phobias

Cats hide injuries and pain by instinct, a behavior that is important for survival in the wild. This forces us to be detectives when our cats are ill.

When pet owners think of pancreatitis, often the image that comes to mind is a dog who does a garbage raid and consumes a bunch of spoiled or fatty food. Dietary indiscretion usually is not considered a cause of pancreatitis in cats, perhaps because cats are more fastidious in their eating habits!

The liver is one of the busiest organs in your cats body and is a real multitasker. While it does have amazing regenerative powers, once 75 percent of the healthy tissue is gone, clinical signs of illness usually will start to appear. By then it can be too late for treatment to help beyond palliative measures, so be alert for early signs.

Your sweet, peace loving feline companion sneaks out between your legs as you take the trash out. Despite searching, there is no sign of her, so you are thrilled to hear her meowing at the door the next morning. She fusses a bit when you pick her up, but you figure she is just upset at being out all night.

A beloved family cat who becomes incontinent can raise the household stress level immeasurably. After years of dutifully using the litter box, your cat seems to go wherever she is. The truth of the matter is that shes not happy about it either.

We want the best for our cats, and nutrition plays a vital role in any animals health. But advertising and lay opinions can leave a cat owner wondering whether to feed canned food or dry foods.

The growing popularity of essential oils for health, ambiance, and behavior modification has led to real feline-safety concerns. The problem is that cats have a unique set up for enzymatically metabolizing many compounds in their liver, so something safe to use around dogs and humans may still be toxic to your cat.

When your cat develops a problem that might be neurologic, get her right to your veterinarian. Theres no time to waste.

Tears on your cats face can be concerning. Cats do not have emotional tears like people do, and some causes reflect serious situations; others are minor.

When New Years Eve arrives, many of us make promises to ourselves-those infamous resolutions-to improve ourselves somehow. Thats because the new year is a traditional starting point, and were happy and motivated. Popular resolutions include losing weight, quitting smoking, and getting the most out of life. Inevitably, however, most of us fail. The reason? Unrealistic goals. Well, were here to help fix that! Spending more time with your cat and improving her life is realistic and satisfying, so weve put together five New Years Resolutions. Are you with us?

By and large, says the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), cats are geriatric at age 7. Although theres no simple way to compare a pets aging to human aging, the AVMA did come up with a guide.

Your beloved cat climbs into your lap, rubs on your chin and then yawns by your face. Suddenly, you are overwhelmed by foul air. It is unreasonable to expect your feline friend to have minty fresh breath, but healthy cat breath really isnt offensive. Causes for fetid feline breath can range from minor to serious.