Health

If you ever try to move around your home very, very quietly — to avoid waking a slumbering child, for example — you may be in the habit of walking on your tiptoes. Normally, however, you will employ what’s termed a “plantigrade” stance. That is to say, you’ll stand and walk with the entire sole of your foot touching the floor. Cats are different from you and your fellow humans in this respect. Unless they’ve suffered an injury or are afflicted with a physical condition that makes it painful or physically impossible for them to do otherwise, they will, by nature, walk on the front part of their feet. Notable among the feline disorders whose presence is signaled by a cat’s inability or unwillingness to walk on its toes is a condition called diabetic neuropathy.

For the first several years of her life, your cat Tina was slim, agile and remarkably athletic. In the past year or so, however, Tina, formerly light on her feet, has become heavy in her body. You can no longer see or feel her ribs. She seems to have accumulated a pad of fat over her spine, and it even appears that shes developing quite a potbelly.

Few things in the life of a cat owner are sweeter than the sight of a newborn kitten, weighing just a few ounces, its eyes tightly shut, nursing contentedly at its mothers nipple. A healthy kitten will nurse every 20 minutes or so, typically for about eight weeks, during which time its mothers milk will fulfill all of the little animals nutritional needs

To the average cat owner, cardiomyopathy may sound like a scary mouthful of a word — but all it essentially means is disease of the heart muscle. And cardiomyopathy is not one single disorder, but instead a family of heart conditions that can be classified into three types: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM); dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); and restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM). The causes, signs and treatments are different for each of the conditions, and rate of progression and prognosis also vary between individual cats and between breeds.

Despite its typical durability, a cat’s skin is subject to a wide array of disorders. Most of these conditions, in themselves, are of minor consequence and readily treatable. But all of them merit examination by a veterinarian, since they can signal the presence of a serious infection or other potentially life threatening systemic health problem. Among the various feline skin conditions that might be overlooked — or ignored — by an owner is acne. This disorder, which is characterized by the emergence of tiny black eruptions (blackheads) on a cat’s chin and lips, is a condition that can afflict both male and female cats of all ages and breeds.

Boxiecat is a new online subscription cat litter service that can help save trips to the grocery store, and puts an end to lugging heavy bags of litter. Considering that there are 86.4 million pet cats living in the United States, this service can certainly fill the necessity for litter in a new and more convenient way — especially for the elderly or the handicapped pet owner.

You’re nestled comfortably in your favorite chair with your cat dozing peacefully in your lap. You’re petting her gently, stroking her back. You’re happy, she’s happy — but suddenly she lets out a horrific howl and springs violently into the air with her claws out, furiously throwing her head about and trying to bite her own backside as if it had attacked her. Then the episode stops as suddenly as it began — she abruptly flops to the floor and, with a few convulsive jerks, passes out.

Kids and pets are like peanut butter and jelly — it’s hard to imagine one without the other. They can quickly become the best of friends, playing for hours on end. A child’s best animal friends seem to know to be extra gentle with him, and they are often endlessly patient — calmly swallowing their pride and allowing themselves to be dressed in doll’s clothes, take a bubble bath or just be hauled around on the child’s whim. As such, the attachments between children and their pets can be very real and very strong, making it especially difficult when the pet dies

Chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) is a significant disease of cats causing ulcerative, painful lesions in the mouth. Unfortunately, the cause of this condition is not always clear, but feline calicivirus has been speculated to play a part in some cases. Medical treatment of this condition has largely remained unsuccessful. Interferon is a protein produced by animals to fight virus infections, and investigators examined the potential of this substance — which can be produced artificially and given orally — to treat FCGS.

Like their human counterparts, feline lungs are bag-shaped, elastic organs, two in number, located on either side of the heart and occupying most of the space in the chest cavity. They are virtually identical in structure to human lungs as well, functioning in the same manner and fulfilling the same fundamental purposes — removing carbon dioxide from the bloodstream and keeping the blood constantly supplied with life-sustaining oxygen. The lungs perform their vital functions by means of two processes — properventilation and perfusion — explains Richard Goldstein, DVM, an associate professor of small animal medicine at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

If you are allergic to your cat, don’t despair. You are actually far from alone — but luckily, there are increasingly effective methods for dealing with allergies. Believe it or not, at least one in three cat owners has allergies to feline friends. For some, the allergic reaction is limited to itchy, watery eyes. Others may develop asthma or other serious breathing problems. The major culprit behind human allergic reactions to cats originates from cat skin, according to David Rosenstreich, MD, Chief of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY.

Due to the many important variables that need to be considered, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) brought together a group of experts to produce new guidelines for anesthetizing cats and dogs — stressing the importance of comprehensive, individualized anesthetic plans to minimize morbidity and optimize conditions.