Behavior

Cats hide injuries and pain by instinct, a behavior that is important for survival in the wild. This forces us to be detectives when our cats are ill.

Your cat has several rows of whiskers, usually 12 arranged in rows, and a few over her eyes. You may also see them along her jawline, near her ears, and on the back of her front legs. All these whiskers, or vibrissae, are stiff tactile hairs that help your cat learn about her environment.

A recent study out of Italy looked at survival and prognostic factors for cats with restrictive cardiomyopathy. The researchers looked at 90 cats who had been diagnosed with this cardiac condition via echocardiography between 1997 and 2015. There were 53 more males than females in the study.

Angelos Pizza in Matawan, N.J., is delivering more than just food, according to CBS NewYork Channel 2.

In January, we wrote about the recent American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) updated guidelines on feeding cats to make feeding programs more natural, emphasizing a cats natural desire to hunt. Hunting keeps the cat active, which burns calories and promotes a healthy body weight and lean muscle mass. These five things will help you make feeding time more like a hunt.

A 45-year-old Singapore man was arrested for trying to smuggle four kittens past immigration, according to Channel NewsAsia. Security noticed the man’s pants were “meowing.” He faces a possible fine and one year in prison.

Benjamin L. Hart, DVM, PhD, at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis, conducted a series of surveys with dog owners on grass-eating behaviors and published an article in the December 2008 Veterinary Medicine. He found that most dogs do not show signs of illness before eating grass and that only 22 percent vomited afterward. As for cats, Dr. Hart said that, Cats typically do not appear to be ill before eating plants nor do they regularly vomit afterward.

Shedding is a normal part of life for mammals-old hairs fall out, allowing new hair to grow in. Animals shed year-round with typically two heavy periods in spring and fall-building up and getting rid of a winter coat, says William Miller, VMD, DACVD, Dermatology Section Chief at the Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine. During these times of the year, it may seem like there is more hair on the floor than on the cat.

When pet owners think of pancreatitis, often the image that comes to mind is a dog who does a garbage raid and consumes a bunch of spoiled or fatty food. Dietary indiscretion usually is not considered a cause of pancreatitis in cats, perhaps because cats are more fastidious in their eating habits!

You turned the heat up, the whole family is roasting, but your cat appears to be shivering! What do you do now?

The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) recently released a consensus statement called Feline Feeding Programs: Addressing Behavioral Needs to Improve Feline Health and Wellbeing to address medical, social, and emotional problems that can result from the manner in which most cats are currently fed. It was published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery and transformed into a handout for cat owners.

Dolasetron (brand name Anzemet) has been used in people to help with chemotherapy-induced nausea. It inhibits vomiting and nausea via pathways in both the gastrointestnal tract and the central nervous system. This dual action made it sound helpful to cats, thought researchers in California. Their study was reported in the August 2018 Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.