CAT HEALTH & MEDICINE

Earlier in the year, I received a phone call from a cat owner seeking a second opinion. Their four-year-old male orange tabby, Teddy, has always been a bit of a troublemaker, knocking things off counters, chasing imaginary mice and leaving no houseplant un-nibbled. Over the last few weeks, however, Teddy had been battling a stubborn upper respiratory infection (URI), and it was only getting worse, despite treatment.

Inflamed and swollen gums, bad breath, a decline in appetite, noticeable weight loss - these are among the most common indications that your cat is suffering from a disorder centered in her oral cavity, most likely in her teeth and gums. She may not behave as if shes in pain, but thats because cats are very good at concealing health issues; after all, she doesnt want to signal to a potential predator that shes in a weakened condition and therefore vulnerable to attack.

I am fostering an adolescent stray mother cat and her three kittens (I picked them up when the kittens were about one-week-old) and I fed her a high-quality wet cat food the first few days.

My nine-year-old cats breath has always been slightly unpleasant, but over the past few months, it has become noticeably worse. I would like to know what might be causing this, and if theres anything I can do to remedy the problem.

We have two wonderful 14-year-old cats who are sisters. A few months ago, our veterinarian cleaned their teeth and discovered that the one named Julie had a bladder infection, which was treated with an oral medication for two weeks.

Most people have some familiarity with the concept of a blood transfusion, perhaps by donating blood to the local Red Cross, or possibly as a recipient during a hospital stay. Thankfully, most cat owners have very little experience with transfusions when it comes to their pets.

Although two submicroscopic organisms - the feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) - differ from one another in a number of significant ways, they have one very important characteristic in common: Infection with either of them can cause a cats premature death.

Much in the same way that stress affects humans, it can also affect cats. While brief periods of stress can help cats to survive dangerous situations, recurrent or prolonged stress can be harmful for them both physically and emotionally.

Ahome-cooked diet for your pet sounds great, and it certainly appeals to the emotions, says Cailin Heinze, MS, VMD, DACVN. But realistically, the vast majority of these diets I see cats being fed are not nutritionally balanced because just using whole foods that are typically consumed by humans is usually not enough to balance a cats diet.

A home-cooked diet for your pet sounds great, and it certainly appeals to the emotions, says Cailin Heinze, MS, VMD, DACVN. But realistically, the vast majority of these diets I see cats being fed are not nutritionally balanced because just using whole foods that are typically consumed by humans is usually not enough to balance a cats diet.

If you think about it, being a cat veterinarian is not very different from being a pediatrician. We cant ask our patients whats wrong - we just have to figure it out. Nowhere is the role of a cat owner more important than at the veterinarians office, where a good history can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Veterinarians are faced with a variety of diagnostic challenges on a daily basis.

Until a few months ago, your eight-year-old cat Dotty has always been a healthy girl with a robust appetite, good eating habits and an apparently healthy digestive system. Moreover, Dotty has never ventured beyond the confines of your home, so her exposure to any disease that might be carried by other cats in the neighborhood has been virtually nonexistent.