Ask the Doctor

We recently adopted a two-year-old male cat, and hes been a delightful addition to our household (we have two resident cats that we raised from kittenhood). Bentley lived at some point as a homeless cat - maybe abandoned, no one knows for sure. But a kindly person noticed him in a feral colony where he was fed for about a month (and he was clearly not a feral stray), and then she set about finding him a proper home.

After leaving a dinner party late one night, my wife and I were walking to the train to head back to our apartment when a feral cat adopted us by meowing as loudly as she could and rubbing up against us. It turned out she was pregnant, which was fine with both of us, but she had an extremely difficult labor.

I have tried to do research on the best flea/tick preventative for my cat, Taylor, but the information has left me a little confused about what would be best for our particular situation.

I have a five-year-old female longhaired cat who I adopted from the local humane society a couple of years ago. Recently, she has been having hairballs almost on a daily basis.

Ive noticed recently that our grey DSH cat, Pal, is showing some lightening of his fur. He has been an indoor-outdoor cat his entire life (hes 15 years old), so while I first thought it was a matter of his becoming sun-bleached, now Im not so sure. Otherwise, his health and behavior seem exactly the same.

I am a long-time subscriber who enjoys the publication very much. I feel that the information has helped me to take better care of the cats who live with us (at present time, we have four cats). My question is this: What exactly does board-certified mean, and how does a veterinarian achieve that qualification?

I have been sponsoring a cat at a purebred rescue facility who is FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) positive. I have two cats who are elderly (12 and 14 years old), but healthy. Ive been told that if I adopt my sponsored cat, my own cats wont be affected by this disease - unless they receive a deep bite wound. Is this true?

I have lived with cats my entire life, and now my husband and I share our home with three cats we adopted from the local humane society at different points.

I have a black cat that I rescued from a shelter five months ago, hoping that I could train him to be a therapy cat. My last cat and I served for 12 years with Pet Partners as a R.E.A.D. team. He was one of only six therapy cats in Michigan! Sadly, I lost him to squamous cell carcinoma.

I wonder if you could give me any suggestions regarding my 10-year-old cat Ringlings behavior. We lost our 22-year-old Siamese a month ago, who was Ringlings lifelong friend. Ever since he died, Ringling has gotten very clingy and vocal, following me around, continually begging to be petted and held. She seems to need constant attention and reassurance. She has also thrown up several times in the last weeks, something she has not done before.

I have a male cat who has suffered twice from stones in his urinary tract. His veterinarian put him on a Royal Canine urinary diet (chicken in gravy) and special diet of kibbles.

My son recently adopted an adult cat from a shelter, and I notice that Tigger likes to rub his cheeks repeatedly on the legs of the furniture. In fact, he started to do the same thing to my face the other day when I was petting him on the couch! What exactly does this mean? Is it the start of his becoming possessive and maybe aggressive?