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Osteoarthritis is a painful condition which affects the majority of older cats but is often not recognised because of differences in the ways that affected cats exhibit the signs of chronic joint pain compared to dogs. There are also inherent challenges to the physical examination of cats which add to the difficulty of reaching a diagnosis, including the small size of their appendicular joints and a reluctance to allow manipulation and palpation of painful joints. Furthermore, even when osteoarthritis is identified, it is frequently not treated or is not treated effectively, in part as a result of concerns regarding adverse effects and costs of treatment as well as the practical difficulties of daily dosing with medication. Understanding the gait and behaviour changes that are characteristic of osteoarthritis is a key part of the diagnostic process and is more sensitive than radiography in identifying the presence of the disease. Once the condition has been diagnosed, a wide range of well-tolerated treatment options exist, allowing a multi-modal treatment approach to be adopted and tailored to the needs of the cat and the owner, which will deliver effective pain management in an affordable way and will not become a daily stressor to either party.

Many factors influence the success of a course of treatment prescribed by a veterinary surgeon. Even if the correct diagnosis is made and the most effective treatment prescribed, the therapeutic outcome may not be optimal if the owner does not administer the medication as prescribed. Some pet owners will give all the medication prescribed for their pets at the correct time intervals. Others may miss doses, give doses at the wrong time, and/or stop treatment prematurely. There is much in the human literature relevant to medication compliance (also termed adherence and occasionally concordance) but much less in the veterinary literature. There are various problems that arise if medication is not administered as prescribed — not the least of which is suboptimal response to treatment. It is therefore important that veterinarians are aware that owners may not follow their directions, the reasons why this may be the case and the potential consequences. By understanding more about these factors we can work to put in place strategies to improve compliance/adherence. The purpose of this roundtable was to discuss many of these aspects including what term is most appropriate to use in the veterinary context.

Female rats fed practical diets containing 18 or 25% protein produced and weaned a few more young than those fed 30 or 35%. Females fed purified diets containing 14, 17 and 20% soybean protein in different periods of the reproductive cycle produced as many young as the control group which consumed 25% soybean protein. With 10% protein throughout the cycle, the number of young and weaning weight were reduced to less than those of the controls. With 10% protein during mating and gestation period, the number weaned and their weight was essentially equal to that of the control group. With 14% protein during 2 or more periods, the weight was less than that of the young in the control group. The number of young weaned by females fed a practical diet containing 3 to 18% fat was essentially the same but the number weaned was less with 25% fat. With a purified diet reproduction by females consuming 3 or 20% fat was superior to those fed 36 and 50%. When the protein-metabolizable energy was adjusted to a constant ratio (0.074 to 0.070) the effect of a high fat diet on the number of young weaned and the weaning weight was very small.