A study of the most common disorders diagnosed in pet cats in the UK

Cats are a hugely popular domestic pet, with around 10.7–12.2 million cats owned in the UK and around 27% of UK households estimated to own at least one cat (PDSA, 2021; Cats Protection, 2023). Many owners share close and strong human–animal bonds with their cats, which benefit these owners by measurable reductions in negative moods, anxiety and depression (Rieger and Turner, 1999; Turner and Rieger, 2001). However, it is important that cats also benefit from their role in this human-animal partnership; therefore, owners and keepers also have legal and ethical responsibilities to care for their cats' physical and mental health (Gray and Fordyce, 2020). It is critical for owners to understand the most common medical conditions that may affect their animals, in order to fulfill their cargiving roles (Overgaauw et al, 2020). A key prerequisite for this is veterinary professionals having ready access to this information so they can share it with their clients. For example, when veterinary teams raise awareness with cat owners that disorders such as dental disease and obesity are common, yet largely preventable diseases, this can support owners to be more proactive in their cat's healthcare by working closely with their veterinary practice to reduce welfare impacts of these conditions (Wall et al, 2019). As well as knowing which disorders are the most common, an understanding of how sex and age affect the risk of common disoorders should also assist owners to improve their decisions, first when choosing a cat and later on, during ownership (Sordo et al, 2020). As an example, young male cats are reported to have higher risk of road traffic accidents so owners living on busy roads might choose to acquire an older cat or a female cat to reduce this risk (McDonald et al, 2017).