Health

The last time Frannie, the ShortTakes office feline, had her annual exam, we asked about heartworm control. The vet said that, as long as Frannie continued to be a strictly indoor cat living in this region (upstate New York), heartworm medication "probably isnt necessary." But ask again when Frannie comes back in six months, the vet added, "because things might change." We had been thinking about the late Dr. Jim Richards, an outspoken crusader for heartworm protection - no matter where in the 50 states a cat might live. All it takes is one mosquito, biting a heartworm-infected dog - then passing the disease on to the next cat it bites -to cause HARD (heartworm-associated respiratory disease), Dr. Richards said again and again.

Pinch your finger in a car door, step on a nail or cut your thumb while peeling an onion, and youre apt to let out a holler that will alert everyone within hearing range to the fact that youre experiencing pain. And then youll spend the next week or two talking about that dreadful moment and its unpleasant consequences. Your cat is much different from you in that respect. Certainly, it can experience discomfort of varying intensity in its hard and soft tissues - its bones, joints, ligaments, muscles and internal organs. And it may howl for a moment when it senses sharp pain. But it certainly wont verbalize. It wont be able to point pathetically to a lacerated paw pad or an aching joint and say, "This is where it hurts!"

For four years, Kathy Barton, a fourth-grade teacher in Velma, Oklahoma, has engaged her class in a worthwhile project involving animals. This past year, she was introduced to a two-year-old male cat named Xavier that had been unable to walk since birth due to an undetermined neurological disorder. Barton knew where to turn for help for this cat, a place she had relied on before for animals like him. Barton contacted HandicappedPets.com, a website offering products, services and support for elderly, disabled and handicapped pets. Bartons class raised $700 to buy Xavier a quad cart - a mobile chair that helps disabled animals to get around.

The American Lung Association defines secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke, as a mixture of the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers and the smoke that is given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar. These ambient fumes, which can linger in the air for hours after the source has been extinguished, will then be involuntarily inhaled by nonsmokers - with potentially deadly consequences.

Although animals were used in the early 20th century to test the diagnostic potency of X-rays, the first-generation radiologists involved in those experiments could hardly have imagined a time when most veterinary clinics would be equipped with X-ray machinery and radiology would be a mainstay in the diagnosis of many feline physical disorders. It is difficult to pinpoint the time when X-rays came into widespread use among veterinarians, says Peter Scrivani, DVM. However, he points out, the American College of Veterinary Radiology was founded in 1961. "And thats about the time that the use of the technology by veterinarians really started to take off," says Dr. Scrivani, an assistant professor and director of veterinary diagnostic imaging at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine.

We are told over and over that we should keep our beloved cats indoors to protect them from cars and other animals. But for those of us who work full-time or travel for business, what do our cats do when theyre home alone? There is some controversy as to whether or not cats need other cats as companions when their humans are away. And there are different views as to how elaborate to get when it comes to leaving toys and amusements for your cat.

Cats are living longer these days, thanks largely to advances in feline nutrition and veterinary medicine in general. Thats good news. The bad news, however, is that these longer life spans give cats a greater chance of developing arthritis - a painful, debilitating and potentially crippling joint disease that is predominantly age-related. In a study conducted a few years ago, researchers carefully analyzed X-rays of the spines and limbs of 100 middle-aged or elderly cats (10 years of age or older). The X-rays revealed that 90 percent of cats over age 12 showed clearly discernible radiographic signs of arthritis.

Dear Elizabeth, I read the column about your weight problem a few months ago; how is your diet going? Ive tried to follow your advice when feeding my own chubby cat, Ernie, but am having a tough time. I calculated his daily calorie requirement as you suggested and split that amount between breakfast and dinner. But since I work all day I leave him a little extra dry food in a bowl for lunch. Its always gone when I get home so he must get really hungry during the day. Then, after he gobbles up his dinner hes okay until much later when he really needs a small bedtime snack. I know that his total calorie intake each day is more than the formula says he needs, but hes so hungry! How have you managed your appetite?

If you have your female cat spayed at an early age, you will, of course, be preventing her from experiencing motherhood. Nevertheless, youd be wise to have her undergo the procedure, since youll also be dramatically lessening the chances that she will be afflicted with mammary cancer later in her life (not to mention helping to curb feline overpopulation). Indeed, says Margaret McEntee, DVM, an associate professor of oncology at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine, having your cat spayed at six months of age will reduce her chances of getting mammary cancer by about 90 percent.

Red and swollen gums, bad breath, declining appetite and weight loss are among the conspicuous indications that your cat is suffering from a disorder centered in its mouth, most likely in its teeth and gums. The animal may not appear to be in pain, but thats because cats are very good at concealing illness, possibly because they dont want to signal a potential predator that they are weakened and are thus vulnerable to attack.

Any surgical procedure that will be painful to your cat - whether its a matter of stitching up a wound, pulling a tooth, repairing a fractured limb or removing a diseased organ - will require that the animals pain perception be dulled, if not totally blocked, by an anesthetic of some sort. Some cat owners find the notion that a pet will be placed under anesthesia a frightening prospect. What are the chances, an owner might wonder, that the animal, while surviving the operation itself, will fail to fully regain its senses? Or worse: What if it fails to awaken from its drug-induced sleep?

If you think snoring partners are bad, consider this: Iris Hunter, 53, from Durham, North Carolina has five cats. The youngest is three and the oldest of the crew is 17. All are domestic short-hairs, with three tabbies among them. And, unfortunately, all of them snore. "At first I thought it was my husband," says Iris, but the snoring actually came from her cats. Snoring pets may bring just as many laughs as snoring spouses, but neither is all that funny. As with humans, snoring in cats can cause sleep deprivation for those who hear it - and is sometimes a sign of serious illness for the snorer.