Health

If your cat loves treats, but you see her weight increasing, consider vegetables as treats. It may take some experimentation to find out what shell eat, but many cats like veggies. Two ounces is about 20 calories. Cut them up to the size of kibble and put it in a bowl. Hint: Some cats really like zucchini.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common in older cats. Decreased appetite, vomiting, and presumed nausea are commonly seen in cats with CKD, and its been assumed this is due to hypergastrinemia (excess of the gastrin hormone that releases gastric acid), with subsequent increased gastric acid production and mineralization/damage to the mucosal lining of the stomach. To address this presumption, gastric acid suppressants are often administered, despite the fact that there is no evidence that cats with CKD have reduced gastric pH nor that cats diagnosed with CKD derive any benefits from gastric acid suppressant therapy.

Helpful ways to help kitty trim her body and stay healthy

You may notice your cat becoming hesitant about moving around the house. Or, you rearranged the furniture and your cat is bumping into things. Whats happening? Your cat may be going or have become blind.

The American Veterinary Medical Association has a downloadable PDF called Owning a Pet: A Job for the Whole Family.

Dolasetron (brand name Anzemet) has been used in people to help with chemotherapy-induced nausea. It inhibits vomiting and nausea via pathways in both the gastrointestnal tract and the central nervous system. This dual action made it sound helpful to cats, thought researchers in California. Their study was reported in the August 2018 Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) recently released a consensus statement called Feline Feeding Programs: Addressing Behavioral Needs to Improve Feline Health and Wellbeing to address medical, social, and emotional problems that can result from the manner in which most cats are currently fed. It was published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery and transformed into a handout for cat owners.

The first study to document interactions between feral cats and a wild rat colony finds that, contrary to popular opinion, cats are not good predators of rats.

Few things tug more at our heart strings than a mother cat trying to care for her kittens in the wild. Whether or not you should intervene, though, depends on the relationship between the person and the stray queen, says Dr. Leni Kaplan, Lecturer in the Community Practice Service at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Do not handle a cat that you are not familiar with. As rabies vaccination status for stray cats is unknown, the person must first and foremost protect themselves from scratches or bites from these cats.

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.

It requires just a little blood, but the CBC, or complete blood count, can reveal important information about your cats health. Its usually part of a senior wellness panel, diagnostic bloodwork for an ill cat, and as part of a pre-operative workup. It may also be used to evaluate your cats response to a medication or its possible side effects.

My 10-year-old female domestic short-haired cat has always been very nervous when I bring her to the veterinarian, to the point that her stress makes me hesitant to bring her for her regular check-ups. A friend of mine recently told me about veterinary practices that specialize in being cat-friendly, and I am hopeful that going to such a practice may make things easier on my girl. Can you tell me a bit about these practices, and where I can find one?