How to investigate the medical causes of feline hyperesthesia syndrome before assuming a behavioural or neurological diagnosis.
The welfare challenge in investigating suspected feline hyperesthesia syndrome is that both under-investigation (accepting a behavioural diagnosis without ruling out medical causes) and over-investigation (pursuing expensive imaging before simpler tests are complete) have welfare costs. A cat with undiagnosed dermatitis experiences ongoing skin discomfort; a cat with spinal disease causing pain experiences that pain regardless of the label applied; a cat subjected to general anaesthesia for MRI without prior simpler investigation experiences unnecessary procedural risk. The welfare-optimal approach works systematically through simpler, less invasive investigations first, moving to more complex imaging only when these have been appropriately excluded.