Not just a bit muddled
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Many owners of older cats know it. Your beloved pet, who was always so calm and housetrained, suddenly starts to behave differently. He walks aimlessly in circles around the room, sometimes doesn’t seem to know where the litter box is, or starts meowing loudly and insistently at night for no apparent reason.
We often write it off as ‘just another day older’, but researchers from the University of Edinburgh have now made a groundbreaking discovery. They examined the brains of 25 deceased cats, some of which showed this confused behavior.
What they saw under the microscope was striking. The brains of the confused cats were full of build-ups of toxic proteins called beta-amyloids. These are exactly the same protein clumps that we see in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Broken connections
The research goes even deeper. The scientists saw that these proteins accumulated at the synapses, the crucial connections between brain cells that ensure the transmission of signals. In the demented cats, these connections were literally eaten by the supporting cells of the brain.
This explains why the cats become confused: the wiring in their heads is slowly broken down. It is the first hard evidence that cats do not simply become demented, but undergo a disease process that is eerily similar to what happens to humans.
An unexpected medical breakthrough
This discovery is sad for cat lovers, but also hopeful for science. Until now, scientists had to study Alzheimer’s in genetically engineered mice, because rodents do not naturally develop the disease. Cats do develop it spontaneously, just like us.
This means that our domestic tigers could be the key to a cure in the future. Researchers hope that treatments that work in cats will also work in people. And the other way around: if we find a medicine for people, it might also give your old cat a few more bright years.
Pay attention to the signals
Do you have a senior cat (over 11 years old) at home? Then pay close attention to the signals. Changes in sleep rhythm (sleeping during the day, haunting at night), disorientation, uncleanliness or loud meowing are not bullying behavior. These are symptoms of a brain that is malfunctioning.
There is no cure yet, but with the right care, adjusted nutrition and sometimes medication you can slow down the process and make life more comfortable. So if your cat is screaming at night again, don’t get angry, but realize that he is probably just as scared and confused as a human with Alzheimer’s.