Lifestyle

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13-year-old feline became the first cat in the United States to receive a surgical spinal technique that involves placing a metal pin in the spine for spinal compression.

Livescience.com says the project D.C. Cat Count is being put together to better manage cats living in the Washington, D.C., area.

One of our cats recently escaped and was missing for three days before we (thankfully) found him at the local shelter. While we were picking him up, the associate discussed our cat being microchipped. While we understand that this can be helpful, we are concerned about the possibility of this inducing a fibrosarcoma, which we understand is possible with this procedure. Can you provide some guidance?

While some feline behavior problems can be resolved at least partially with environmental management strategies, sometimes medication becomes necessary. This is often due to behaviors that pose a risk to the cat, owner, or other pets in the household, or may be to simply break the cycle of a very stressed cat. Before you ask for an anti-anxiety medication, you should understand what the drug does and how to use it.

Your sweet, peace loving feline companion sneaks out between your legs as you take the trash out. Despite searching, there is no sign of her, so you are thrilled to hear her meowing at the door the next morning. She fusses a bit when you pick her up, but you figure she is just upset at being out all night.

Lymphoma is the most common feline cancer. Over the years, however, with increased testing and vaccination for retroviruses like feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), the exact type of lymphoma seen in cats has changed.

Its a feline social thing: Rubbing against your leg or on other objects. Head rubbing (also referred to as butting or bunting) is a normal social behavior, says Dr. Leni Kaplan, DVM, MS, Lecturer in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Community Practice Service. Head rubbing is one way cats can deposit their scent on objects which signifies comfort and familiarity and is a way to communicate with other cats.

You may have seen pheromones advertised to calm anxious cats. Feline facial pheromone is precisely what your cat releases from the scent glands on his face.

An article in the July 15, 2018, Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association looked at a French study on feline pleural effusion. Pleural effusion is a buildup of fluid in the pleural space, which is the space in your cats chest between the protective linings covering the lungs and the walls of the chest cavity itself. Normally, there is only a small amount of fluid in that area. Large amounts of fluid mean less room for the lungs to expand, which causes difficulty breathing and getting adequate oxygen to your cats body tissues.

When a two-year-old Bengal cat started to have left-hip problems in 2017, Purdue Veterinary Medicines Veterinary Teaching Hospital performed a femoral head ostectomy (FHO), which involves removing part of the femur bone and has been done for decades. A year later, the right hip started to give the cat trouble. The owner returned to Purdue, but this time the veterinarians decided to perform the first feline hip replacement.

Banfield Pet Hospital looked at allergy trends among their patients across the country, which includes over 2.5 million dogs and 500,000 cats. Not surprisingly, flea allergy came out on top. Cases of flea allergies have been increasing, especially among their cat clients. As we all know, even one flea bite can lead to misery for a flea-allergic feline.