with the glucose oxidase-method. Plasma immune-reactive insulin (IRI) was estimated by RIA. A glucose concentration of greater than or equal to 140 mg/dl (7.77 mmol/l) in the fasted animal was defined as hyperglycemia. The results of the retrospective investigation show in cats transient hyperglycemia occurs more often (3.2%) than permanent hyperglycemia (0.57%). Contrary to overt diabetes mellitus there is no sex- or age-related predisposition. Glucose values above 300 mg/dl (16.65 mmol/l) with maximal values up to 620 mg/dl (34.42 mmol/l) were estimated in 12% of the animals. In 12 from 19 hyperglycemic animals the basal IRI values were between 4 and 14 microU/ml, 11 animals had a lowered I/G ratio. In the following order of frequency the primary diseases found in combination with transient hyperglycemia were: dys- and stranguria, viral and bacterial infections, gastrointestinal diseases, neoplasia, renal insufficiency, cardiopathies etc. With improvement of the underlying disturbance the stress-related hyperglycemia normalized without insulin therapy within a few days. In conclusion, it is necessary to initially identify basic diseases that may trigger the onset of stress-hyperglycemia in the cat. Neither the extent of the glucose level nor a single plasma-insulin-value are valid indicators of confirming the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Sexual behavior problems do occur as a primary diagnosis, but excessive sexual behavior is a common secondary problem. Mounting occurs in almost half of dogs with behavior problems and 20% of cats with behavior problems.
Feline endocrinopathies (excluding diabetes mellitus) include hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, acromegaly, hyposomatotropism, diabetes insipidus, hyperadrenocorticism, primary sex hormone-secreting adrenal tumors, primary hyperaldosteronism, pheochromocytoma, hypoadrenocorticism, hyperparathyroidism, and hypoparathyroidism. Each of these conditions will be discussed including their prevalence, cause, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis.
The diagnosis of hyperthyroidism, one of the most common disorders affecting elderly cats, is usually straightforward and considered routine by most practitioners. Nowadays, however, most cats suffering from hyperthyroidism tend to be diagnosed earlier and at a milder stage of the disease than those cats diagnosed 10 to 25 years ago. There are, in fact, a growing number of cats with clinical signs of hyperthyroidism and palpably large thyroid glands whose baseline serum total thyroid hormone concentrations are within the normal or borderline range, making diagnosis problematic. This paper reviews the available tests used to confirm a diagnosis of hyperthyroidism in cats and discusses their overall usefulness.
Etología Clínica Veterinaria del Perro y del Gato
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Compulsive disorders in dogs
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Polyphagia Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Diseases of the Dog and Cat
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Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Diseases of the Dog and Cat
- E N Behrend
Behrend, E.N., 2000. Polyphagia. In: Ettinger, S.J., Feldman, E.C. (Eds.),
Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Diseases of the Dog and
Cat, 5th Ed. WB Saunders, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 104-107.
BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Behavioural Medicine
- A U Luescher
Luescher, A.U., 2009. Repetitive and compulsive behavior in dogs and
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