Elsevier

Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Volume 7, Issue 6, November–December 2012, Pages 390-393
Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Case report
Successful treatment of abnormal feeding behavior in a cat

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2012.02.005Get rights and content

Abstract

An 8-month-old male cat was presented with a history of abnormal feeding behavior. Physical examination revealed a dull hair coat and slightly thin body condition. A detailed history and a behavioral examination revealed context-specific excessive appetite, pica, food-related aggressiveness, and excessive solicitation of interspecific interactions. Results of routine hematological and urine laboratory tests were normal, except for the presence of hyperglycemia. The presumptive diagnosis was of psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior. The treatment was aimed at reducing exposure to stressors and modifying the cat's behavior through desensitization to food and counterconditioning to feeding. The diagnosis of a psychogenic problem was supported by the progression and the successful outcome of the proposed treatment. Given the lack of an exhaustive description of psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior in the scientific literature, the present case provides the first characterization of its clinical aspects and demonstrates the efficacy of treatment.

Section snippets

Case presentation

An 8-month-old neutered male Siamese cat was presented to the Animal Behavior Service of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Padova. The main complaint, in the owners’ own words, was “the cat’s obsession for food,” characterized by abnormal feeding behavior, including pica.

The cat lived indoors with a 10-year-old, obese, spayed female cat and was fed 3 times a day with a commercial diet for neutered cats (Royal Canin Young Male S/O).

On presentation, physical

Behavioral history and evaluation

A detailed history was taken to characterize the type, onset, and progression of behavioral signs. The cat had been adopted at the age of 8 weeks by the current owners, and the old, obese, spayed female cat was already present at the time of its adoption. The owners reported that, ever since the adoption, the cat would fling itself at the food bowl and voraciously eat its as well as the female cat’s food. The behavior worsened, and the cat began to steal food from the table and attempt to take

Differential diagnosis

On the basis of the physical examination and history, we considered as part of the differential diagnosis the conditions characterized by excessive appetite, namely, neurogenic, psychogenic, or endocrine dysfunction related polyphagic syndromes (Behrend, 2000). In fact, polyphagic syndromes may be characterized by excessive appetite or eating (MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary, 2012). In the case presented here, ingestion of excessive food (eating the female cat’s meals) as well as an abnormal

Laboratory examination

Results of routine hematological and urine laboratory tests were within the reference range, except for the presence of hyperglycemia (268 mg/dL, reference interval [RI]: 86–116 mg/dL).

Specific evaluations were conducted to rule out hyperadrenocorticism and hyperthyroidism, which can be associated with both hyperglycemia and increased appetite. Both urine cortisol/creatinine ratio (0.73, RI: 0.20–2.30) and free thyroxin serum levels (12.6 pmol/L, RI: 7.8–12.8 pmol/L) were within the reference

Diagnosis

Results of the laboratory diagnostic tests allowed us to exclude endocrine dysfunction, reducing the list of differential diagnosis to neurogenic polyphagia, a disruption of the hypothalamic nuclei that regulate food intake, and psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior. The latter was considered more likely, as the behavioral signs were context dependent rather than generalized, as one would expect in a neurological disorder. Moreover, the cat’s behavior during the examination strengthened the

Treatment and follow-up

A therapeutic protocol was planned, aimed at reducing the exposure to potentially stressful conditions (such as a hypostimulating environment, unpredictable and aversive social interactions, and an inability to satisfy food- or social-related drives) and, subsequently, at modifying the cat’s behavior in response to food.

For the first aim, the owners were asked to (1) provide appropriate environmental enrichment and satisfy exploratory and play needs, without eliciting either aggressive behavior

Discussion

An abnormal increase in appetite, with alterations in feeding behavior, may be found in the course of several pathological conditions, including endocrine, infectious, gastrointestinal, neurological, and psychogenic disorders, and conditions in which energetic demand is not met by diet. Although the differential diagnosis would require an initial assessment of the fluctuation in the cat’s body weight (Behrend, 2000), this could not be performed in our patient, since the cat was still growing.

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