Lifestyle

Parasites are never fun, and certainly less so when they affect your own cat or kitten. Parasites can rob your cat of good health, making her more susceptible to infections and diseases. In addition, many parasites are zoonotic, meaning they can cause problems in people as well. A diagnosis and recommendations for treatment from your veterinarian are the best way to manage parasites once they have taken hold, but it can also be wise to treat your cat with prophylactic medications to prevent parasitic infections.

Two antiviral drugs have led to remission in cats with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), says Dr. Niels C. Pedersen, professor emeritus at the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and long-time FIP researcher, speaking at the 2017 American Association of Feline Practitioners convention.

The Daytona-Beach News Journal reports that there is a bill pending in Florida that would allow judges to forbid people convicted of animal cruelty to own pets.

A cat rescued from the Northern California fires will be reunited with his family 10 years after he went missing, says the Sacramento Bee.

Your veterinarian might want to examine your cats urine for a variety of reasons, such as to evaluate kidney function or monitor diabetes. But how to get that urine? Its not as difficult as you might think.

While longhaired cats require the most upkeep, mats and tangles can be an issue for all cats. Older cats that are developing osteoarthritis start to have trouble bending to groom their entire bodies, with the hind end being a popular spot for mats and dandruff.

Tears on your cats face can be concerning. Cats do not have emotional tears like people do, and some causes reflect serious situations; others are minor.

A study from the University of Journal of Feline Medicine, showed that a key protein can build in nerve cells of a cats brain and cause mental deterioration. Its actually a form of Alzheimers disease, say the researchers, and its the same protein that causes tangles in nerve cells in human Alzheimers patients.

The first indication of a heart problem in a kitten or cat might be a murmur picked up by your veterinarian on a routine physical examination. Luckily, not all heart murmurs mean heart disease in cats, says Dr. Bruce Kornreich DVM PhD, board-certified veterinary cardiologist and Associate Director of the Cornell Feline Health Center. Many ostensibly healthy cats have murmurs, but depending upon the situation, follow-up diagnostics may be warranted when a murmur is detected in a cat.

By and large, says the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), cats are geriatric at age 7. Although theres no simple way to compare a pets aging to human aging, the AVMA did come up with a guide.

When New Years Eve arrives, many of us make promises to ourselves-those infamous resolutions-to improve ourselves somehow. Thats because the new year is a traditional starting point, and were happy and motivated. Popular resolutions include losing weight, quitting smoking, and getting the most out of life. Inevitably, however, most of us fail. The reason? Unrealistic goals. Well, were here to help fix that! Spending more time with your cat and improving her life is realistic and satisfying, so weve put together five New Years Resolutions. Are you with us?

Animal shelters in Denver, Colo., may soon be able to prohibit anyone who plans to declaw a cat from adopting one. Declawing would be allowed only when medically necessary, according to the Denver Post.