University of Edinburgh researchers have found that mental disorders associated with aging, including Alzheimer's, are far more common in domesticated cats than previously thought.
A paper published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice says that the researchers observed signs of senility in more than 50 per cent of cats over age 15, which can be compared to an 85-year-old person, during a study.Lead author Danielle Gunn-Moore, the head of the Feline Clinic at the University of Edinburgh's Hospital for Small Animals, says that the new findings support a growing body of evidence suggesting that most, if not all, mammals can suffer age-related conditions normally associated with people.
Gunn-Moore says that the behaviour associated with senility in cats range from acting disoriented to changes in their social relationships, to shifting sleep habits.
The signs of senility may also include inappropriate vocalizing, forgetting commands, breaking housetraining, pacing, wandering, sluggishness, unusual interest or disinterest in food, and decreased grooming and confusion, such as
