Cats succumb to Alzheimer’s disease too
Ageing cats can develop a feline form of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study.
A team from the Universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews, Bristol and California have identified a key protein, which can build up in the nerve cells of a cat’s brain and cause mental deterioration.
Alzheimer’s disease in humans is thought to be the product of the protein ‘tangling’ inside the nerve cells, inhibiting messages processed by the brain.
The scientists believe that this protein is present in cats too, and is proof that they can develop this kind of disease.
By carrying out post-mortem examinations of cats that succumbed to the disease naturally, the team are now able to investigate how the condition develops in felines. This may eventually help scientists to come up with possible treatments.
Scientists have suspected for a long time that cats could suffer from dementia in their old age, and previous research has already revealed the thick, gritty plaques on the outside of elderly cats’ brain cells which are similar to those found in humans.
But, by pinpointing this second key marker, the Edinburgh-led team says we can be sure that cats can suffer from a feline form of Alzheimer’s.