Health

With good care from loving owners, indoor cats can enjoy a great life, but when the temperature plummets, they can benefit from some extra TLC. The most valuable advice from a specialist in emergency and critical care: Come winter, the most important thing is to keep pets indoors where its warm, says Elisa Mazzaferro, MS, DVM, Ph.D., ACECC, at Cornell University Veterinary Specials in Stamford, Conn.

Most of us think we give our cats the appropriate amount of food, but lets be honest here: Do we take into account the treats that we slip them? Or people food? A few morsels of canned tuna - at 56 calories per ounce - can add up and we suddenly have an overweight cat. The latest report from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimates that only 38 percent of cats in the U.S. are of normal weight; 28 percent are obese and 29 percent are overweight.

When you bring a cat into your family, you make decisions in his best interest for food, litter and veterinary care. As your cats healthcare proxy, youre also responsible for routine check-ups, dental health and vaccinations. Sometimes, however, you may need to make more difficult decisions, perhaps to seek a second opinion when the current treatment isnt working.

These tumors are often diagnosed in their advanced stages because of the cats exceptional ability to hide signs of serious disease. However, new research and emerging targeted therapies have the potential to improve lives. The advances may be able to provide a better outcome to patients stricken with these cancers, says Cheryl Balkman, DVM, ACVIM, Senior Lecturer and Chief of Oncology at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

If your cat firmly presses his head against a wall or sofa for extended periods for no apparent reason, dont be quick to dismiss it as attention seeking. He could be facing a significant health problem. Head pressing is an abnormal behavior, Dr. Kaplan says. It should be considered an emergency, and veterinary attention should be sought immediately.

Vomiting can be caused by many problems, ranging from obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract by hairballs or ingested string and other objects to metabolic diseases like kidney disease and hyperthyroidism, to inflammatory diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, to the ingestion of toxic substances such as plants, to cancer.

Complete genomes - genetic blueprints - of numerous cats DNA have been sequenced in what has been described as a new era in veterinary medicine. Cornells Veterinary Biobank, as one example, is a database of DNA and tissue samples from several species. The biobank is supported in part by the Cornell Feline Health Center.

The disease takes several forms: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, where the walls of the heart are thick; restrictive, where the walls are stiff; dilated, where there is thinning and weakening of the heart muscle, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular, where fat and scar tissue replace heart muscle, primarily in the right side of the heart.

Ear infections are relatively uncommon in cats - infections of the external ear occur twice as often in dogs. However, you should be aware of these significant facts: A study shows that geography can determine if your cat is likely to develop an ear infection. Left untreated, an infection can become chronic, causing pain and irreparable damage to the ear canal or eardrum. You can become the first line of defense in identifying an ear infection. Simply check your cats ears by giving them a quick rub - something you probably do everyday. Whether your cat shows pleasure or discomfort is a clue to the ears condition.

Every time your cat nuzzles up to a neighbors cat or scratches in wet soil where another cat has relieved himself, he runs the risk that he will pick up an uninvited guest: the parasite called giardia. It survives throughout the country in any place thats wet or damp, and thrives inside its hosts. Infection rates will vary depending on geographic location but one study has shown the rates to be about 10 percent in cats, says Brian Collins, DVM, Section Chief of the Community Practice Service at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Cornell is seeking cats with chronic, non-responsive gingivostomatitis for a clinical trial using stem cells. The disease causes severe, painful inflammation affecting the gums and mucosa in the mouth. The cause remains unknown. The Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service at Cornell University Hospital for Animals will use the cats own stem cells in the research. Current treatments are less than ideal, unpredictable and associated with possible complications.

Pets were evaluated as ideal, overweight or obese. The APOPs survey also found that 54 percent of dogs were overweight or obese. The findings were nearly the same in 2014, when the association cited a fat pet gap, in which another of its surveys revealed that 90 percent of owners of overweight cats and 95 percent of owners of overweight dogs incorrectly identified their pet as normal weight. No one wants to think their pet is overweight, and overcoming denial is our first battle, said APOP founder Ernie Ward, DVM.