title: Quantification of Urine Elimination Behaviors in Cats with a Video Recording System.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: R Dulaney
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hopfensperger
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.|Center for Academic Technology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malinowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hauptman
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kruger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000067289:Behavior Observation Techniques; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002415:Cats; D003556:Cystitis / Q000662:veterinary; D004609:Eliminative Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000523:psychology / Q000662:veterinary; D014554:Urination; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods
keywords: Chronic kidney disease; Feline idiopathic cystitis; Urination frequency; Urination time