EMERGENCY CARE

On average, a cat is brought to the emergency room at Tufts’s Foster Hospital for Small Animals at least every other day as a result of having swallowed something poisonous. So reports Tufts emergency and critical care veterinarian and Catnip editorial advisory board member Elizabeth Rozanski, DVM. “Some days,” Dr. Rozanski says, “we’ll treat three […]

One in five cats ends up diagnosed with cancer, often in his geriatric years. Moreover, cancer in cats is three to four times more likely to be malignant as cancer in dogs. That could mean the tumor can metastasize (spread) to other tissues and ravage the body more aggressively. The good news: treatments have improved, […]

Your cat’s heart disease has progressed to the point that there are no more medicines to try, no higher dosages to give, no more procedures to perform. Or her liver failure has reached a tipping point; toxins are building up in her body faster than they can be cleared. That is, the end is near. […]

In human medicine, anyone can receive blood donated by someone who is type O. Type O’s are known as universal donors; people with other blood types don’t develop antibodies to reject their blood. Not so with cats. They have three major types of blood: A, B, and AB. There’s no type O, so if your […]

Periodic rabies vaccinations are the law in most states, yet some people are nervous about getting a rabies shot for their pet because they have read reports that cats can get cancer at the injection site. One Catnip reader wrote to say that three months after she went ahead and ordered the rabies injection because […]

There’s a significant silver lining to the injuries that land many cats in emergency rooms. In many cases, the accidents that threaten our pets’...

My beloved cat, Tigger, has died of cancer at the age of 19, and his death has left me feeling somewhat guilty. He enjoyed going outdoors, and I would follow him around the yard to make sure he was okay.

You sit anxiously in the waiting room while your cat undergoes surgery to remove a cancerous mass. Finally, the doctor comes out in his scrubs and tells you he was able to excise the malignant tumor and that he believes he got it all. Relieved but not yet out of the woods, you wait for the pathology report. Sure enough, it confirms the surgeons belief that he excised the cancer in its entirety. There are clean margins. Why, then, does the tumor grow back in the exact same spot some months later?

Cats are wily about concealing their pain. It comes from a genetically encoded instinct for self-protection, never wanting to let potential predators know they may be vulnerable. But if your cat has arthritis, there are frequently telltale signs.

Laser therapy to mitigate pain is very commonly found in veterinary practices these days. Some pet health insurers have even started reimbursing for laser treatments aimed at treating pain. Lasers are thought to work by reducing inflammation, relaxing muscle tissue, promoting wound healing, treating musculoskeletal problems, minimizing post-operative complications, and mediating other pain-causing problems.

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?

Has the litter box remained dry over the last day or so, with no clumps forming no matter how hard your male cat tries to go? Get him to the veterinarian - now.