Health and Behavioral Survey of over 8000 Finnish Cats

Abstract

A comprehensive feline health survey was conducted to reveal breed-specific inheritable diseases in Finnish pedigree cats for genetic research. Prevalence of 19 disease categories and 227 feline diseases were defined in a study population of 8175 cats belonging to 30 breeds. Dental and oral diseases, with a prevalence of 28%, and dental calculus and gingivitis (21 and 8%, respectively) were the most prevalent disease category and diseases among all cats and in most of the breeds. An exception was Korats, which were more often affected by the diseases of the respiratory tract (23%) and asthma (19%). Other prevalent disease categories affected various organ systems, such as the skin (12%), the urinary system (12%), the digestive tract (11%), eyes (10%), the musculoskeletal system (10%), and genitals of female cats (17%). Prevalent health or developmental issues included repetitive vomiting (4%), tail kink (4%), feline odontoclastic resorption lesion (4%), urinary tract infections (4%), as well as cesarean section (6%) and stillborn kittens (6%) among female cats. We found 57 breed-specific conditions by Fisher’s exact tests and logistic regression analyses, including 32 previously described and 19 new breed-specific diseases. The genetic defect has already been found in six of them: polycystic kidney disease, progressive retinal atrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and three types of tail malformations. Behavioral profiling revealed breed-specific traits, such as an increased human avoidance in British Short and Longhairs and a higher level of aggression in Turkish vans. Our epidemiological study reveals the overall health profile in Finnish pure and mixed breed cats and identifies many breed-specific conditions without molecular identity for genetic research.

Long‐term incidence and risk of noncardiovascular and all‐cause mortality in apparently healthy cats and cats with preclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

“…To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first long‐term comparison of causes of death between populations that at study entry were initially healthy or had preclinical HCM/HOCM. Death from cancer, CKD and CWLVDA represented 75%‐80% of noncardiovascular mortality in cats originating from around the world, confirming the major impact of these conditions on life expectancy . These findings complement the epidemiology of cardiovascular mortality reported from the same population .…”

“…We prioritized analysis of incidence over prevalence in order to compare noncardiovascular, all‐cause, and cause‐specific mortality across age quartiles and between‐study populations. Most feline reports emphasize prevalence, which describes the total number of cases in a study population at a single time point, but is affected by disease duration and occurrence, and is not well suited for monitoring disease trends . Our study revealed that cancer, CKD, and CWLVDA death were the major causes of noncardiovascular death.…”

“…Most studies derive from veterinary insurance reports, cemetery and necropsy records, surveys, clinical registries, national research databases, health screening, and medical record reviews from primary and tertiary care practices. Information from these sources is generally limited to prevalence data, that is, the percentage of deaths due to a disease or condition identified at a point in time.…”

Avaliação da atividade antimicrobiana de óleos essenciais frente a isolados de <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp. e <i>Pasteurella</i> spp. oriundas da cavidade bucal de gatos domésticos

“…Além disso, as afecções bucais em gatos domésticos são causas frequentes de atendimento clínico. Nesse contexto, um estudo realizado na Finlândia, com objetivo de determinar as principais doenças que acometem os gatos, as afecções bucais e dentais foram as mais prevalentes entre os 5.415 animais de diversas raças e faixas etárias, sendo a taxa de prevalência de 28% (VAPALAHTI et al, 2016). Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho objetivou isolar e identificar dois gêneros frequentes na cavidade bucal de gatos domésticos sadios e com gengivite e avaliar a sensibilidade antimicrobiana desses gêneros frente a seis óleos essenciais, com intuito de se verificar o potencial destes produtos naturais para uso preventivo e terapêutico em gatos.…”

Caracterização genética e perfil de sensibilidade a antimicrobianos de isolados de >i<Pasteurella multocida>/i< oriundos da cavidade bucal de gatos domésticos sadios e com gengivite

“…Em um estudo realizado na França com 109 gatos sadios com idade de 6,2 ± 5,2 anos, 96% apresentaram algum grau de doença periodontal (GIRARD et al, 2009). Na Finlândia, as afeções bucais e dentais foram as mais prevalentes entre os 5.415 animais de diversas raças e faixas etárias atendidos com a taxa de prevalência de 28% (VAPALAHTI et al, 2016). Esse cenário também se repetiu na Inglaterra, em que a doença periodontal foi a mais prevalente entre 3.584 (13,9%) nos atendimentos clínicos (O'NEILL et al, 2014).…”