Health

Hypertension in people can damage the heart, eyes, kidneys and brain. As dangerous as it is for us, hypertension - also known as high blood pressure - can cause equally serious problems for our cats, especially those 7 years of age and older. Yet its symptoms arent always evident, even to experts. The disease is insidious, meaning signs may come on slowly or not be that apparent. Its been called the silent killer for that very reason. Cats may be a little bit lethargic or may act strangely, but in most cases its not obvious, says cardiologist Bruce Kornreich, DVM, Ph.D., ACVIM, Associate Director of the Feline Health Center at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. The most important thing to keep in mind is target organ damage.

Veterinarians commonly diagnose hypertension with a Doppler system that detects blood flow acoustically. This method uses an inflatable cuff with a gauge that measures pressure within it, a stethoscope and a unit that uses Doppler signals to detect blood flow. The veterinarian or technician places the cuff around a limb, inflates it until blood blood flow in the limb is blocked and then gradually deflates the cuff until blood flow is detected once again. …

When your cat is happy, you are happy. When your cat has delicious chewy treats, he is usually pretty happy. But cat owners oft forget that their furry friends only need about 200 calories a day. At about 1.5 calories per piece, a single handful of Meow Mix is over 25 percent of your cat's daily intake.

Niagara County SPCA in upstate New York calls itself the little shelter that could. It has a small staff of 19, a surgical trailer for sterilizations and a big population problem. Despite working with rescue groups and community cat caretakers, Executive Director Amy Lewis told WGRZ-TV in Buffalo that the city has 60,000 stray and feral cats compared to 50,000 people. As long as theyre not spayed or neutered, the number of homeless cats will keep increasing, she says. A lot of people dont spay and neuter - theres not low-cost, accessible spay-neuter programs for them. We do have one at the shelter, but we dont have the resources to accommodate large numbers of animals. The no-kill shelter sterilizes 40 to 50 cats a week but needs an in-house surgical suite to do more. Its board hopes to expand the facility or build a new one.

Whether your cat is suffering from disease or the effects of extreme old age, a time may come when medical treatment can no longer help. In the past, that might have meant euthanizing your cat. Today, however, veterinarians increasingly suggest hospice care as an option. Some clinics offer house calls with staff members providing hospice services, while in some cases owners decide to provide care at home under veterinary supervision.

When Eileen Marek of Sherman Oaks, Calif., was referred to a specialist after her 15-year-old cat Chelsea was diagnosed with bone cancer of the jaw, she expected the worst. I was thinking I would have two choices, she says, surgery or put her to sleep. I was pretty stressed going into that appointment.

Cats have long endured the reputation for being fussy eaters. Weve known for a decade that, with some exceptions, most cats lack the taste receptor gene for sweets. Now a study suggests that they may have a legitimate reason for avoiding another flavor.

The kidneys accomplish many crucial tasks, even when one or both are failing:

Cats on the mend - or ones prone to acid reflux - fare better when they consume low-fat diets designed to strengthen their esophageal sphincters and moderate-level protein diets that seem to lessen the production of stomach acids. Meredith Miller, DVM, at Cornell also recommends:

Your cats playing with shoelaces or nibbling on an old sweater may look YouTube-worthy, but the results can be decidedly different. If he ingests an odd object, it can lead to life-threatening internal blockages. In veterinary medicine, eating non-food items is known as pica.

Studies on kidney disease at Colorado State are focusing on whether stem cells can reduce kidney inflammation in cats. Any cat over 10 is likely to develop kidney disease, and by age 15, Im generally very surprised if it hasnt, says researcher Jessica Quimby, DVM, Ph.D., ACVIM.

Chronic kidney disease is common in older cats, with nearly a third of them over 12 affected and the prevalence increasing with age. The disease is incurable, involving the gradual loss of kidney function; however, owners can help slow its progression.