From the June 2018 Issue
Yes, Your Indoor Cat Can Get Fleas
You go to cuddle with your indoor cat and notice what looks like salt and pepper on your white shirt. Since you’re a scientist at heart and want to know exactly what those specks are, you shake them off onto a white paper towel and add a drop of water. Oh no! The black specks dissolve into pink. You found flea eggs and flea feces.
Current Issue
Emergency Transport for Pets
According to Fox 8 in Cleveland, Ohio, Squad 51 was started by Yalanda Medina after a “life-and-death health scare” with her dog. Her 24-hour emergency response and transport company provides emergency triage—like veterinary paramedics—and transportation to the nearest veterinary emergency clinic.
Periodontal Disease and Chronic Kidney Failure
While studies have looked at the connection between periodontal disease and kidney failure in dogs, it is only recently that such a connection has been evaluated for cats. In the March 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, a cooperative study between the Banfield Pet Hospitals centered in Vancouver, Washington, and the University of Minnesota looked at associations of these two health problems in cats.
Five Common Household Feline Toxins
From the ASPCA, the top five toxins of 2017
Caring for Your Cat After Surgery
Incisions are delicate. Even if your veterinarian has opted to use stainless steel suture to prevent a pet from ripping the suture material, the skin itself can be torn. If your cat rips open her incision, she may be allowing things that should be inside her body to get out and allowing things from the outside world to get in.
Are Plastic Bowls a Problem?
You may have heard you shouldn’t use plastic bowls to feed your cat. Plastic bowls have been thought to cause facial pyoderma, or chin acne, in cats. Plastic allergies have been implicated in some skin problems in children, so it is not an unreasonable concern, but unfortunately there is no scientific data on this phenomenon in cats.
Protozoal Intestinal Parasites
When the topic of intestinal parasites comes up, people immediately think of worms, such as roundworms (ascarids) and tapeworms. However, other parasites may be more common and equally debilitating for your cat.
Handle Choking Properly
Choking is an emergency. “Cats can choke on kibble or toys, but most commonly, they come to the emergency room choking on a foreign object due to chewing on thread or swallowing needles,” says Dan Fletcher, DVM, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Emergency and Critical Care at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.