Development and validation of a questionnaire to evaluate the Quality of Life of cats with skin disease and their owners, and its use in 185 cats with skin disease.

BACKGROUND: Skin disease can negatively affect the Quality of Life (QoL) of cats and of their owners. OBJECTIVES: To develop and evaluate a questionnaire on QoL of cats with skin disease and their owners. METHODS: Following interviews with owners of cats with severe skin disease and elaboration of a preliminary 19 item questionnaire, a final 15 item (score 0-3) questionnaire was developed. This was administered to owners of 45 cats with allergic dermatitis and 39 healthy cats, to assess its ability to differentiate between diseased and healthy subjects. In allergic cats, owners evaluated overall disease severity (S) and pruritus with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS); veterinarians evaluated skin lesions [SCORing Feline Allergic Dermatitis (SCORFAD) and Feline Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (FeDESI)]. The correlation with QoL was analysed by Spearman's rank test. In 31 allergic cats, SCORFAD, FeDESI, pruritus VAS, S and QoL scores were obtained before and after therapy, and their improvement evaluated statistically. RESULTS: QoL scores in allergic cats were significantly higher than in healthy cats (P=<0.0001). Severity correlated well and significantly with both cat's and owner's QoL (r = 0.51 and 0.64, P = 0.0003 and <0.0001, respectively). Correlation of QoL with pruritus VAS was moderate and significant (r = 0.3, P = 0.03), whereas with SCORFAD and FeDESI it was low and not significant. With therapy all scores decreased significantly (P < 0.0001); however, QoL was not influenced by improvement of clinical scores. Questions related to the burden of therapy showed the smallest improvements. CONCLUSIONS: This QoL questionnaire could be a useful tool in evaluating cats with skin disease.

Analysis of Intestinal Microbiota and Metabolic Pathways before and after a 2-Month-Long Hydrolyzed Fish and Rice Starch Hypoallergenic Diet Trial in Pruritic Dogs.

Intestinal microbiota alterations were described in allergic individuals and may improve with diets. Farmina Ultra Hypo (FUH), a hydrolyzed fish/rice starch hypoallergenic diet, is able to improve clinical signs in allergic dogs. Study objectives were to determine microbiota differences in allergic dogs before and after feeding with FUH for eight weeks. Forty skin allergic dogs were evaluated clinically before and after the diet. Unresponsive dogs were classified as canine atopic dermatitis (CAD); responsive dogs relapsing after challenge with previous foods were classified as being food reactive (AFR), and those not relapsing as doubtful (D). Sequencing of feces collected pre- and post-diet was performed, with comparisons between and within groups, pre- and post-diet, and correlations to possible altered metabolic pathways were sought. Microbiota in all dogs was dominated by Bacteroidota, Fusobacteriota, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, albeit with large interindividual variations and with some prevalence changes after the diet. In general, bacteria producing short-chain fatty acids were increased in all samples. CAD dogs showed pre-and post-diet microbiota patterns different from the other two groups. Bacteria taxa were enriched post-diet only in the AFR group. Changes in metabolic pathways were observed mainly in the CAD group. FUH may be able to improve intestinal microbiota and thus clinical signs of skin allergy.