Ask the Doctor

My cat has been diagnosed with gastrointestinal lymphoma, and the veterinarian says he will need chemotherapy. Ive seen my father go through chemo, and it was no picnic. Im worried about putting my cat through this. Will it really help?

Do cats know their own names? It seems like sometimes my cat recognizes her name - shell turn her head slightly or look at me when I call out to her. But other times, saying her name makes no difference. She acts like Im not in the room.

Is it really okay to give your cat catnip? My husband and I are teetotalers and also would never smoke marijuana, so Im wondering if its okay to make my cat high. He does seem to like it and I dont want to take away something he enjoys, but am I inadvertently turning him into a drug addict, with attendant harmful effects? Also, is it just plain wrong?

My cat has always been a fastidious groomer but has developed dandruff. Are the flakes something I should be concerned about?

I think one of the things that makes cats so attractive is their large eyes. But are they really large, or do they just seem that way because of their relatively small heads?

My cat has always been a fastidious groomer but has developed dandruff. Are the flakes something I should be concerned about?

Last May my beloved 13-year-old cat was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma and passed in August. A few months later our shelters newsletter told the story of a family whose dog had been diagnosed with the very same thing and, with a prognosis of 8 months, she actually lived 7 more years with the help of Piroxicam.

We sometimes get field mice in the basement, and my cat has a habit of killing them, then bringing them upstairs and laying them at my feet. Is she trying to show me the incredible booty she has gathered? She doesnt eat the mice - she just presents them, which makes it a little confusing.

My husband and I came across a stray cat a week ago who was meowing away. We took her in, can tell she is pregnant, and have decided to adopt her. What should we expect?

My cat is dying of kidney disease; the time to put her down is not far off. This is my first cat. Can you tell me what they do with the body afterwards? Id kind of like to be involved in what happens to it.

My veterinarian told me my kitten has a heart murmur. Does that mean he is going to have a lifetime of heart disease, with me shuttling him back and forth to the doctor?

I have a male cat and a female cat, and normally they get along very well. The female has been spayed and the male neutered, so they kind of get on as brother and sister. Once in a while, though, the male jumps on the back of the female and bites her neck. Hissing and crying ensue, and I often have to break it up. Whats going on?