Lick, lick. Rub, rub. Switch to the next leg. This pattern is very familiar to owners watching their cat groom. Each cat has his own grooming routine, and if time allows, he may also groom other cats in the home. Some cats even like to groom their owners. My cat, Shaka, loves to jump on my desk and start licking my hair. How much grooming is normal? Normal grooming ranges [...]
“Doctor, I found this on the floor in my home and I am not sure which end of my cat it came out of!” Mrs. Carlin began to open up a little bag she had brought along with her and her cat Smokey. Smokey was Mrs. Carlin’s first cat and he had beautiful, medium length gray hair. I knew what we were dealing with before I saw the contents of [...]
Cats have claws and scratching is a normal behavior. Cats scratch to sharpen and clean their claws and to stretch, but they also scratch to leave their scent on things. If you go to the zoo or watch lions and tigers on nature shows, you will see the big cats engage in scratching behavior similar to that of our pet cats. Instinct tells a cat to scratch, but training allows [...]
Cats in the wild spend a large part of their day hunting and catching food, so it is rare for a wild or feral cat to be overweight. Our housecats have easy lives and usually just need to meow or look at us to be fed. Feeding a cat, or giving treats, is one of the few things we can do that elicits pleasant feedback from our cat. You know [...]
Each time I walk into a pet store or walk down the pet food aisle in a grocery store, I am amazed at the variety and number of brands of pet foods on the market. Additionally, there are many therapeutic diet products that are sold only at veterinary clinics and raw and organic diets sold through specialty markets and on the Internet. The choices are overwhelming. Many owners think all [...]
Every week I deal with frantic owners who are upset about their cat not wanting to use his or her litter box. Good litter box habits are something every owner expects from their cat, but in turn, a proper litter box environment is expected by every cat. What does your cat want with his or her litter box? This may sound like a silly question, but owners don’t always keep [...]
Flea Control for Cats It’s the middle of the summer and those pesky fleas are out in full force. Even indoor only cats get fleas. Fleas can hitchhike on humans and come in through screens or open windows. Fleas can only live off of the blood of your cat or dog, so if you are getting flea bites, you have a big infestation with desperately hungry fleas in your home. [...]
I am Dr. Elaine Wexler-Mitchell, a feline practice specialist here in Orange County, and I am excited about contributing regular information about cats to the OC Register. I plan to write about news, health, technology, and treatments for cats with help from the other veterinarians in my practice. I want to help cat fanatics and newer cat owners provide great care for their pets. Recent pet owner surveys show that [...]
