Adoption

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.

A stray cat has begun visiting your yard and youve been feeding him. Hes open to friendly advances and you wonder if he would benefit from a real home. Or perhaps following a close call, you wonder if your indoor cat, who frequently goes outside, should remain in the house for safetys sake. One significant challenge you may face in transitioning an outdoor cat indoors is an existing cat who doesnt welcome newcomers and attacks the new cat.

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.

There are number of ways to measure the blood pressure in the artery of a patient. The gold standard is the placement of a catheter directly into the artery and measuring the pressure within it, referred to as blood pressure, using a device called manometer. Although this technique is extremely accurate, it requires the placement of an arterial catheter (which generally requires sedation/anesthesia in veterinary patients) and specialized equipment, and is associated with risks such as bleeding and infection. For these reasons, this invasive method of measuring blood pressure is not usually employed in cats during a routine veterinary visit.

Youve probably seen those clever cats on the Internet praying, rolling over and high fiving and wonder how they do that. All you want is for your cat to stay off the kitchen counter. It may come as a surprise, but you can train your cat to demonstrate a variety of behaviors. The biggest misconception people have about cats is assuming that they cannot be trained. They usually can if we avoid common mistakes in training.

If you actually catch the cat in the act of inappropriately urinating or defecating, you can say No! However, a cat may not use the box because he is not feeling well. Medical causes should always be explored. For example, a bladder infection could cause him to connect its pain with using the litter box. Arthritis may prevent easy entry to the box.

Dusty was a black and white cat who hissed, swatted and squirmed anytime a veterinarian or technician tried to restrain her for an examination or, worse, tried to draw blood or give an injection. This same cat, however, transformed into a picture of serenity and calm during acupuncture treatments.

My cat has recently been diagnosed with pancreatitis. The veterinarian explained to me that it can be difficult to diagnose, but he feels confident that this is the correct diagnosis and has started treatment. My kitty is still not eating well, and Im wondering if it is possible that something else is going on.

The researchers say cats with the boxes adapted to their surroundings more quickly than the group without boxes - at least in the short term. Stress may cause more infectious diseases in shelters by raising cortisol levels, which may suppress the immune system, researchers note in explaining the studys importance.

Your arthritic cat walks stiffly, and its difficult to find a medication to treat him without side effects. Could stem cell therapy be an option? Its use in human medicine has grown in the past decade, heralded as a promising treatment for a host of diseases. The latest area of pioneering research, according to the National Institutes of Health, is adult-derived stem cells for repair of the heart.