Cat Q&A

Archive for February, 2009

Favorites are one of the previous comrades of the mankind known for their loyalty along with entertainment during the solitude and harmless selfless company. It is always a pleasure as well as wonderful to have a pet in the house but it requires a lot of attention as well as time to breed them properly. They are to be handled with great be concerned like adolescent children. Unlike person, they also suffer from the assorted infections in addition to need medications from the experts though expensive compared to the being as the individual medicines are available everywhere but medicines for the darling is rare. You can apposite medicines at the pet care centers. You should stay well knowledgeable about the illness from which your pet is suffering, before you bring them dwelling. Medicines for the pet mostly prescribed by the veterinary physical as well as normally they tang as well as smell good for the darlings, it could be assorted with their routine food and given them. If you want to handle your favorites appositely, then you can ponder upon the redolent means introduced by the Frontline plus. They guide you how to manage your favorites the best appropriate way. They offer dedicated medicines most appropriate for your attractive favorites.

Pets are also gifted by the nature with the senses and emotions unlike person and other live animals. They are well attentive about their negative or positive things. You can get love as well as warmth from them, if you care more for them. you must breed them properly with acute patience. You should preserve their cleanliness in addition to also protect them from any sort of illness. They are to be protect from fleas, ticks, heartworms along with numerous other unsafe parasites that could affect their physical condition badly. Unlike the person, pet also need worry as per the changing disasters to preserve their regular warmth as well as comfort. In modern time, apart from the novel drugs, an insurance statement is also available for the favorites for their better and competent treatment. If a pet comes within the reach of another pet, it can catch infectious an dangerous ailment such as parasites. They are largely found in cats in addition to dogs that go out in addition to meet with other creatures of the same sort. These parasites are not perceptible easily but from the symptoms along with behavior of the animal, you can make out by directly observing them.

All sorts of the problems associated with your pets could be solved by the Frontline as it is a encouraging result oriented. There are no side effects of these drugs and they are made by better knowledge. The Heartgard is one of the best veterinary treatments available nowadays that helps in the deterrence of the heartworm ailment in pets such as dogs and cats. It can be given orally and this not only effect on the heartworm but also eliminates the growing in addition to development stage. The Heartgard has been promoted by assorted favorite medications in the current day in addition to age.

Cat Feline Health

One of the best friends a person can have is a kitty cat and that is why they are loved by many pet owners. In order to show your love for your kitty cat and provide the best possible cat feline health that you can, you need to educate yourself on kitty cat health issue’s so that you will know the best way to feed and groom your feline friend to ensure proper kitty cat health.

Basic Cat Care

There are several things that cat owners will need to know and deal with. In order to provide basic care for your kitty cat and provide for your cats feline health, you need to purchase water bowls, brushes to keep her teeth clean, a litter box, as well as grooming items to keep your kitty cats coat clean.

If you are not careful about cat feline health you might end up having to deal with health complications including diabetes. Kitty cats also have allergies, acne, and asthma are other aspects to cat feline health that must be looked out for by the kitty cats owner. Certain cats even develop problems such as blood and lymph disorders and another cat feline health issue that often causes a lot of concern is the one known as fading kitten syndrome.

Cat feline health issues also include diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhea, and constipation, while other issues include inappropriate defecation, while cancer is certainly a more serious cat feline health issue.

To ensure that cat feline health issues do not turn too serious it is recommended that you periodically take her to the vet in order to get a monthly checkup done. However, in case you have brought home a kitten the first thing that you will need to address is knows the right age at which to take the kitten to the vet for her first medical check-up.

You also need to take other steps to ensure proper cat feline health and these include socializing your kitten (or cat) and also making provisions for weaning time which should ideally begin when the kitten is between nine and ten weeks old.

Signs of poor health in your kitty cat could be your cat sneezing, not eating, or watery eyes. At these times it is necessary to get your kitty cat vaccinated (though only after she is healthy enough to be vaccinated). Also, providing the vet with a fecal sample can help the vet deal with the cat feline health issue in a more effective manner.

If you are looking for more information about how to to provide basic care for kitty cat or more information about cat feline health in general, Dr. Andrew Jones’ Veterinary Secrets Revealed will provide you with those answers.  Dr. A doctor of veterinary medicine for 17 years and the owner of Nelson Animal Hospital in Nelson BC, Canada, Jones incorporates his education as well as his work and life experiences to provide you with more kitty cat health information.

Have you ever wondered if holistic cat care would help with feline lower urinary tract disease, or FLUTD?  Many cat owners who have had a long and frustrating battle with feline cystitis wonder if natural feline urinary support would help.

What Is Holistic Cat Care?

Holistic cat care involves looking at your kitty as a whole, as an alternative to  focusing on her kidneys and bladder when she has cat urinary problems.Instead of just zeroing in on the symptoms of FLUTD, a holistic practitioner will want to know more about your cat’s diet, stressful situations in her life, and any underlying problems.Natural remedies for pets are often an option, too.

Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease And Your Cat’s Diet

Many cat owners don’t realize that there’s a direct link between their cat’s diet and feline lower urinary tract disease.  Ads on tv and in magazines tell us repeatedly how great dry food is for our cats.  It has all the nutrients your cats needs, yes.  But that’s not the whole truth. 

In the wild, cats don’t drink much water, for the simple reason that they’re meant to get most of their fluid intake from their food.  All people and animals are over 90% water.  A cat who eats mice and other prey animals will almost completely satisfy her water requirements. 

It’s a different story for our kitties.  We want to do the best for them, so we feed them what we have been told is the best possible diet.  But dry cat food has a moisture content of less than 10%.  This is good for a long storage life, but it’s not so good for your cat’s health.  A cat who eats only dry food is probably a chronically dehydrated cat, since it’s hard for her to drink enough water to make up the difference between what’s in her diet, and what her body needs. 

Did you know that kidney failure is the leading cause of death in older cats?This often results from a lifetime of chronic dehydration. 

You should know that is the best way to prevent FLUTD is to increase the amount of water going through your cat.  A more than adequate water intake flushes impurities out of your cat’s body and his urinary system.  Be sure your kitty always has access to plenty of clean fresh water.

Cat Stress Is Linked To Feline Cystitis

Most of us would think that our cats lead a charmed life.Wouldn’t you thnk it’s great to just lay around and sleep all day?

Well, maybe not.  Cats face a lot more stress than most of us realize.  Just being an indoor cat is a stress on an animal that’s meant to be outside hunting, and slinking around in the dark.  Add a lack of exercise, too much of the wrong food, not enough water, annoyances from other cats and pets, and just being cooped up inside, and you can see that maybe life isn’t quite as easy as you thought for your furball.

Feline interstitial cystitis has been linked to cat stress.  If your vet can’t find any reason for your cat’s bladder inflammation, maybe you should be looking for hidden stress in your cat’s life.

Natural Feline Urinary Support

You may be interested in one of the many natural remedies for pets available now.  You should look for one that contains the herbs uva ursi and barberry, along with the homeopathic remedies Cantharis and Staphysagris.These remedies keep your cat’s urinary system working well by providing natural feline urinary support. 

Your goal now?  To use holistic cat care to keep your cat healthy and to prevent feline cystitis.

Visit Natural Pet Urinary Health to learn more about holistic cat care, and to find the best place to buy herbal pet remedies.

Let me ask you a simple question:  Do you know how natural feline urinary support can prevent frequent cat urinary problems?  If your cat suffers from cat bladder infection, there are three ways you can support feline urinary health.

Diet And Feline Urinary Support

Your cat’s diet is extremely important in promoting cat urinary health.  Many cat owners are unaware that a one-year study showed that feeding a high-quality canned food reduced feline urinary problems significantly.  Why is this?

All cat owners should know that the best way to prevent feline lower urinary tract disease, or FLUTD, is to increase the amount of water that goes through your cat.  The easiest way to do this is to feed him canned cat food, which has a moisture level of around 75%.This is much closer to what a cat would eat in the wild. 

You see, cats are meant to get most of their water intake from their food.  Dry cat food has a very low moisture level, under ten percent.If your cat eats only dry food, he needs to drink plenty of water to get enough fluid intake to prevent cat urinary problems.  Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to get your cat to drink enough water, since he doesn’t naturally do this. 

Chronic dehydration is often the result when a cat has a low water intake.  His urine is very concentrated, which can lead to cat bladder stones.  These stones irritate the bladder wall, and cause feline cystitis, which is a bladder inflammation.  Just feeding your cat moist food can help to prevent this problem. 

Another way to get your cat to drink more water is to divide his food into three equal amounts and feed him three times a day.  It’s been shown that feeding your cat two or three times a day as opposed to once a day is associated with an increase in his daily water intake.

Reduce Cat Stress To Reduce Cat Bladder Infection Problems

Cats appear to lead charmed lives, but this isn’t really true.  Our kitties are creatures of habit, and they don’t like changes at all.  Moving to a new home, remodeling, adding a new pet or person to your household, and even changing your feline’s food causes cat stress.  Cats don’t handle stress well.  In fact, stress in cats has been linked to feline idiopathic cystitis, which is a bladder inflammation that doesn’t appear to have any cause.

Be on the lookout for anything that’s stressing your cat.  Reducing or removing the cause of the stress may help to reduce cat urinary problems.

Natural FLUTD Treatments

Humans have been dealing with bladder infections since the beginning of time.People used herbs to treat this condition before we had access to modern antibiotics.  In many parts of the world, they still are.  Can these natural remedies work on cats too?

The answer is yes.  Uva ursi and barberry are two herbs that have stood the test of time for treating cystitis in people.The homeopathic remedies Cantharis and Staphysagris are well-known for treating human urinary tract infections successfully.  These four remedies have been specially formulated into a remedy that’s not only safe, but effective, to prevent feline urinary problems. 

For your cat’s safety, be sure to make your purchase only from a long-established company that’s well-known for producing only the highest quality natural pet remedies.

Do your kitty a favor and improve his cat urinary health by using natural feline urinary support to prevent cat bladder infection.

Visit Natural Pet Urinary Health to learn more about feline urinary support, and to find the best place to buy herbal pet remedies.

Are you worried that feline incontinence is a problem for your cat? You need to realize that incontinence in cats and inappropriate urination are two different things. An incontinent cat is not able to control her urine. She dribbles urine, or leaves wet spots where she’s been sleeping.

Often an incontinent pet is unaware that she has a problem. Inappropriate urination, on the other hand, is when a cat is purposely urinating in places other than her litter box. This may be a behavior issue, but it can also be cause by feline lower urinary tract disease.

It’s important to know the difference between the two because incontinence in cats can be a sign of serious health issues for your feline friend.

Ten Reasons For Feline Incontinence

1. Usually the simplest reason is feline lower urinary tract disease. One of the symptoms of a feline bladder infection is needing to urinate often. Sometimes your kitty may not be able to make it to the litter box in time.
2. Your ca’t bladder may be scarred due to repeated feline urinary problems. This prevents her bladder from expanding to hold urine, which leads to very frequent urination.
3. Cat bladder stones can cause a partial blockage of your cat’s urethra, making it impossible for her to empty her bladder completely. As her bladder fills with urine, the pressure can force some urine around the blockage. If you suspect a blocked cat, get her to the vet as soon as possible, as this can be fatal within a day or two.
4. An incontinent cat is often caused when she has a weak urinary sphincter. This is more common in older spayed female dogs, but it does occasionally happen in spayed cats, too, especially if they’re heavy. This type of incontinence, called hormone-responsive incontinence, can develop years after she’s been spayed.
5. Feline diabetes can cause an incontinent cat. A diabetic cat is drinking lots more water than normal because the disease makes her very thirsty in an effort to flush the excess sugar out of her body. This leads her to need to urinate more, too. She may have trouble making it to her litter box before she has an accident.
6. Cats with feline leukemia sometimes become incontinent, too. This can happen in both males and females.
7. As a cat ages, the urinary sphincter can weaken. Your cat may develop other problems as she gets older, such as diabetes, which cause her body to produce more urine than normal. Combine a very full bladder with a weak urinary sphincter, and it’s easy to see why urinary incontinence in cats is the result.
8. If she has a neurological problem with the nerves in her bladder, she may be unable to hold her urine.
9. Bladder tumors can be another factor.
10. An older can who is getting forgetful, or in the early stages of senility, may develop litter box problems.

Natural Feline Urinary Support

If your furball is having cat urinary problems, it’s important to take her to the vet for a check-up to rule out anything serious. Most cases of inappropriate urination are due to feline lower urinary tract disease, which can be a frustrating condition to deal with.

The most important thing you can do is to feed your cat a high-quality canned food. Cats are meant to get most of their water from their food, so feeding a cat dry food all the time is an invitation to disaster in the form of cat urinary problems.

You may want to consider giving your cat one of the many natural remedies for pets that are available for feline urinary support. Herbs and homeopathic remedies have a long history of success in humans, and they’re very effective for pets, too. Look for a remedy that’s produced by a long-standing company with a sterling reputation for producing high-quality herbal remedies for pets.

In conclusion, if your cat is showing signs of feline incontinence, you need to take steps now to help her.

Visit Natural Pet Urinary Health to learn more about solving the problem of feline incontinence.

pet health insurance

Even though your cat probably doesn’t come to you when called and seems to have an agenda of her own most days, your life would undoubtedly be missing something special if your feline friend was not part of your household. It is also very distressing to the cat lover who’s cat has become ill and needs veterinary pet attention. For these situations, cat insurance policies can be both a financial and an emotional benefit to the owner.

When an adorable cat becomes ill or is somehow injured, most cat owners will worry and stress over the cost of proper veterinary care. Because all health costs have been soaring in both the animal welfare segment of the market, as well as in the case of human health care, there has been an increase in interest in pet health insurance. Because felines are one of the most popular types of house pets, insurance for health and wellness care has become very much sought after.

One of the things about cat insurance that is most important to cat owners, is the fact that they can enjoy a level of security knowing that their feline companion will be taken care of if he/she becomes ill. This helps to reduce stress overall and alleviates panic if the pet does fall ill, is in some type of accident or is injured in some way.

If covered by insurance, then this means that the animal will receive treatment more quickly. This is because the cat owner can immediately take action by getting the animal to the veterinary pet office, when there is an indication of illness or in the event of injury. Unfortunately, some pet owners must delay veterinarian visits because of the financial aspect of the office call.

With feline insurance coverage in place, you will not need to delay the visit and can relax knowing that the majority of the costs will be taken care of by the pet health insurance policy. The ability to quickly get the animal in to see the vet can make the difference between a quick and full recovery, or possible long-term health problems and even death.

In the worst case scenario, when a pet owner does not have insurance to help with the high expenses of animal care, it could mean having the cat put down to sleep. This occurs when there is simply no way that the family can bear the cost of expensive veterinary pet treatment or surgery that might be needed to extend the life of the animal. While pet health insurance cannot guarantee that your cat will never succumb to a fatal illness, the best pet insurance benefit is knowing that your pet will be guaranteed proper treatment.

There are many options that you can choose from regarding cat health insurance, which will have a direct impact on the cost of the pet insurance premium you will pay. You can choose a policy that will cover wellness care and preventative health care procedures, such as vaccinations and routine health screenings.

To lower the cost of your cat insurance policy coverage, you can choose to carry coverage that only pays for veterinarian visits due to illness, disease or accident. You can consult with your veterinarian to help you decide what might be the best coverage based on the age and overall health of your pet.

Has this ever happened to you?  You’re noticing that your cat is urinating in places other than his litter box.  People automatically assume that inappropriate urination in cats is because of a behavior issue, or it’s because their cat is getting older.  

However there could be a medical problem causing incontinence in cats to be a problem for your feline friend.If a cat suddenly starts showing signs of feline incontinence, he needs to see the vet.

Feline Incontinence Versus Inappropriate Urination

A complete loss of bladder control is the most noticeable symptom of an incontinent cat.  He may urinate when he’s lying down, or sleeping, or even dribble as he walks around.A weak sphincter muscle often causes this.  This is not a very common condition in cats, although it’s sometimes seen in spayed females who are somewhat overweight.  

Incontinence in cats may also be a symptom of feline diabetes.  Diabetes causes your cat to be extremely thirsty.  If he’s drinking lots more water, he may not always make it to the litter box in time.

If your cat is incontinent when he’s resting, you should have him checked for feline leukemia. Both male and female cats who are positive for this virus are sometimes incontinent.  

While inappropriate urination is sometimes a behavior problem, it can be a result of feline lower urinary tract disease.    

Feline Cystitis Is The Most Common Reason For Urination Outside The Litter Box

A cat with a feline bladder infection has an inflammation of his bladder.Because of this he needs to empty his bladder frequently.If you use clumping cat litter, you should see a few big clumps of urine when you clean his box.  If you find many small clumps, this is a sign of cat urinary problems.

Other symptoms include crying out in pain as he tries to use the litter box.Be on the watch for him crouching over, straining to pass urine.  Many cat owners mistake this for constipation, which can be a fatal mistake if he has a urinary blockage.  A blocked cat is a veterinary emergency.  Your cat will die within a day or two if he’s completely blocked.

What Your Vet Needs To Know

Your vet will ask the following questions:

• Has your cat been under a lot of stress lately?  Have you moved, or added a new person or pet to the household?  Have you changed his diet?
• Where is your cat urinating?  In a corner?  On your bed?  Where he sleeps?
• Is he drinking more water than he usually does?
• Is he dribbling urine or is he just urinating more often than usual?
• Does he have blood in his urine?
• Has your cat ever been injured?

Your vet will check your cat for a urinary blockage that could be caused by cat bladder stones.

Treatment For Feline Cystitis

Antibiotics are usually prescribed to clear up any infection.  What you need to do at home is to increase the amount of water your cat is taking in.  The easiest way to do this is to switch him over to canned food, which has a much higher moisture level than dry.It’s been proven that feline bladder infections can be reduced by increasing the amount of liquid going through your cat.

You may also want to consider a natural remedy for feline urinary support.  Look for one that contains both herbal and homeopathic remedies that support bladder health in animals.  Uva ursi and barberry, along with Cantharis and Staphysagria have stood the test of time in humans, and they can be very effective for cats, too.

Your next step? To take what you’ve just learned and determine what’s causing feline incontinence in your furball.

Learn more about solving the problem of incontinence in cats, and find feline urinary support information at Natural Pet Urinary Health.

heart disease

As cats get older, problems with their heart, kidneys and other organs can occur. Cancer, renal or kidney disease, diabetes, hyperthyroidism (disease of the thyroid gland), dental disease and heart disease are the most frequent diseases found in aging cats. Cats age seven times faster than humans and examinations done by your veterinarian twice a year can help detect diseases earlier when they can still be treated. Diagnostic tests such as blood work, ECG, ultrasound and blood pressure monitoring can help detect problems sooner.

The most common heart diseases that affect cats is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Cardiomyopathy is found more frequently in cats than in dogs. HCM is an acquired heart disease that affects the muscular walls of the ventricles causing them to become abnormally thick. As the disease progresses the pumping capabilities of the heart decreases. The wall of the heart gets thicker and stiffer reducing it’s ability to contract and pump the blood efficiently. The chamber of the heart is smaller, so less blood is pumped out of the heart., This results in the amount of blood that once filled the heart is less than it should be and the heart muscle can’t contract as well to move the blood out of the heart into the body. The diseased heart now has to pump harder and faster than it once did just to keep the blood flowing throughout the body. As the blood backs up into the lungs, edema develops resulting in congestive heart failure.

Sometimes, the faulty heart can have changes in the conduction system that tells the heart when to contract. Irregular conduction can occur in the diseased heart resulting in sudden death, similar to young athletes that die during practice.

Another problem that can occur from the cardiomyopathy is a disease called feline aortic thromboembolism (FATE). Occasionally, blood clots can dislodge and clog the arteries going to the rear legs. The dislodged blood clot causes blockage of the blood flow to the legs resulting in severe pain and paralysis. This condition is sometimes referred to as a saddle thrombus. About 40% of the cats recover from a saddle thrombus with intensive therapy and may regain use of their legs over time. However, these cats can still risk develop another episode and will continue to suffer from the primary heart condition.

Cats are very good as masking underlying physical problems so early detection is key to helping these cats live a full life. A cat that is fat and lazy and doesn’t move around a lot, may actually have a heart disease. Of course not all fat and lazy cats a have heart disease, but the only way to tell is with full exams by your veterinarian. Diagnostic tests, such as, EKG, blood pressure monitoring and ultrasound can help the veterinarian detect heart disease. The thickened walls of the heart can be seen with ultrasound and is a screening tool for cats as well as our young athletes.

Medications can help cats with their heart function, reduce the edema in their lungs and may help reduce the blood clot formations. The prognosis for a cat that has already developed the congestive heart failure is guarded, and even with medication, survival rates are 12-18 months after diagnosis and sudden death can occur at any time.

Develop a wellness plan with your veterinarian for early detection and diagnostics. By detecting diseases earlier, small changes in diet or medications can help your cat live longer.

You can find more on Cat Health Care at LuvUrCat.com

Our affection for cats often leads us to spoil of loved pets. A fancy scratching post? No issues. The best quality food available in today’s market? It is all about money. A good value for an artificial mouse carved out of scrap material? Here’s the credit card.

But what about a special house for your cat? Is that worth the expense? If cats and dogs were the same species, this question would have never arisen. Dogs, like their ancestor the wolf, still want to sleep in dens. An anxious or overtired puppy is often happiest tucked away in its carrier or crate.

Cats, however, have the blood of lions flowing through their . Lions do not look for a den for them. They lie out on veldt sunning themselves and surveying their kingdoms. That’s what your cat wants to do as well. He or she will, therefore, take a dim view on being shut away in a carrier or crate like a puppy.

Another reason not to purchase a cat house for your cat is that the odds of your feline actually sleeping in it are astronomically low. When do cats ever sleep where you want them to? You can spend fifty dollars on a faux sheepskin cat bed, and ten minutes later, you’ll find the cat sleeping in your laundry basket or sprawled across your futon.

Let us come to terms with it. Your cat doesn’t need a special house. He or she already has the run of your house.

However, if you have madeup your mind to pamper your pet by providing it the best house available, you should consider these options.

Wicker Cat Bed – PetSmart

The Wicker Cat Bed is available through PetSmart and will cost you around forty dollars. It has the potential to be a winner, because there’s a bed on top of the basket as well as a hole on the side for your cat to crawl into the basket. A cat might receive a kick out while scratching at the wicker. Considering the plethora of available options, even the most choosy pet cat will not be able to avoid noticing this living space.

Cat Hutch – Dura Craft

This hutch, which retails for around $35, is like a teepee for your cat. An opening to the side crawl making way to the cushions will lure any pet cat to live in a house. And if your cat finds other…er…uses for the hutch, both the cushions and the outer cover are machine washable.

Half Moon Multi Tier Tower – Green Duck

For $130, you can make your cat a condo dweller. This cat house is wonderful for scratching, climbing, and napping. It is not enclosed, so kitty can survey his or her domain. If your cat must have a house, this is definitely the way to go.