Health

Some cats lick so much they take their fur off down to bare skin. They’re what veterinary dermatologist William H. Miller, Jr., VMD, at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine calls fur mowers. “If the animal licks without too much vigor, the licked area will be hairless but not inflamed or infected,” he says, “but with more passion, the skin can be abraded and might become infected.”

If your agile cat suddenly becomes clumsy, or your affectionate cat now flinches when you reach over his head to pet him, his vision may be cloudy because he has cataracts in one or both eyes.

Even if you could lead your cat to water, you can’t make him drink. The reason this usually occurs with cats rather than other animals in most cases: it’s part of their biological make-up, says Brian Collins, DVM, a lecturer in the Community Practice Service at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Living with a diabetic cat isn’t as difficult as owners initially expect, thanks to some pleasant surprises like this: About a third of cats will come to a point where they won’t need insulin any longer. They’re transient diabetics, says Megan Morgan, VMD, a specialist in internal medicine at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford, Conn.

Living with a diabetic cat isn’t as difficult as owners initially expect, thanks to some pleasant surprises like this: About a third of cats will come to a point where they won’t need insulin any longer. They’re transient diabetics, says Megan Morgan, VMD, a specialist in internal medicine at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford, Conn.

If you visit an animal shelter to adopt a cat, you may be surprised to learn that some animals have received dental treatment. In a new and growing movement among shelters, veterinarians and supervised technicians are cleaning teeth, extracting fractured ones and treating inflammation of the gums to boost cats’ chances of winning permanent homes.

If you visit an animal shelter to adopt a cat, you may be surprised to learn that some animals have received dental treatment. In a new and growing movement among shelters, veterinarians and supervised technicians are cleaning teeth, extracting fractured ones and treating inflammation of the gums to boost cats’ chances of winning permanent homes.

Kitten season — an increase in litters and adoptable pets — seems to span three seasons, starting in spring and extending into fall. If you’re the proud owner of a new kitty — congratulations!

New research at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine has bolstered advice to keep cats indoors, allowing them outside only when they can be supervised to protect them from parasitic infection.

Owners, take note: At some point in time, your cat might tear a nail. It’s one of the top 10 pet accidents requiring veterinary care, according to a review of thousands of claims by Veterinary Pet Insurance. And it can happen in a flash.

Human medicine has made strides in identifying clinical risk factors in heart disease. Now veterinary research hopes to do the same for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats. It’s the most common feline heart disease and cause of cardiovascular death.

Root canal treatment for cats might sound far-fetched, but they’re performed at university hospitals and specialty practices around the country to save damaged and diseased teeth that might otherwise be extracted. In fact, newly available techniques and equipment in veterinary medicine have advanced the field of endodontics — the study and treatment of dental pulp — to the point where root canal treatment success rates in pets equal those in humans.