The recent reported discovery that ageing cats can suffer feline dementia should not mislead researchers into studying cats as laboratory ‘models’ for human Alzheimer’s disease. Such experiments would be unethical and unscientific, warns the Dr Hadwen Trust, the UK’s leading non-animal medical research charity.

Species differences that exist between humans, cats and other animals make results from animal experiments difficult to extrapolate to human patients. So relying on results from animal experiments, rather than advanced non-animal research methods, could be misleading and might even delay advances in the treatment or prevention of human dementia.

Although other animals appear to suffer forms of dementia, none of them suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in the way humans do. Even ageing great apes, our closest relatives, can develop protein deposits in their brains, like humans, but do not suffer the brain damage and brain cell death seen in humans.

The distressing behavioural symptoms of human dementia, such as confusion, memory loss, delusions, hallucinations, depression, decline in reasoning and lack of speech, are simply not seen in animals or are not measurable.

Many of the most significant findings about Alzheimer’s disease have been learnt from non-animal research techniques and not from animal experiments. Research on post-mortem brain tissue has provided much of what we now know about the human disease, and continues to reveal new insights, such as the potential involvement of toxins and viruses.

Advanced cellular, molecular and genetic techniques are providing new insights into the processes that underlie the development of Alzheimer’s disease and giving clues to potential new treatments.

Sophisticated brain scanners being used to non-invasively study and detect changes in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, and improve diagnosis, while population studies have identified risk factors associated with the disease.