Disease

Indications that your cat is experiencing a viral infection of its upper respiratory tract - which includes its nose, sinuses, pharynx and larynx - are similar to those that trouble you when you catch a cold: watery eyes, runny nose, wheezing, sneezing and coughing. Just as you are likely to be completely and permanently rid of your cold within a week or so, a cat, in most instances, will also get over the clinical signs of disease within a few days. In some cases, however, serious complications can occur. About 80 percent of feline upper respiratory infections are caused by either of two viruses: feline herpesvirus (FHV), also known as feline rhinotracheitis virus (FRV); and feline calicivirus (FCV). A third and far less frequent cause of upper respiratory infections in cats is Chlamydophilia felis, a bacterial agent. "All three of these organisms are very specific to cats," says Dr. Richard Goldstein, an associate professor of small animal medicine at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine. None of these disease agents, he notes, is transmissible to humans or dogs.

Although its only the size of a golf ball, your cats brain is just about as complex and, when it comes to matters of vital concern, just about as capable as your brain. Of course, a cat uses its brain and the other components of its neurologic system to address needs and desires that are often different from yours. After all, you like to read books and watch movies; your cat likes to torment mice and play with balls of yarn. Sad to say, a cats neurologic system also resembles yours in the wide variety of serious disorders with which it can be afflicted, sometimes with fatal consequences. According to Curtis Dewey, DVM, an associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, he and his colleagues typically treat four or five neurologically compromised cats each week at the universitys animal hospital.

Dear Elizabeth: Help! I am pregnant and really need some answers about Toxoplasmosis. I know (from reading CatWatch!) that people can be infected by eggs in a cats feces. I also understand that Toxoplasmosis is really dangerous during pregnancy, so I had my cat tested last week.

Among a normal, healthy, and properly cared-for cats many distinctive attributes is its astoundingly acute sense of hearing. While the human auditory system is capable of detecting sounds ranging in frequency up to about 20,000 vibrations per second, cats typically can sense sounds pulsating at 60,000 vibrations per second or greater. This impressive acoustic sensitivity has been honed over the ages to serve a cat in countless ways - signaling the stealthy approach of a dangerous predator, for example, or detecting the underground movement of a burrowing rodent. Although most cats will go through life without experiencing a serious problem with their ears, owners should know that a variety of conditions - including congenital defects, infections, trauma and age-related changes - can be extremely painful and may compromise an animals hearing. Most feline ear disorders are readily treatable and will not result in permanent hearing loss, notes James Flanders, DVM, an associate professor of surgery at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine. However, some conditions may render a cat partially or totally deaf, especially if they remain unrecognized and untreated.

It may surprise you to learn that dental disease is the most common disease in cats. In fact, approximately 50 percent of all cats show signs of gum and teeth problems by the time they reach adulthood. What is dental disease and what can you do to prevent it from happening to your cat? Periodontal disease - which includes gingivitis and periodontitis - is a serious condition that, when left untreated, can lead to tooth loss and may even cause damage to vital organs because bacteria from the mouth can circulate through the bloodstream. Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums that is caused when plaque bacteria accumulate on the tooth surface and in small pockets at the gumline called the gingival sulcus. According to Daniel Carmichael, DVM, a veterinary dentist at the Veterinary Medical Center in Islip, New York, "The gum tissue or gingiva senses the bacterial plaque, which causes the capillaries to dilate and bring in white blood cells, thus making the gums red, swollen and prone to bleeding."

An estimated two percent of the 80 million or more cats now living in the United States will at some point in their lives develop cancer, a disease marked by the uncontrolled proliferation of cells on or within an animals hard and soft body tissues. Thanks to dramatic advances in veterinary medicine, many types of feline cancer are manageable - sometimes even reversible - if the condition is recognized early in its development and the affected cat is treated promptly and appropriately. But any cancer that remains undetected and untreated until it has reached an advanced stage is very likely to prove fatal. The task of diagnosing and treating feline cancer falls, of course, to the expert veterinary oncologist. Owners, however, can play a significant role in spotting a cancerous lesion at its earliest stage of development, when it is most amenable to treatment. Indeed, there are measures that a cat owner can take to prevent certain types of feline cancer or at least to minimize the risk of their occurrence.

A healthy cats uniquely stunning physical traits - its power, agility and lightning-fast responses to external stimuli - are essentially attributable to its musculoskeletal system. In one way or another, this system is in operation 24 hours a day, whether a cat is hunting prey, escaping from predators, eating, drinking, napping, toying intently with a ball of yarn or digging its claws into your favorite piece of furniture. Unfortunately, cats are subject to a veritable host of disorders that can impair or totally impede the smooth operations of this impressively complex array of bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments and other tissues. Owners should be aware of the systems basic structure, various functions, and signs of its impairment, such as a noticeably altered gait, an apparent weakness in the joints, and the inability to chew and swallow food easily. As is the case with other feline disorders, says Christine Bellezza, DVM, a consultant at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicines Feline Health Center, early recognition and diagnosis of a cats musculoskeletal disorder are likely to improve the chances for its successful treatment.

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.

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

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.

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.