Health

If there were an AARP for pets, your cat would get his membership card when he turns 8. Thats about 50 years old in human years, according to Feline Life Stage Guidelines from the American Association of Feline Practitioners and American Animal Hospital Association.

A touch of green around the house during a long, cold winter provides a reminder of spring and creates a festive mood for the holidays. Although plants like lilies are lovely, the effects on a cat who ingests them are decidedly not. In the case of lilies of the Lilium species, cats can suffer potentially fatal kidney failure.

It may come as a surprise to learn that nearly one-third of cats experience signs of an active infection of flu-like feline calicivirus (FCV). Most of us would think that vaccinations prevent the disease in cats, and we’d be mistaken.

If you have a short-nosed cat who has put on some pounds and suffers breathing problems due to a condition called brachycephalic airway syndrome, one simple change could go a long way in easing his discomfort: help him slim down.

Mast cell tumors represent one of the most common types of tumors affecting the feline spleen, skin and intestines, yet few studies have focused on determining the optimal treatment for cats. While surgical removal of tumors continues to be the treatment choice for mast cell tumors (MCTs), new research indicates that certain chemotherapy drugs might offer promise for more serious cases of malignant MCTs.

Some cats lick so much they take their fur off down to bare skin. They’re what veterinary dermatologist William H. Miller, Jr., VMD, at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine calls fur mowers. “If the animal licks without too much vigor, the licked area will be hairless but not inflamed or infected,” he says, “but with more passion, the skin can be abraded and might become infected.”

If your agile cat suddenly becomes clumsy, or your affectionate cat now flinches when you reach over his head to pet him, his vision may be cloudy because he has cataracts in one or both eyes.

Even if you could lead your cat to water, you can’t make him drink. The reason this usually occurs with cats rather than other animals in most cases: it’s part of their biological make-up, says Brian Collins, DVM, a lecturer in the Community Practice Service at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Living with a diabetic cat isn’t as difficult as owners initially expect, thanks to some pleasant surprises like this: About a third of cats will come to a point where they won’t need insulin any longer. They’re transient diabetics, says Megan Morgan, VMD, a specialist in internal medicine at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford, Conn.

Living with a diabetic cat isn’t as difficult as owners initially expect, thanks to some pleasant surprises like this: About a third of cats will come to a point where they won’t need insulin any longer. They’re transient diabetics, says Megan Morgan, VMD, a specialist in internal medicine at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford, Conn.

If you visit an animal shelter to adopt a cat, you may be surprised to learn that some animals have received dental treatment. In a new and growing movement among shelters, veterinarians and supervised technicians are cleaning teeth, extracting fractured ones and treating inflammation of the gums to boost cats’ chances of winning permanent homes.

If you visit an animal shelter to adopt a cat, you may be surprised to learn that some animals have received dental treatment. In a new and growing movement among shelters, veterinarians and supervised technicians are cleaning teeth, extracting fractured ones and treating inflammation of the gums to boost cats’ chances of winning permanent homes.