Does My Cat Have Dementia Quiz
Questions: 15 · 10 minutes
1. What best describes any recent nighttime vocalizing?
There is no increase beyond their normal pattern.
There has been a small or occasional increase that settles readily.
They repeatedly call at night without an identifiable request and are difficult to settle.
They vocalize intensely or for long periods as if lost, distressed, or in pain.
2. Your cat is offered a familiar game or interaction at the usual time. Which response best matches recent behavior?
They engage or decline in their customary way.
They need a little more encouragement than before.
They often seem disengaged or unsure how to participate.
They show a major new loss of interest or become confused or distressed by the familiar activity.
3. Suppose your cat approaches a familiar door that you regularly open for them. What usually happens?
They wait or signal in their usual way.
They occasionally seem to lose track of why they approached.
They often walk away, return, or appear confused about the familiar routine.
They repeatedly become trapped on the wrong side or cannot complete the routine without help.
4. How has your cat's sleep-wake pattern changed compared with their established routine?
Their sleeping and waking times are broadly unchanged.
They have had an occasional unusually wakeful night or sleepy day.
They are regularly awake at night and sleep more during their usual active periods.
Their sleep-wake cycle has changed markedly and repeatedly, especially with nighttime distress.
5. At familiar mealtimes, how does your cat follow the usual feeding routine?
They anticipate and follow the routine as usual.
They occasionally arrive late or seem briefly uncertain.
They often miss the routine, repeatedly ask after eating, or need guidance to the feeding place.
They have a marked new change in eating behavior, appear unable to manage the routine, or stop eating.
6. When your cat enters a familiar room, how easily do they find the usual doorway or route out?
They use the familiar route without noticeable hesitation.
They occasionally pause before finding the route on their own.
They repeatedly head the wrong way or need a sound or movement to guide them.
They become stuck, distressed, or unable to find the route in a familiar space.
7. How has your cat responded to familiar household members or animals recently?
Recognition and responses appear consistent with their usual pattern.
There has been an isolated moment of hesitation before a normal response.
They sometimes seem not to recognize a familiar person or animal at first.
They repeatedly appear unable to recognize familiar household members or become distressed around them.
8. Compared with their established habits, how does your cat locate familiar essentials such as food and water?
They go to the usual locations as expected.
They have hesitated or checked another spot once or twice.
They sometimes search several places before finding an unchanged location.
They repeatedly cannot find an unchanged location without being guided.
9. When a familiar person gently approaches or pets your cat in a way they previously accepted, what happens?
They respond in their established, comfortable way.
They occasionally seem surprised but settle quickly.
They often startle, avoid contact, or become irritable without an obvious situational reason.
They show a marked new reaction such as panic, aggression, or apparent pain.
10. In a quiet, familiar setting with no clear disturbance, how often does your cat appear restless or unable to settle?
No more often than has been normal for them.
Occasionally, for a short period before settling.
Repeatedly, with pacing or frequent movement between locations.
Frequently or intensely, especially when accompanied by distress or inability to settle.
11. Compared with their long-term pattern, how has your cat's interest in greeting or spending time with familiar people changed?
Their level of social interest is essentially unchanged.
They are slightly less consistent about greeting or staying nearby.
They often withdraw or no longer initiate familiar social routines.
They have abruptly or almost completely stopped familiar social contact.
12. With clean, accessible litter boxes available, how has your cat's toileting changed?
They continue to use the litter box according to their usual pattern.
There has been one unexplained accident.
There have been repeated accidents or increasing hesitation around the box.
There is a sudden major change, repeated straining, pain, blood, or inability to pass urine.
13. How often have you recently seen your cat stare at a wall, corner, or empty space without responding as they normally would?
Not beyond their established pattern of watching or listening.
Occasionally, but they reorient quickly on their own.
Repeatedly, with delayed reorientation when spoken to or approached.
Frequently or for prolonged periods, with marked difficulty reorienting.
14. How does your cat now engage with favorite toys, climbing places, windows, or household exploration?
Their interest matches their usual age-adjusted pattern.
Interest is mildly reduced on some days.
They rarely engage with several activities they previously sought out.
There has been a pronounced or sudden loss of normal activity or mobility.
15. Compared with their normal grooming habits, what change have you noticed?
Grooming remains consistent with their established pattern and physical ability.
Their coat is occasionally less attended to than before.
They frequently neglect grooming or repeatedly groom the same areas without an obvious trigger.
There is a pronounced or sudden grooming change, matting, skin injury, or apparent discomfort.