VISHDAAL and diagnostic challenges in senior cats
Discover insights on senior feline health and behavior changes in this interview with dvm360.
When evaluating senior feline patients, behavioral changes can often go undiagnosed because clients may believe the cat is simply aging or think that whatever is happening with their pet is not serious enough to bring to their veterinarian's attention. Because of this, professionals cannot treat these pets because they cannot treat what they do not know is happening.
During this interview with dvm360, Lisa Restine, DVM, DABVP (Feline), and Allison McGrath, MS, shared what VISHDAAL is and how it helps veterinary professionals and clients identify behavioral changes to help diagnose pets earlier, and get them the treatment they need sooner.
Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity.
dvm360 staff: What does VISHDAAL stand for, and can you explain why these behavioral signs of CDS [Cognitive dysfunction syndrome] can be difficult for owners and veterinarians?
Lisa Restine, DVM, DABVP (Feline): I think the 2 reasons [why this is underdiagnosed] are the pet owners and the veterinarians. For cat owners, a lot of those signs can attribute to what they would consider normal aging when it's not normal. It's not [necessarily] going to happen to every cat. I think cat owners are extremely perceptive, and they may notice these subtle changes, but they just don't think that it's important or they're not going to bring it up to the veterinarian because, "Well, my cat's just getting older, and I don't need to talk about it."
And I can say, as an owner of a senior cat, I did that, too, so it's very easy to...miss some of those signs as important. And on the veterinary side, I think time is a huge factor. The questions that we need to ask in order to get to the level of understanding that is required to start this whole diagnostic process are pretty extensive, and we don't have a lot of time in the clinics. So unless you're taking measures to be preprepared for your exam, or you're expecting to have this conversation, it's not something that happens on a regular basis.
