From the October 2018 Issue
Entice Your Cat to Drink More
A conundrum for many cat owners is getting their cat to drink more. While eating dry kibble can be nutritionally adequate (and some cats definitely prefer kibble to canned), most cats could benefit from drinking more. More fluid going in helps with hydration and can help to flush the kidneys and bladder with more urine production. A recent study reported in the American Journal of Veterinary Research in July 2018 looked at trying to entice cats to drink more using a nutrient-enriched water option.
Current Issue
Allergy Trends
Banfield Pet Hospital looked at allergy trends among their patients across the country, which includes over 2.5 million dogs and 500,000 cats. Not surprisingly, flea allergy came out on top. Cases of flea allergies have been increasing, especially among their cat clients. As we all know, even one flea bite can lead to misery for a flea-allergic feline.
Hip Replacement
When a two-year-old Bengal cat started to have left-hip problems in 2017, Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital performed a femoral head ostectomy (FHO), which involves removing part of the femur bone and has been done for decades. A year later, the right hip started to give the cat trouble. The owner returned to Purdue, but this time the veterinarians decided to perform the first feline hip replacement.
Pleural Effusions Have Serious Causes
An article in the July 15, 2018, Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association looked at a French study on feline pleural effusion. Pleural effusion is a buildup of fluid in the pleural space, which is the space in your cat’s chest between the protective linings covering the lungs and the walls of the chest cavity itself. Normally, there is only a small amount of fluid in that area. Large amounts of fluid mean less room for the lungs to expand, which causes difficulty breathing and getting adequate oxygen to your cat’s body tissues.
Cat Food Ingredients Owners Want to Avoid
As reported in Pet Food News, a Nielsen survey listed ingredients owners want to avoid when choosing a food for their pet, although the rationale the owners used for making the choices is not readily clear.
Pheromones May Calm Anxious Felines
You may have seen pheromones advertised to calm anxious cats. Feline facial pheromone is precisely what your cat releases from the scent glands on his face.
Head Games
It’s a feline social thing: Rubbing against your leg or on other objects. “Head rubbing (also referred to as butting or bunting) is a normal social behavior,” says Dr. Leni Kaplan, DVM, MS, Lecturer in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Community Practice Service. “Head rubbing is one way cats can deposit their scent on objects which signifies comfort and familiarity and is a way to communicate with other cats.”
Feline Lymphoma
Lymphoma is the most common feline cancer. Over the years, however, with increased testing and vaccination for retroviruses like feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), the exact type of lymphoma seen in cats has changed.