EVERYDAY CAT CARE

There are four main reasons cats will urinate outside the litterbox. The first is litterbox aversion, meaning that a cat finds her “toilet” unacceptable. Perhaps you only have one litterbox in the house when you should have two (three, if you have two cats). Or maybe you are not using unscented, finely grained litter — a cat’s preferred type. (They evolved in the desert so like to relieve themselves where it feels sandy.) Or maybe the litter is too shallow. All these impediments are easily fixed.

Q: When a cat regurgitates, is that the same thing as vomiting? I often see the two terms used interchangeably.

The term “caregiver burden” is often applied to people taking care of human loved ones who are very sick and possibly dying. Such caretakers experience greater stress, depression, and anxiety than those in the general population as well as a reduced quality of life. But researchers have also found that those who care for chronically ill or dying cats experience the same levels of distress.

We often have it drummed into us that to remain safe and live as long as possible, our cats should remain entirely indoors at all times. The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) disagrees, saying that “indoor/outdoor living for cats in an environment that is safe is the best option.” The organization concedes that keeping a cat indoors for the entire length of its life increases the odds for the pet’s longevity. But, it says, “ a lifestyle choice made with the sole intention of increasing longevity – but in an impoverished or inadequate environment – is not in the cat’s best interest.”

Some cats sit around sticking out their tongue from time to time. It’s nothing to be concerned about. A slightly protruding tongue is just one of the ways in which a cat can look adorable. However, if your cat has not had a prior habit of letting her tongue hang out and has started to do so, it could be a sign of a health problem.

On its homepage recently, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) announced that there are new guidelines for pet food labeled “human grade.” Do they appreciably alter the guidelines already established? More importantly, is human grade pet food better for your cat than other cat food? For some perspective, we spoke with Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® Cailin Heinze, VMD. Dr. Heinze is a member of our
Editorial Board.

Dogs are a natural host for heartworms. A single dog may harbor hundreds of them, which can cause lasting damage to the heart, lungs, and arteries if the heartworm disease is left untreated. Therein lies the rub. The drug used to combat heartworm disease in dogs cannot be used in cats. In felines, the disease must be left untreated by default. Only supportive care is available to manage symptoms without getting to the root cause.

A study of more than 3,000 house cats published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association showed that fearfulness in cats is significantly associated with urinating and defecating outside the litterbox. It’s also associated with litterbox fussiness — distinct preferences about the type of litter used and less willingness to use an unclean litter box or share it with other cats.

Certain antimicrobial medicines used in cats and other animals have been available over the counter. That ends now. As of June 11th, all antimicrobial medicines for animals that are also important in human medicine must be prescribed by a veterinarian, says the Food and Drug Administration. The move is aimed to ensure judicious use of these drugs and retain their effectiveness in both our cats and us.

In the United States, a fungal infection called sporotrichosis has been known as rose gardener’s disease. The fungus that causes it, Sporothrix, lives in soil and on plant matter that includes rose bushes and usually manifests as one or more open sores or deep skin ulcers when it enters the body through a small cut or scrape. But in South America, the disease has become an epidemic by spreading from cats to people via bites and scratches. It started in Brazil and has now spread to Chile, Argentina, and most recently, the United Kingdom.

Because cats do not give clear signals when they are in pain, their physical suffering tends to be inadvertently neglected — and therefore under-treated. Research shows that the lack of a reliable pain assessment tool that people can use for cats is one of the main reasons they are not given painkilling drugs often enough when they need relief. But a new study provides evidence that a tool called the Feline Grimace Scale can help people determine when their cats are in enough pain that they need medical treatment.

Have you ever sprayed a cat with a water pistol or a spritzer to make him stop doing something you don’t want him to, like walking around the kitchen counter?