Health

I have a 12-year-old calico kitty who eats a regular diet of commercial fish cat food and some assorted cat food pates. She also loves whole milk, and we give it to her after her meals on a daily basis. A friend of mine told me that I should not give her milk, as this can be harmful. Is this true?

Despite the potential consequences of obesity, up to 59 percent of cats are overweight, according to the American Animal Hospital Association. It lists some of the effects in Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, published in the Journal of the AAHA: chronic inflammation caused by fat tissue releasing hormones and proteins called cytokines, skin and respiratory disorders, renal dysfunction, diabetes and orthopedic disease.

One minute your cat seems fine. The next hes passed out on the floor. What should you do? Fainting, or clinically speaking, syncope, is the temporary loss of consciousness followed by a spontaneous rapid recovery.Rather than an illness in itself, fainting is a symptom of illness caused by a lack of sufficient flow of oxygenated blood to the brain, says cardiologist Bruce Kornreich, DVM, Ph.D., ACVIM, Associate Director of the Feline Health Center at Cornell. His advice during an episode: Carefully monitor your cat, never put your hand in his mouth, and contact a veterinarian immediately.

In addition to ongoing research into feline mammary tumors at Cornell, researchers across North America are evaluating potential diagnostic and treatment options for cats with the disease. Ongoing studies include:

Researchers studying feline mammary cancer at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine have set an ambitious agenda. They hope that their ongoing work will lead to better diagnosis, treatment and prevention of breast tumors in cats and humans. Much of their interest lies in how a novel class of drugs affects breast cell tumors. In a study funded by the Cornell Feline Health Center, Assistant Professor Gerlinde Van de Walle, DVM, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Scott Coonrod, Ph.D., both working at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, have identified a promising chemical, BB-Cl-amidine, that seems to kill off feline mammary cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unaffected.

I recently fostered a rescue dog I was told had eaten the feces of a feral cat while being housed in another foster home. This cat subsequently had his stool tested, and it came back positive for toxoplasma gondii. The dog unfortunately defecated in my car while I was transporting him and I am concerned that I may have been exposed to toxoplasma while cleaning up the mess in my car. Do I need to worry about this?

If your cat is more than 10 years of age, and you see him arising from a nap in a puddle of urine or with a moist rear, he could have age-related urinary incontinence. The problem, frequently occurring in senior and geriatric cats, has several causes.It often results from urinary bladder or sphincter problems, says Leni K. Kaplan, DVM, MS, a lecturer in the Community Practice Service at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. However, incontinence can also be related to anything obstructing urine outflow, such as a tumor or stone. The bladder may then over-distend, and the cat may leak if he remains in one place for a while.

A promising study about supplementing with deep-sea fish oil illustrates one of the challenges in conducting research on cats and why more research is done on dogs than cats.A study of 77 dogs with osteoarthritis found that, when compared to a placebo, The fish-oil treated patients improved significantly in many of the variables … indicating a true but small relief in symptoms. Those dogs had improved in quality of life in locomotion and everyday situations, according to the report published in BMC Veterinary Research in 2012. Supplementation could be considered part of a total pain-relieving approach, especially for dogs who do not tolerate anti-inflammatory drugs, the researchers said.

Generally speaking, which supplements are beneficial for cats? Which are essential for their health, especially as they age and need to maintain mobility and cognitive ability?

Manufacturers in the $1-billion pet supplement market would like cat owners to believe that an array of their products, ranging from glucosamine to fish oil to vitamin pills, will help our cats live longer, healthier lives. Whether those supplements are actually effective is not known. Few large-scale studies have been done, and governmental oversight and regulations do not exist.Nutritionist Joseph Wakshlag, DVM, Ph.D., ACVN, ACVSMR, at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine believes there is little proof that many of the promotional claims about supplements are accurate; however, one study on deep-sea fish oil has shown it can be beneficial. Dr. Wakshlag, president-elect of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition, explains more about the fish oil study in the sidebar on Page 5 and on supplements in general in the following Q & A.

Animal shelters in the U.S. take in 3.4 million cats annually and euthanize 1.3 million of them. Two shelter medicine programs have set out to save many of those lives with the launch of the Million Cat Challenge.The Koret Shelter Medicine Program at UC Davis, Maddies Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida and hundreds of animal shelters throughout North America want to challenge animal control facilities and private shelters to reduce euthanasia.

A new test for chronic kidney disease in cats has identified its onset an average of 17 months earlier than existing methods, according to a small study published in the Veterinary Journal. Researchers at Oregon State University and IDEXX Laboratory developed a biomarker - a substance indicating disease called SDMA - and used it in a controlled study of 32 older but otherwise healthy cats. When available commercially, a test based on the biomarker could alert cat owners and veterinarians to kidney disease through periodic checkups, researchers say.Chronic kidney disease is common in geriatric cats and often causes their death, says researcher Jean Hall, DVM, Ph.D., at Oregon State. Damage from it is irreversible, but this is an important advance, in that we should be able to identify the problem earlier and use special diets to slow the disease.