Lifestyle

Corticosteroids have proven effective in treating a variety of conditions from allergic reactions to brain disease, but they present a balancing act for both owners and veterinarians. Owners, faced with their cats experiencing any one of a long list of health problems, must weigh if long-term use is worth the risk of steroids side effects. At the same time, veterinarians must determine the lowest dose of medication to control the condition.

Hand-wrestling your kitten or newly adopted cat may seem like harmless play, but if either would happen to scratch you, you could develop an infection requiring treatment for cat scratch disease (CSD). This rare but potentially serious condition is estimated to affect about 12,500 people annually in the U.S., including 500 hospitalized for treatment. The incidence is higher than medical experts anticipated, according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

I understand why you may want to use these devices for cleaning the air with three kitties in the house, and you are certainly not alone in doing this. Although kitties smell great to me, households with cats can sometimes generate odors that some people find objectionable, and there are a number of ways that owners choose to deal with this. Ionic air cleaners are one of the newer technologies that have been developed to address air pollutants.

As a species, cats have earned the reputation of being finicky eaters. But if your cat is avoiding food, dont dismiss it as mere feline pickiness. Avoidance of food can be a symptom of hepatic lipidosis, a common yet serious liver condition also known as fatty liver disease. If left untreated, hepatic lipidosis can be deadly.

At the close of each year, do you find yourself writing a list of ambitious resolutions to eat healthier and exercise more? Perhaps you decide to eat more kale and spend more time at yoga and less lounging on the couch. We often craft New Years resolutions with good intentions but rarely fully achieve them.

When your cat walks between your legs, paws at your ankles or edges into the space between your neck and the sofa, he has one goal in mind: He wants to get close to you. The behavior can help further your bond - theres no need to stop it. But when he walks over your keyboard while youre trying to work or meows nonstop, attention-seeking behavior becomes annoying or even destructive - for example, if you lose work that you hadnt saved.

If youre considering a clinical trial for your cat as an option for treatment, youll find extensive listings on a new database from the American Veterinary Medical Association, www.avma.org/findvetstudies. The AVMA Animal Health Studies Database is the first of its kind for owners and researchers.

Most of us think we give our cats the appropriate amount of food, but lets be honest here: Do we take into account the treats that we slip them? Or people food? A few morsels of canned tuna - at 56 calories per ounce - can add up and we suddenly have an overweight cat. The latest report from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimates that only 38 percent of cats in the U.S. are of normal weight; 28 percent are obese and 29 percent are overweight.

If your usually confident cat starts acting confused, bumping into objects and having difficulty finding his food bowl, he could have a rare but serious condition. Sudden blindness can develop seemingly overnight and needs immediate veterinary intervention. Depending on the timing, an ophthalmologist may be able to preserve some vision. The condition has many causes, from central nervous system disease to inflammation; however, As a veterinary ophthalmologist, I would say the most common cause of sudden blindness that I see among cats who appeared otherwise normal prior to the vision loss is a condition called hypertensive retinopathy, says Eric C. Ledbetter, DVM, ACVO, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Cornell University Hospital for Animals.

Not too long ago, conventional wisdom held that animals felt little pain and providing relief was unnecessary after spaying and neutering. Veterinary medicine today emphasizes the recognition and management of pain in animals, with professional organizations issuing guidelines, offering courses for members and expanding efforts to educate owners. Researchers, too, are pursuing pain relief, in one case discovering that a novel method of drug delivery for spayed cats provides relief.

With good care from loving owners, indoor cats can enjoy a great life, but when the temperature plummets, they can benefit from some extra TLC. The most valuable advice from a specialist in emergency and critical care: Come winter, the most important thing is to keep pets indoors where its warm, says Elisa Mazzaferro, MS, DVM, Ph.D., ACECC, at Cornell University Veterinary Specials in Stamford, Conn.

When you bring a cat into your family, you make decisions in his best interest for food, litter and veterinary care. As your cats healthcare proxy, youre also responsible for routine check-ups, dental health and vaccinations. Sometimes, however, you may need to make more difficult decisions, perhaps to seek a second opinion when the current treatment isnt working.