CatWatch, the newsletter for cat people.

Volume 13
Number 6
June 2009

June 2009

Ticks: Take Steps to Protect Your Cat Against This Summer Scourge
Ticks are tenacious. They creep up tall grass, weeds, fences — and wait until a passing shadow, a vibration, an odor or even a whiff of exhaled carbon dioxide tells them a possible host might be passing by. Then they let go of their perch and fall, or reach out with their front legs to snag hold of a furry coat (or your pants leg). Once on board, they insert their mouths into their prey and begin their meal. During this feeding, tick saliva mixes with the host’s blood. Disease Carriers. As a result of this transfer of fluids, ticks rival mosquitoes as carriers of disease to both human and animal. Although ticks are most often associated with Lyme Disease, they can also transmit ehrlichiosis (similar to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever) and tularemia (Rabbit Fever) to cats. Contact your veterinarian immediately if you see any of the warning signs that your pet has contracted a tick-transmitted disease, such as fever, lameness, swelling in the joints or glands, listlessness, loss of appetite, loss of coordination, or difficulty with breathing, chewing or swallowing.

Easy Entertaining For Indoor Cats
A bored cat is often an unhappy cat. Just like humans, cats need stimulation; when left on their own too long, they can experience loneliness and even depression. An unhappy cat may lose or gain weight, stop grooming itself, or become destructive. And a cat with nothing to do will often sleep the day away instead of getting needed exercise. A Daytime Babysitter. For those of us who must leave our pets alone for long hours while at work or elsewhere, the solution could be just a click away: Turn on the TV and put on a movie designed just for cats. Even a cat who’s shown no interest in Brad Pitt’s charms or Jay Leno’s jokes may lose its nonchalance when shown a movie specially produced for cats. The difference lies in the camera work. Cat videos are scaled for feline sensibilities and shot from a cat’s-eye-viewpoint. The camera focuses on prey just as a cat on the hunt’s gaze would be, with no superfluous car chases or bubbling fountains to distract attention. Because cat eyes have evolved to perceive movement more acutely than detail, cats usually find the simple moving images on screen captivating.

Diagnosis: Bladder Stones
Your cat normally uses the litter box a few times a day to relieve herself, but today is different. She’s going to the box every few minutes and vocalizing as she strains to urinate. The small amount of urine that finally dribbles out is filled with blood. Your cat may be suffering from bladder stones, a painful condition that, left untreated, can lead to serious illness and in rare cases, death. Causes of Bladder Stones. Bladder stones, or uroliths, are caused by an extensive concentration of salts and minerals in the urine such as magnesium, phosphorous, calcium, and ammonia. "There should always be a certain amount of salts and minerals in the urine," says Richard Goldstein, DVM, an associate professor of small animal medicine at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. "But when the urine becomes ‘super saturated’ — meaning there’s an overabundance of salts and minerals — crystals begin to form."

Do You Live in a Cat-Friendly City?
According to the CATalyst Council, this ranking is based on the love and care that the cats receive. A coalition of the veterinary community, academia, nonprofits, industry and animal welfare organizations, the CATalyst Council hopes to raise the stature of our favorite companion animal. The cities include Tampa, Phoenix, San Francisco, Portland (Ore.), Denver, Boston, Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta and Minneapolis. The list was compiled after reviewing the top 25 metropolitan areas for such information as cat ownership per capita, the level of veterinary care, microchipping and cat-friendly local ordinances. The CATalyst Council hopes to include shelter data in the 2010 list of cat-friendly cities.

Keep Your Cat Safe During the Hazardous Months of Summer
Your cat’s safety and good health should be a year-round priority. And unless you keep your cat indoors all of the time, the challenge is likely to be most demanding during the summer months, when temperatures soar, and cats are more likely to wander from the secure confines of their homes. During extremely hot, humid weather, cats are increasingly vulnerable to heat exhaustion and dehydration. They are more prone to assault by fleas, ticks, and other parasites. They can be dangerously exposed to cancer-causing sun rays. And they are more likely to come in contact with such noxious substances as lawn chemicals and rotting garbage. Among the most severe of summertime risks facing the outdoor cat is the threat of being hit by a motor vehicle, says Christine Bellezza, DVM, a consultant at the Feline Health Center of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. "As the weather warms up," she points out, "cats tend to be outside more often. So they’re more likely to roam around, cross streets, and wander into the path of a car."

So You Want to Adopt Another?
Anyone who rescues strays knows there is no shortage of cats. Wanting to provide a home can become a natural outgrowth of feeding them, and most people who adopt them have the best intentions. "They are caring, compassionate people who want to help them," says Pamela Perry, DVM, a lecturer in farm animal behavior at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. But there is a fine line between adequately caring for multiple cats and obsessively accumulating them. Before deciding to bring in just one more, some important factors need to be considered. Health Status. Free-roaming cats are subject to parasites and transmissible diseases with which an indoor-only cat might never come in contact. "When you take in an animal that you don’t know, you usually know little about its background, including any diseases it may be carrying," says Dr. Perry. Before integrating the new cat into the household, the newcomer needs to have a thorough veterinary examination, including testing for infection with feline leukemia virus or feline immunodeficiency virus. "If you already have a cat, you don’t want to bring another one into the house until it has tested negative for certain diseases," says Dr. Perry. The newcomer also needs to be vaccinated, given flea treatments if necessary and checked for intestinal parasites and ear mites.

Protect Your Plants and Keep Kitty Happy: Grow Grass Indoors
Everyone knows that cats are carnivores. So why does your cat keep snacking on the houseplants? Some experts say greens help cats get rid of hairballs, others that cats crave the fiber and moisture. There may be a nutritional component as well: when feeding on prey, a cat will eat the intestines first, where it’s likely to find plant matter. But regardless of the reason for the craving, plants can prove a serious danger to cats. Many common houseplants, such as lilies, asparagus ferns, and foxglove, are poisonous. Outdoors, a cat may eat grass or other plants contaminated by pesticides and fertilizer.