The Feline Veterinary Medical Association (FelineVMA, formerly AAFP) has released updated 2021 Feline Senior Care Guidelines to the veterinary community, which are published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. The release provides a comprehensive update of the heavily referenced 2009 AAFP Senior Care Guidelines. In publishing these Guidelines, the FelineVMA aims to provide emerging advances in feline medicine with respect to the aging cat. The Guidelines, along with additional supplemental resources, encourage veterinary teams to have a well-rounded understanding of the changing needs of each individual senior cat. “Veterinary professionals are encouraged to use the 2021 AAFP Feline Senior Care Guidelines to enhance their assessment and treatment of age-associated medical conditions and to provide guidance to clients so they are included in their cat’s health care team,” stated Task Force Co-chair, Hazel Carney, DVM, MS, DABVP (Canine/Feline).
The Task Force provides a thorough current review of feline medicine that emphasizes each individual senior patient. The Guidelines detail specific discussions on how quality of life (QOL) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) impacts the aging cat, and it emphasizes veterinarians and cat caregivers partnering to make well-informed decisions for each individual senior cat. The Task Force also recognizes the impact caring for an aging cat has on the cat caregiver. Veterinarians are asked to consider four budgets of care when making treatment plans: financial, time, emotional, and physical. The weight of each of these budgets will vary for each caregiver and it is important to recognize this when having decision-making discussions.
The Guidelines detail common issues in aging cats including pain management, nutrition and weight management, diseases and conditions, quality of life, and end of life decisions. The newly emerging concept of frailty is introduced in these Guidelines and how practitioners can incorporate this into the senior cat assessment.
The FelineVMA provides additional supplementary resources linked above to veterinary teams including information on Quality of Life (QOL) and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) instruments, video demonstrations on myofascial examination techniques, and Cat Friendly tips for dental exams. Cat caregiver resources, including a new Senior Care client brochure, are available in the links under Supplemental Resources.
The FelineVMA thanks Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Merck Animal Health, Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets, Royal Canin, and Zoetis Petcare for supporting the development of the 2021 AAFP Senior Care Guidelines and resources through educational grants to the FelineVMA.
The Task Force included Michael Ray DVM (Co-chair); Hazel C. Carney, DVM, MS, DABVP (Canine/Feline) (Co-chair); Beth Boynton, DVM; Jessica Quimby, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Sheilah Robertson, BVMS (Hons), PhD, DACVAA, DECVAA, DACAW, DECAWBM (WSEL), MRCVS; Kelly St. Denis, MSc, DVM, DABVP (Feline); Helen Tuzio, DVM, DABVP (Feline), CVA; and Bonnie Wright, DVM, DACVAA.
The Guidelines development was supported by an educational grant to the FelineVMA from:
This Practice Guideline updates and replaces: 2009 Feline Senior Care Guidelines; 2009 Senior Care Summary Document