Last Updated: 19/11/2025
Cat Dementia: Signs, Symptoms and Management
Has your older cat started yowling at night or seemingly forgetting the litter box? It could be feline cognitive dysfunction. Our expert vet guide explains the symptoms of cat dementia and offers practical advice to help your senior pet age gracefully.
Author: Dr Gillian Hill BVSc (Hons)
Reading Time: 6 minutes - short read
Watching a beloved feline friend grow older is a privilege, but it can sometimes come with confusing changes. If an elderly cat has started staring blankly at walls, acting disoriented in familiar rooms, or has changed their sleeping habits, it might be more than just "slowing down."
Just like humans, cats can experience age-related neurological changes. In veterinary medicine, this is known as Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS). While hearing this term can be worrying for pet parents, understanding the condition is the first step in helping a senior cat enjoy their golden years with comfort and dignity.
Signs of cat dementia
Cognitive dysfunction affects the brain, and is commonly associated with one or more behavioural changes. Vets use the acronym VISHDAAL to track the classic signs of cat dementia. You can use this checklist at home to monitor your cat:
- Vocalisation: Aimless crying or howling, especially at night (often a sign of confusion or anxiety).
- Interactions: Changes in how they socialise - some cats become 'velcro cats' and overly clingy, while others may become withdrawn or even grumpy.
- Sleep-Wake Cycle: The 'night owl' effect. Sleeping all day but pacing and waking the house up at night.
- House Soiling: Forgetting the litter box location or losing the urge to go there.
- Disorientation: Getting 'stuck' in corners, staring at walls, or looking lost in familiar rooms.
- Activity: Aimless wandering or pacing, or conversely, a significant drop in activity.
- Anxiety: Increased fearfulness or separation anxiety.
- Learning/Memory: Forgetting established routines, like meal times or simple tricks.
What causes cognitive dysfunction?
Cognitive dysfunction is caused by age-related changes to the brain, including oxidative damage, reduced brain mass, accumulation of beta-amyloid protein (a substance toxic to the brain tissue), reduced blood flow to the brain and dysfunctional neurons (nerve cells).
In cats, cognitive dysfunction has been shown to affect:
- 28% of cats aged 11-14 years (most commonly seen as changes in social interactions)
- 50% of cats 15 years of age and over (these older cats most commonly showed excessive vocalisation and aimless activity)
Diagnosing dementia in senior cats
While it can be tempting to conclude that behavioural changes in our pets are simply due to ageing, it is important to have your cat checked out by your veterinarian, to determine whether cognitive dysfunction may be contributing to the changes.
Cognitive dysfunction is a diagnosis of exclusion, which means that other possible medical causes of these changes should be ruled out first. Your vet will most likely wish to rule out common conditions such as:
- Hyperthyroidism
- Arthritis
- Dental disease
- High blood pressure (often as a result of kidney disease)
- Cancer
- Diminishing sensory capacities (predominantly vision and hearing loss)
If your veterinarian does diagnose cognitive dysfunction in your cat, they may prescribe some specific medications to help reduce the decline.
How to manage cat dementia
If your vet concludes that your cat likely has cognitive dysfunction, there are a number of things you can do at home, to support their health and comfort going forward.
Environmental changes for comfort
Modifying your cat's environment can help to meet their needs and enhance their comfort. The golden rule is to: support and enrich, don't change. Cats with dementia rely heavily on muscle memory and routine to feel safe.
- Do: Introduce new food puzzles and gentle play sessions.
- Don't: Rearrange the living room furniture or move the litter box. Major environmental changes can trigger a rapid decline in a confused senior cat.
- Accessible resources: Ensure that food and water bowls are easily accessible, and extra bowls can be offered in different locations around the house.
- Toileting: Offer extra toileting opportunities - extra litter trays can be placed in different areas of the house, and those with a lower lip can help your senior cat to step in and out of them easily.
- Exercise: Increase daytime exercise and play, and reduce distractions and disturbances in the evening to help combat sleep wake cycle changes and reduce night time waking.
- Resting areas: Provide private resting areas away from foot traffic and household activity.
- Provide padded surfaces for resting and traction around the house.
- Routine: Keep your pet's routine consistent, to help reduce anxiety.
Enrichment and mental stimulation
"Use it or lose it" applies to cats, too. Mental stimulation can improve cognitive function and delay cognitive decline.
- Play therapy: Engage in gentle, interactive play during the day. This encourages mental activity and the play, exercise and social interaction has been shown to improve neural plasticity (the ability of the brain to adapt and change) and reduce the loss of brain cells.
- New toys: Rotate toys and introduce new ones regularly for mental stimulation.
Vet picks
Diet and supplements for brain health
Along with specifically formulated senior cat food, dietary supplements may help to support cognitive function and reduce age-related cognitive decline with specific ingredients like essential fatty acids, antioxidants and medium-chain triglycerides.
Essential fatty acids and antioxidants help to support brain function and reduce the oxidative injury to the brain. The combination of fish oil, B vitamins, antioxidants and arginine has been shown to have significant cognitive benefits in cats, and may slow age-related decline in cognitive function.1
Anxiety aids and medications
Age-related behavioural changes can not only be upsetting for us humans, but they can also be distressing for your cat. Anti-anxiety products can be extremely helpful for cats experiencing mild anxiety related to these changes. For advanced cases, your vet may discuss medications like Selegiline, which can help improve the transmission of dopamine in the brain and reduce free radical damage.
FAQs
While a diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction can feel overwhelming, it does not signal the end of a cat's happiness. It is a condition that requires patience, love, and a few strategic adjustments.
By combining veterinary care with a supportive home environment, appropriate nutrition, and mental enrichment, pet parents can significantly improve their cat's quality of life. Remember, old age is not a disease, and with the right support, these twilight years can still be filled with purrs and contentment.
References
1. Pan, Y., Araujo, J. A., Burrows, J., de Rivera, C., Gore, A., Bhatnagar, S. & Milgram, N. W. (2013). 'Cognitive enhancement in middle-aged and old cats with dietary supplementation with a nutrient blend containing fish oil, B vitamins, antioxidants and arginine.' British Journal of Nutrition, 110, 40-49. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23211671/, accessed 22/3/22.
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History
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
Thu 20 Nov 2025
Edited by Dr Gillian Hill BVSc (Hons)Dr Gillian Hill BVSc (Hons)
Veterinarian
Dr. Gillian loves being able to provide depth and detail to pet parents questions, and give up to date, evidence based advice. She loves the variety of pets and inquiries she receives - she especially loves the 'curly' questions that require some research! Seeing the gorgeous photos that pet parents send through of their babies is a highlight of the day! Gillian enjoys to further her veterinary knowledge, and has completed further training in ultrasonography, behaviour and backyard poultry!
