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Over the past half-century or more, the American pet food industry has worked hard to provide nutritionally sound, affordable and readily available canned and dry cat food. The nutritional contents of these foods are based on the nutrient requirements of cats as published by the National Research Council and/or the Cat Food Nutrient Profiles recommended by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The feed control officials of the various states and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitor the quality of all commercial cat food products.

Susan McDaniels was having a problem getting her cat, Starfish, to drink enough water. Starfish ignored the bowls of fresh water that were strategically placed around the house, preferring instead to drink water from a drippy faucet. That’s when McDaniels had an idea. What if she could provide fresh, running water for Starfish all the time? “I thought it would be a novel idea to get an automatic waterer for my cat,” the Santa Barbara, California, resident remembers. “Nothing else was working.”McDaniels went online and purchased an electric waterer that doubled as an attractive fountain. Most importantly, her cat began to drink plenty of water. “Starfish finds the fountain to be very entertaining, and it helped with water consumption,” she says.

You have a wonderful vacation planned, a two-week escapade to a sunny island after a long year of hard work and stress. You’ve been looking forward to it for months, but a nagging problem remains: Who should take care of Tiger while you’re away? How to Decide. What you do with your cat when you take a vacation should depend on your cat’s personality, health condition, age and the resources available where you live. Hiring a pet sitter, kenneling your cat or boarding him with a veterinarian are all reasonable options for care when you aren’t home.

Cats have earned the reputation for being “finicky,” and this is partly due to physiological factors that cause some foods to be less palatable than others. Like you, your cat senses taste using taste buds, which reside in the surface of the tongue. Within the taste bud a bundle of “gustatory cells” are contained in a small spherical pocket. The taste bud extends from an opening at the surface of the tongue through to deep within the tongue. The gustatory cells are in close contact with fine nerve endings leading into nerves within the tongue.

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.

Many people regard cats as being resourceful and self-reliant. After all, the species has survived thousands of years in radically different environments and living conditions. But how smart are our domestic cats? We humans tend to be very biased in assessing the intelligence of our cats (and dogs). That’s because we usually choose to judge them according to traits that we can relate to as human beings. When cats do something entertaining or display their independence, we generally think of them as intelligent.

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

You have a wonderful vacation planned, a two-week escapade to a sunny island after a long year of hard work and stress. You’ve been looking forward to it for months, but a nagging problem remains: Who should take care of Tiger while you’re away? How to Decide. What you do with your cat when you take a vacation should depend on your cat’s personality, health condition, age and the resources available where you live. Hiring a pet sitter, kenneling your cat or boarding him with a veterinarian are all reasonable options for care when you aren’t home.

There’s a lighthearted saying that goes something like this: “Dogs come when called. Cats take a message and get back to you.” For anyone who has ever shared their home with both canine and feline friends, you know this statement is true! But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can use a training method like “clicker training” or “target training” to reward your cat when she performs a certain task. The clicker [an inexpensive, hand-held device that makes a distinct “clicking” sound] can tell a cat that she just did something her person liked and a treat is coming.

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.

Trying to adjust your cat’s diet because of a serious medical condition is undoubtedly a good idea. But experts insist that there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Some problems may respond readily to a dietary adjustment, while other problems can be more vexing and require treatment aside from nutritional changes.Firstly, remember that therapeutic diets do not cure diseases. They can alleviate clinical abnormalities on a temporary basis, and alleviating these abnormalities can certainly help our beloved pets feel better and give them a higher quality of life.