Health

You go to cuddle with your indoor cat and notice what looks like salt and pepper on your white shirt. Since youre 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.

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.

I need information on spraying. I have four neutered males that are housed exclusively indoors, and I am having problems. Can you provide any advice about how best to address this issue?

A diagnosis of hip dysplasia might take you by surprise. Usually, a cat comes into the veterinarian because the owner notices that the cat is lame or sore, or less active than normal. Some cats with hip dysplasia will be consistently off in their gait, while other cats only show stiffness after a wild chase through the house.

Many cats will wear down their nails with routine scratching (hopefully on an approved scratching post and not your furniture), but for others, were responsible for their pawdicures. You may need to keep your cats nails trimmed to lessen the damage from scratches or to make your cats affectionate kneading less painful. Cats who dont wear down their nails must be trimmed regularly to avoid the nails growing into the cats paw.

We may now start classifying seizures in cats based on the canine system of the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force (IVETF).

Bony or osteo arthritis can be painful. While cats often hide pain well, with the use of pain medications owners often see a dramatic improvement in their cats mobility and quality of life. Many pain medications, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), are not metabolized well by cats and can even be deadly.

A study from Queens University, Belfast, says cats exhibit clear paw preference, much as humans do. Researchers recruited 24 neutered male and 20 spayed female cats and asked the cat owners to collect data on which paw cats used when they stepped down the stairs or over objects, whether they slept on the left or right side of their body, and which paw the cat used to reach for food inside a three-tier food tower.

A recent study took blood glucose readings from a variety of cats 8 years old and older as they entered the veterinary clinic, after they had been hanging out for a few hours, and again after fasting. One challenge of measuring blood glucose in cats is that their levels tend to skyrocket temporarily when they are stressed, such as at the clinic.

A study at the University of California at Davis looked at root canals in cats. Nadine Fiani BVSc, DAVDC, Assistant Clinical Professor and Section Chief of the Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine contributed to this study.

Nutrition plays a key role in your cats health, and his urinary tract is no exception. If your cat is diagnosed with a urinary-tract disorder, such as kidney disease, feline idiopathic cystitis, bladder stones, or urinary-tract infections, your veterinarian may recommend switching to a urinary diet to help manage the condition and help prevent further problems. But there are many more factors that influence urinary health that you can monitor.

People love to give their pets treats and pets love to eat them. Whats not to like? The catch is when your cat is on the round side and needs to lose some weight. You would still like to reward her for good behavior and possibly use some treats for training. What are good options?