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Cats are not small dogs: is there an immunological explanation for why cats are less affected by arthropod-borne disease than dogs?

Overview of attention for article published in Parasites & Vectors, September 2016
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (87th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (94th percentile)

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24 X users
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6 Facebook pages

Citations

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38 Dimensions

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111 Mendeley
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Title
Cats are not small dogs: is there an immunological explanation for why cats are less affected by arthropod-borne disease than dogs?
Published in
Parasites & Vectors, September 2016
DOI 10.1186/s13071-016-1798-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Michael J. Day

Abstract

It is widely recognized that cats appear to be less frequently affected by arthropod-borne infectious diseases than dogs and share fewer zoonotic pathogens with man. This impression is supported by the relative lack of scientific publications related to feline vector-borne infections. This review explores the possible reasons for the difference between the two most common small companion animal species, including the hypothesis that cats might have a genetically-determined immunological resistance to arthropod vectors or the microparasites they transmit. A number of simple possibilities might account for the lower prevalence of these diseases in cats, including factors related to the lifestyle and behaviour of the cat, lesser spend on preventative healthcare for cats and reduced opportunities for research funding for these animals. The dog and cat have substantially similar immune system components, but differences in immune function might in part account for the markedly distinct prevalence and clinicopathological appearance of autoimmune, allergic, idiopathic inflammatory, immunodeficiency, neoplastic and infectious diseases in the two species. Cats have greater genetic diversity than dogs with much lower linkage disequilibrium in feline compared with canine breed groups. Immune function is intrinsically related to the nature of the intestinal microbiome and subtle differences between the canine and feline microbial populations might also impact on immune function and disease resistance. The reasons for the apparent lesser susceptibility of cats to arthropod-borne infectious diseases are likely to be complex, but warrant further investigation.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 24 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 111 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 2 2%
France 1 <1%
Unknown 108 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 17 15%
Student > Master 12 11%
Student > Bachelor 12 11%
Student > Ph. D. Student 10 9%
Other 8 7%
Other 22 20%
Unknown 30 27%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 33 30%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 15 14%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 10 9%
Medicine and Dentistry 5 5%
Immunology and Microbiology 3 3%
Other 10 9%
Unknown 35 32%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 15. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 13 October 2023.
All research outputs
#2,455,670
of 25,543,275 outputs
Outputs from Parasites & Vectors
#448
of 6,033 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#40,363
of 328,353 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Parasites & Vectors
#7
of 110 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,543,275 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 90th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 6,033 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 328,353 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 110 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.