Health

At the 2019 AVMA Convention in August, Dr. Paulo Steagall, an associate professor of veterinary anesthesia and analgesia at the University of Montreal, presented the Feline Grimace Scale or FGS, which is a method of evaluating a cats pain using facial expressions.

WBIR-TV in Knoxville, TN, reports that a local animal lover was caring for a bobcat kitten, not realizing it wasnt a lost domestic kitten.

Just like people, not all cats like each other. Maybe your cat is not thrilled about the latest feline addition to the family, or two long-time housemates are no longer seeing eye to eye. Whatever the cause, there are some things you can do to manage rival cats and prevent rivalries from escalating.

We tend to associate rabies with dogs, but rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that far more cats than dogs contract rabies. In 2015, 67 rabid dogs and 244 rabid cats were reported to the CDC; in 2017, rabies was found in 62 dogs and 276 cats.

Sebastian, a big orange longhair, was adopted in 2009. He tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), but had no symptoms. In 2017, he started to have eye symptoms and eventually appeared to be blind. He was eating, drinking, socializing, and had regular urination and defecation. Three months ago, he began bleeding from his nose and eventually from his eye and crusting.

Its a common misconception that vomiting is normal in cats. Cats should not routinely vomit more than once per week. The possible causes include everything from gastrointestinal (GI) parasites to dietary indiscretion to foreign bodies. In middle-aged to older cats, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a frequent culprit.

While dogs are the best-known therapy animals, cats can help humans who are ill or stressed, too, by promoting relaxation and healing. Therapy cats visit nursing homes, hospitals, courthouses, and schools (some colleges organize therapy animal visits as stress-relief during exams). Therapy visits may also be referred to as animal-assisted interventions (AAI).

Does blood type really matter other than as a matter of curiosity? Yes! Any time a cat needs a blood transfusion, that cat ideally should receive blood of the same type.

Upper respiratory infections are common in cats. Treatment can be frustrating, especially since the primary culprit is often feline herpes virus (FHV). While FHV infections arent usually life-threatening, infected cats sneeze, may develop corneal ulcers, and have nasal discharge and conjunctivitis. Currently, treatment is aimed at supportive care, with antibiotics added if there are signs of secondary bacterial infections.

An article in the June 2019 Journal of Applied Gerontology looked at using pets to help senior citizens with pain. Cognitive behavioral self-management strategies are used to help seniors deal with chronic pain, and this study looked to see if pets might be incorporated into these strategies with a positive end.

Laser pointers catch your cats attention, and rare is the cat who doesnt chase that red dot. But it may not be all that fun in the end. While a bouncing laser causes the cat to leap and run, it doesnt give the cat a satisfying finale: He cant catch that beam, and he may end up feeling frustrated.

Urinalysis (UA) is an integral part of clinical veterinary practice, and the use of dry reagent urine-testing strips is an essential component of UA in most veterinary practices.