Feline herpes virus may be involved with 90% of upper respiratory infections (URI’s) in cats.  The disease is rarely life threatening but is extremely prevalent.  The most common signs of feline herpes are sneezing, loss of appetite, and conjunctivitis (inflammation of the tissues around the eyeball). Most affected cats show mild symptoms that last about two weeks. Cats that are in stressful environments or that have weak immune systems are [...]

Last month I attended the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, FL.  The conference hosted over 14,000 attendees including veterinarians, veterinary technicians, practice managers, staff members, academicians, vet industry personnel, and guests.  There were great continuing education seminars and the largest veterinary industry trade show in the world.  I always enjoy these conferences because you never know what you will learn between treatments and procedures, drugs and equipment, and research [...]

This is part two in a two-part series on understanding the cat’s eye. The eyes can be a window to internal problems a cat is experiencing. An example of this would be an examination of the scleral portion of the eye. If an animal is jaundiced, this normally white tissue can look yellow, and liver disease can be suspected. Another example would be the sudden onset of blindness caused by [...]

Snowball was a big white tomcat that had cruised the neighborhood for a couple of years.  One of my clients felt sorry for the cat without an apparent home, so she began to feed and befriend him.  Surprisingly, Snowball enjoyed human touch and companionship.  His scars and notched ears attested to the territorial battles that he had survived.  My client became very attached to the cat and wanted to bring [...]

Heart disease can be a silent killer of cats just as it is in people.  Cats can be without any apparent signs of problems and then die suddenly from a condition called cardiomyopathy.  Cardiomyopathy is disease of the heart muscle. If the heart muscle stops contracting properly, it can result in death. Cardiomyopathy occurs in purebred and mixed breed cats, and signs include heart murmur, coughing, exercise intolerance, restlessness, abnormal [...]

Just a whiff of tuna can jolt my cat, Shaka, from a sound sleep.  The aroma enters his nostrils and they begin to quiver.  The next thing I know, he is there to share my lunch.  Some cats get trained to the sound of can openers, but others, such as Shaka, use their keen sense of smell to alert them to important items such as the opening of a tuna [...]

Asher is an 18 month old cat who as a kitten had bad gums.  During examination some time after he was adopted from a rescue group, I noticed significant inflammation of his gums, especially over his back teeth.  He was treated with antibiotics and with a dental cleaning in hopes of stopping the gingivitis from progressing further.  On rechecks I observed the gum disease moving deeper in his mouth.  I [...]

Does your cat like to talk to you?  Does he make noise to be fed or to wake you up during the early morning hours?  If so, you are not alone. A reader submitted this issue to me; asking if there was anything she could do about an overly boisterous cat.  She adopted a neutered male cat from the shelter about a year and a half ago, and his constant [...]

e are in the 21st century, but many human medical doctors are under-informed and overprotective of pregnant women and the handling of their cats.  I believe that any woman considering pregnancy should know about Toxoplasmosis, but to hear some doctors talk, if you want to get pregnant, you should get rid of your cat, and this is ridiculous.  Millions if not billions of women have been exposed to cats through the [...]

Cats don’t always get along with each other.  Some cats are buddies, some get along at certain times, some never want to interact, and others have an all out war. This can be true whether or not the cats are siblings and were brought up together, or if they were strangers brought together by an owner.  We humans have the luxury of being able to pick our friends, but our [...]