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Health

While aging is not an illness, it does bring with it a number of physical difficulties. Be alert to your cat and make a veterinary appointment if something seems amiss rather than thinking, “She’s just getting old.”

The Aging Cat Needs a Careful Eye

When we hear someone tell us our senior cat “looks really good for her age,” we might want to give some thought to that...
Discharge from the eyes or nose may be a sign of calicivirus.

A URI With Extra Oomph

One of the most common causes of upper respiratory infection (URI) in cats is feline calicivirus (FCV). Cats kept at home and/or in a...
Cats often assume they won’t fall off high ledges, but it can happen. When it does, they may act rather cool about it, not letting on that they hurt themselves.

Spotting Soft-Tissue Trauma

Cats have 517 muscles, and they seem to find just as many creative ways to damage them. Whether it’s a leg caught in furniture,...
Coronavirus Cat Litter

Kitty Litter and Disease Transmission

Enteric coronavirus is a highly contagious viral disease that is passed in the feces of infected cats, where it can then infect other cats....
Sphynx cats are hairless.

Cardiac Gene Mutation in Sphynx Cats

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a devastating disease that causes the heart muscle to thicken and makes it less efficient. The disease is most prevalent in...
UK Cat food recall

U.K. Food Recall

Feline pancytopenia is a potentially fatal illness characterized by a decrease in red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Since April 2021, veterinarians...

Happening Now…

Working Cats—The Treehouse Humane Society in Chicago released 1,000 cats to fight the city’s growing rat problem as part of its “Cats at Work...
Cats with cerebellar hypoplasia usually get along just fine, but it’s wise to keep them out of places where they might fall.

Cerebellar Hypoplasia Tremors

Q. I would appreciate your thoughts on our female 12-year old tuxedo kitty, who has had a neurological problem since kittenhood. It’s not severe like...
Well, of course, you want to rescue them, but you must take proper precautions.

Reality and Rabies in Strays

Rabies is almost universally fatal once symptoms are observed, but it can be difficult to detect. In 2017 in New Jersey, there was a...
A cat that lays around all day may not be a “contented cat.” It may be too hard to move easily due to excess weight.

End the Wave of Fat Cats

Maintaining a healthy body weight is a critical aspect of overall health, yet obesity continues to grow among cats, dogs, and even people. Obesity...
Taking a cat’s blood pressure requires multiple tries and patience.

5 Things About Hypertension

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is as much a “silent killer” of cats as it is of people, so it pays to understand a little...
Students can practice their surgical skills without using a live animal.

New Feline Surgical Training Model

SynDaver, the company known for synthetic human and animal simulators for education, medical testing, and training, has a new synthetic feline surgical training model,...