My kitty, Keiki, is sick. She is almost 17 years old. She was losing weight and had normal blood tests and X-rays, but was vomiting. An abdominal ultrasound showed a small mass in the right upper quadrant of her abdomen. I performed exploratory surgery and took biopsies. The biopsies confirmed a malignant tumor on her pancreatic duct, but cancer had not spread anywhere else. I was concerned that although she [...]
Simon is an active and nosey 3-year-old domestic short-haired cat. His owners left him at home for a couple of days, and when they returned, he was lethargic and had vomited several times. They looked around the house to see if he had gotten into anything and found some empty foil. Unfortunately what had been wrapped in the foil was an Advil capsule. His owner never thought Simon would open [...]
Most people think cats cannot be trained, but that is not the case. Cats are very smart, and training requires focusing on the desired behavior and reinforcing it and redirecting from an undesirable behavior. The keys to training are starting (if possible) at a young age, being consistent, and intervening before an undesirable behavior becomes an ingrained pattern of the cat. Unfortunately, it can be human nature to want to [...]
Treating pain in cats is challenging for several reasons. Most cats are not very demonstrative of their pain, and it often takes knowing about postures, behaviors, and expressions to determine that a cat is uncomfortable. Cats are also very sensitive to a variety of medications, so finding effective and safe treatments for pain and inflammation and finding ones that owners can easily administer also can be difficult. I am always [...]
“My cat has ear mites!” is heard frequently at my clinic. Ear mites are microscopic, spider-like parasites that live in the ear canals of pets. These mites can also infect dogs, but they are not transmissible to humans. They are an annoying parasite, but fortunately easily treated. Ear mites eat ear wax and skin oils, causing itchiness, inflammation and a larger buildup of waxy debris in the ear canal. Mites [...]
If you own a cat, you know they love to chew on plants. Bouquets containing lilies are especially common during spring and Easter. Lilies are probably the most dangerous flower that cats can accidentally ingest. U.C. Davis veterinarians note that while all plants of the Lilium genus should be considered extremely hazardous to cats, calla lilies and peace lilies, which don’t belong to the Lilium genus, are harmless to cats. [...]
Unfortunately, cats’ kidneys tend to wear out. As discussed in a previous column, many diseases can affect these organs. Unlike other vital organs, such as the liver, the kidneys are not capable of regenerating. Once started, degenerative kidney disease progresses. Clinical signs associated with kidney disease can include increased thirst, increased urination, weight loss, dehydration, dental disease, vomiting and loss of appetite. “Chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis” is the medical term for [...]
Hill’s Pet Nutrition has just come out with a diet designed as a sole treatment for hyperthyroidism in cats. “Prescription Diet y/d” is a new alternative for controlling overactive thyroid disease in cats. The diet became available in early October. Hyperthyroid cats typically have a benign growth on one or both lobes of their thyroid gland, and the result is over production of thyroid hormone in their bodies. Thyroid hormone [...]
Shaka is my sweet but shy 14-year-old Somali cat. He has had a sensitive stomach since he was young, so I learned to live with his vomiting. His vomiting was actually regurgitation. He spit up barely digested food within 30 minutes of eating. During his life he has medical workups and been tried on different treatments and special diets, but he still vomits. He was always active, maintained his weight [...]
Kidney disease may be the most common ailment of cats over the age of 9 years. Kidneys are the organs in the body that are responsible for filtering out metabolic waste products from the blood, conserving water in the body, and producing urine. A cat’s body is a wonderful machine, and even though it works best with two kidneys, it can perform well with just one kidney or 50 percent [...]
