CAT HEALTH & MEDICINE

Spay and neuter: not ideal? As many people realize, colonies of feral cats can grow at a rapid pace, leaving them to combat miserable conditions and causing the death of millions of birds, small mammals and reptiles. In urban areas, wild-born cat colonies can also create health hazards to humans and other species, and create quality of life issues like foul odors, loud fighting and flea infestations. In the U.S., experts believe that the population of…

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Cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) can feel better, and their disease may progress slower, when owners use veterinarian-recommended nutritional as well as medical therapies. Current research shows that veterinary renal diets can prolong the lives of cats with CKD - although the benefits will vary among individuals. The bottom line is that changing cats to a diet with certain properties can help improve outcomes, says Lisa Freeman, DVM, PhD.

Jo Miller wasnt too worried initially when her 15-year-old tortie, Zilpha, stopped eating and became lethargic. The Emmy award-winning writer for The Daily Show had been through this scenario a year earlier - when Zilpha was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis - and she suspected that this was another flare-up. I examined Zilpha, and her clinical signs were indeed compatible with pancreatitis - but more worrisome to me was the observation that Zilpha was breathing hard. I…

Administered orally, topically, or by injection, antibiotics are commonly used by veterinarians to prevent or relieve a vast array of bacteria-caused feline health problems, including salmonellosis, tuberculosis and bacterial hepatitis, as well as infections resulting from bite wounds, notes Dr. Michael Stone, DVM.

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Have you tried a probiotic on your cat to see if it would settle her stomach and relieve either constipation or diarrhea? If so, did it work? If not, veterinary researchers arent surprised. The evidence behind currently marketed probiotics, supplements that contain supposedly good bacteria to help an overactive or sensitive gut adjust, is pretty limited, says J Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, DACVIM.

Sadly, your cat has recently been diagnosed with a fatal disease or is nearing the end of her ninth life. In the past, you could choose to treat the disease or to give your cat a peaceful death through euthanasia. Increasingly, however, pet owners and veterinarians are working together to find a third way toward a positive end-of-life experience: hospice, or Pawspice, the term coined by Alice Villalobos, DVM, a leader in the movement. …

When operating efficiently, the feline urinary system plays a crucial supportive role - directly or indirectly - in all of a cats bodily processes. The systems key functions are the filtration of metabolic waste from circulating blood and excretion of the waste - mixed with water - in the form of urine,preventing damaging concentrations from developing in an animals body.

Q Our cat, Dusty, recently escaped from our house, which is in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Dusty was missing for about ten hours before a neighbor spotted her in her backyard.Obviously, we are very relieved to have our cat back home, but our question is this: Could she be in any medical danger from her brief jaunt outside our home?

Researchers recently discovered that a protein from the virus that causes AIDS in cats triggers an immune response in blood from HIV-infected people. Experts are hopeful that cats may hold a key to developing an HIV vaccine for people, according to a new study. The findings were reported in the Journal of Virology (October 2013), and suggest that further research with FIV could eventually lead to an HIV vaccine for people, the University…

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