Health

These days, despite what we like to consider modern conveniences, people commonly complain that they just cannot find the time to get a good nights sleep. So much to do, so little time. When we finally do settle into bed, we like to be left to our dreams, undisturbed until the alarm takes us to tomorrow. Noisy neighbors, construction crews and barking dogs are beyond our control. But, what an unexpected, and unpleasant, surprise to be awakened by ones own cat! Restless behavior may be particularly hard to understand when your cat has spent the first 12 years of his life refusing to leave the covers until a decent sunbeam appears. The first time that a senior cats cries call a person from sleep, there may be a sympathetic response. A naturally concerned owner might check the food supply. The next occurrence will be more puzzling. Clearly the cat is not wanting for food. Could there be another cat in the yard? Maybe a critter got into the house?

A recent report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association provided encouraging reassurance that lessons were learned from the tragic melamine contamination of pet food in 2007. Several of the investigators in the study "Clinicopathologic, histologic, and toxicologic findings in 70 cats inadvertently exposed to pet food contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid" (JAVMA Vol. 233, No. 5) were from Cornell, where the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center did some of the groundwork that led to the largest recall of cat and dog food in U.S. history. The 70 cats in this study were not privately owned, nor were they laboratory cats that were deliberately fed suspect food to see if theyd get sick. Rather, they were 70 animals (from a licensed commercial cattery) that happened to be engaged in scientific diet-preference studies when the melamine contamination problem hit the national news. It was their good luck, however, to be where expert veterinary medical care was immediately at hand.

A fine way to show your deserving cat that youre a wonderful human being is to give her a delicious treat now and then - a scrap of baked salmon, for example, or a tiny slice of chicken from your dinner plate. Or perhaps youll unwrap a new pack of its favorite commercial snack - a chewy chicken-flavored tidbit that you discovered on the shelves of your local grocery store. This give-and-take interaction with your cat is perfectly all right, says Francis Kallfelz, DVM, a professor of veterinary nutrition at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine, as long as you practice it in moderation and with appropriate vigilance. "The main reason that cat owners give treats is to enhance the human-animal bond," he says, "and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. In fact, theres a good chance that offering treats now and then will make your cat more responsive to you." He points out, however, that any treat should be considered a component of a cats overall daily diet and that, of course, it should be a substance that is safe for feline ingestion. Also, he advises, "Be sure that your cat doesnt become so addicted to treats that it starts refusing to eat its regular food."

Most affected cats will require dietary change and daily insulin injections, but overall its a highly treatable condition. Heres help.

Owing to several unique features developed over centuries in the wild, the modern cat typically possesses powerful visual acuity that enables it to function effectively both indoors and beyond the confines of its home. Unfortunately, the feline ocular apparatus is vulnerable to injuries and a wide variety of diseases that can dramatically impair a cats eyesight or, worst case, render it partially or totally blind. "We see cats that are either blind or going blind several times a week," says Thomas Kern, DVM, associate professor of ophthalmology at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine. "Most of these animals have eye disease as a primary disorder - they have no other health problems. And most of them are middle-aged or elderly cats whose vision loss has been progressing for years." As is true for virtually all threats to feline health, the earlier a cats vision problem is diagnosed, the more effectively it can be treated - unless, of course, the animals blindness has progressed irreversibly by the time it is noticed. Therefore, Dr. Kern urges owners to keep an eye out for any behavioral or physical indications that a cat is having a vision problem and to report any such signs to a veterinarian without delay.

Perhaps the most important characteristic of a responsible cat owner is the ability to distinguish the signs of minor feline illnesses from those calling for an immediate trip to the nearest animal emergency care facility. Cat owners should be equipped ahead of time to deal promptly with such a crisis. They should know precisely where the clinic is located, the speediest route to get there, how to transport the afflicted animal, what documents they should take to the facility - and what to expect to happen upon arrival. Feline emergency cases are by no means rare, says Gretchen Schoeffler, DVM, chief of emergency and critical care services at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals (CUHA). She and her colleagues typically treat as many as 10 or 15 severely ill cats each week in the hospitals emergency unit, which, like most such facilities in the U.S., is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Isnt it remarkable that most cats are well-behaved when they visit their veterinarians? First, they are captured and put into an automobile. They remain in their containers, sheltered but helpless, in a room filled with the scent of unfamiliar cats, humans and even dogs. Finally, every bit of security is lost when the cat is removed from its newfound shelter and the veterinary team places the cat on the examination table. Why do cats behave so nicely? Fear can sometimes render a cat motionless and therefore cooperative. Fearful cats - whether immobile or aggressive - can benefit from a behavior modification specifically designed to address high arousal. But what about the average cat, dare I say the "normal" cat? There may be no indication for intensive therapy or anxiety-reducing medication. But clearly, the veterinary experience is not entirely stress-free. Rather than take a cats good behavior for granted, why not reduce some of the stressors that can occur during a visit to the veterinary hospital? Lets examine some components of the visit that could trigger anxiety.

Its no secret that gas prices are on the rise. So is just about everything else, including pet food. The U.S. Bureau of Labors Consumer Price Index reports that pet food prices for the second quarter of 2008 rose by eight to nine percent. While thats not as much of an increase as milk or gasoline, consumers are still seeing the most significant price increase in pet food in years. What gives?"If you look at the rising cost of pet foods, its all because of the cost of grains," says Joseph Wakshlag, DVM, PhD, assistant professor of Clinical Nutrition at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine. "All of the grains such as corn and rice that are used to make pet food have gone up in price, so pet food prices had to rise as well. And that cost has to be passed on to the consumer." Pet owners like Teri Grohl have noticed. Grohl, an administrative assistant for a high-tech company, spent a portion of her $600 stimulus check on food and cat litter for her three cats, ages 12, six and two.

Of all feline health problems, intestinal disorders rank among those most frequently treated by veterinarians at local clinics and large referral hospitals throughout the U.S. According to Melanie Craven, BVM, an internist and researcher in gastroenterology at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine, vomiting, diarrhea and dramatic weight loss are the most common signs of feline intestinal disease in cats. However, she notes, subtler signs such as lethargy and appetite fluctuations can also suggest the presence of an intestinal disorder. Some of these disorders may be secondary to conditions originating in other organs, such as the thyroid gland, liver, kidneys and pancreas. But, Dr. Craven points out, the problems usually originate in either the upper or lower segments of a cats intestines - the pliable, circuitous tunnel leading from an animals stomach to its anus.

While the world holds its breath to see if the highly pathogenic avian flu virus H5N1 mutates enough to spread from person to person, German scientists wondered if the average house cat could have a role. An article in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (Vol. 10 Issue 4: "Prevalence of influenza H5N1 virus in cats from areas with occurrence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in birds"), gave the results of surveys that covered 171 cats in Austria and Germany. The study was presented "to learn more about the role of cats in the spread of the virus and about the risk posed to cats." They were looking for a good "sentinel" animal among mammals, to give an early warning - the way caged canaries in coal mines used to warn of poisonous gases.

Despite their typically strong, agile, and resilient bodies, cats are subject to a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders - diseases and injuries affecting the complex structure of bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments that give shape to their bodies and enable them to move about. Fortunately, most of these disorders - such as congenital malformations, inflammatory diseases, and tumorous growths - are relatively rare in cats. Less rare by comparison are bone fractures that result from traumatic events, such as when a cat is hit by a car, for example, or falls from a tree. A fracture can occur when any physical force applies sudden and excessive pressure on a bone until it snaps at its weakest point.

For several days, your good old cat has been acting oddly, lolling about the house, uncharacteristically lethargic, off his food and seemingly depressed. Then one evening, while stroking his back to comfort the mysteriously dispirited animal, you notice a smallish but alarming lump just to the side of his tail. Although you touch the lump ever so gently, he reacts with a howl, hisses, leaps from your lap and scurries to a dark corner. The lump you discovered is quite possibly an abscess, and although your touching it caused the poor animal intolerable discomfort, its a good thing that you spotted it. The sensitive swelling may indicate that the cat has an infection of some sort, which would explain his sluggish behavior of late, and prompt veterinary care is in order.