The Cat Clinic of Roswell, Roswell, GA, USA.
WestVet Emergency and Specialty Center, Garden City, ID, USA.
J Feline Med Surg. 2021 Jul;23(7):613-638. doi: 10.1177/1098612X211021538.
The '2021 AAFP Feline Senior Care Guidelines' are authored by a Task Force of experts in feline clinical medicine and serve as an update and extension of those published in 2009. They emphasize the individual patient evaluation and the process of aging, with references to other feline practice guidelines for a more complete discussion of specific diseases. Focusing on each cat encourages and empowers the owner to become a part of the cat's care every step of the way. A comprehensive discussion during the physical examination and history taking allows for tailoring the approach to both the cat and the family involved in the care. Videos and analysis of serial historical measurements are brought into the assessment of each patient. These Guidelines introduce the emerging concept of frailty, with a description and methods of its incorporation into the senior cat assessment. Minimum database diagnostics are discussed, along with recommendations for additional investigative considerations. For example, blood pressure assessment is included as a minimum diagnostic procedure in both apparently healthy and ill cats. Cats age at a much faster rate than humans, so practical timelines for testing frequency are included and suggest an increased frequency of diagnostics with advancing age. The importance of nutrition, as well as senior cat nutritional needs and deficiencies, is considered. Pain is highlighted as its own syndrome, with an emphasis on consideration in every senior cat. The Task Force discusses anesthesia, along with strategies to allow aging cats to be safely anesthetized well into their senior years. The medical concept of quality of life is addressed with the latest information available in veterinary medicine. This includes end of life considerations like palliative and hospice care, as well as recommendations on the establishment of 'budgets of care', which greatly influence what can be done for the individual cat. Acknowledgement is given that each cat owner will be different in this regard; and establishing what is reasonable and practical for the individual owner is important. A discussion on euthanasia offers some recommendations to help the owner make a decision that reflects the best interests of the individual cat.
《2021 年 AAFP 猫科动物老年关怀指南》由猫科临床医学专家工作组撰写，是对 2009 年发表内容的更新和扩展。本指南强调对个体患猫的评估和衰老过程，同时参考其他猫科动物临床实践指南，以更全面地讨论特定疾病。关注每只猫可以鼓励并授权猫主人在猫的护理过程中的每一步都参与其中。在进行身体检查和病史询问时进行全面讨论，可以针对猫和参与护理的家庭制定相应的治疗方案。还将视频和对连续历史测量数据的分析纳入到每位患者的评估中。本指南引入了衰弱的新兴概念，描述了其纳入老年猫评估的方法。同时还讨论了最低数据库诊断，并为进一步的检查提供了建议。例如，血压评估被包括在明显健康和患病猫的最低诊断程序中。猫的衰老速度比人类快得多，因此本指南纳入了实用的测试频率时间表，并建议随着年龄的增长增加诊断频率。本指南还考虑了营养的重要性，以及老年猫的营养需求和不足。疼痛被强调为一种独立的综合征，并在每只老年猫的评估中都需要考虑。工作组讨论了麻醉问题，以及使老年猫能够安全麻醉进入老年期的策略。还介绍了兽医医学中最新的生活质量医疗概念。这包括临终关怀和姑息治疗的考虑因素，以及关于建立“护理预算”的建议，这对为个体猫所能做的事情有很大影响。本指南承认每个猫主人在这方面都有所不同；为个人猫主人确定合理和实际的方案是很重要的。关于安乐死的讨论提供了一些建议，以帮助主人做出反映个体猫最佳利益的决定。
