Quantification of Urine Elimination Behaviors in Cats with a Video Recording System

BACKGROUND Urinary disorders in cats often require subjective caregiver quantification of clinical signs to establish a diagnosis and monitor therapeutic outcomes. OBJECTIVE To investigate use of a video recording system (VRS) to better assess and quantify urination behaviors in cats. ANIMALS Eleven healthy cats and 8 cats with disorders potentially associated with abnormal urination patterns. METHODS Prospective study design. Litter box urination behaviors were quantified with a VRS for 14 days and compared to daily caregiver observations. Video recordings were analyzed by a behavior analysis software program. RESULTS The mean number of urinations per day detected by VRS (2.5 ± 0.7) was significantly higher compared with caregiver observations (0.6 ± 0.6; P < .0001). Five cats were never observed in the litter box by their caregivers. The mean number of urinations per day detected by VRS was significantly higher for abnormal cats (2.9 ± 0.7) compared with healthy cats (2.1 ± 0.7; P = .02); there were no apparent differences in frequency between these groups reported by caregivers (0.7 ± 1.0 and 0.5 ± 1.0, respectively). There were no differences in mean urination time between healthy and abnormal cats as determined by VRS or caregivers. Mean cover-up time determined by VRS was significantly longer in healthy cats (22.7 ± 12.9 seconds/urination) compared with abnormal cats (8.7 ± 12.9 seconds/urination; P = .03); differences in cover-up time were not detected by caregivers. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE Caregivers commonly underestimate urination frequency in cats when compared to video-based observations. Video recording appears to facilitate objective assessment of urination behaviors and could be of value in future clinical studies of urinary disorders in cats.