Get To Know Your Cat

When we experience sickness in our bodies, we can simply tell someone that there is something drastically wrong and that individual will find a way to get us to a doctor. Pets can’t do that, but watching them can tell you lots of things, that is why owners ought to train themselves on simple cat care and watch for a few of the signs and symptoms.

The following are a few conditions you have to watch out for and their signs or symptoms:

• Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is one of the most feared disease and in reality is the contributing trigger of death amongst kitties. It is brought on by a coronavirus infection and also the even worse component is the signs are incredibly similar with other ailments so it can be really difficult to tell.

• There may be also Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) which is similar to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Exactly like the human version, it’s a existence lengthy contamination that progresses slowly and kills the cat.

• Cats also can in infected themselves by Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). It is a retrovirus that leads to fatal cancerous and non-cancerous diseases. Luckily, it may be handled utilizing some household detergents and bleach as very well as warmth and drying. It can be transmitted with the saliva, tears, urine and feces of contaminated cats. Unlike another two, it are unable to survive that prolonged from the atmosphere so its only contagious when the infected cat stays with one more cat for just a extended period of time.

• Worms are also a further threat to kitties and that is brought on by a fungal contamination that’s spread through the spores. Since it’s a self-limiting sickness, you really don’t need to try and do anything to make it go away. It’ll finally disappear, nevertheless it may just take a few of months.

• Should you cat is overweight, probabilities are it  has Feline diabetes. The signs and symptoms of this illness incorporate excessive urination and thirst as effectively as excess weight reduction or gain. Vets really are not sure what causes this but there are a number of study researches which have proven that there is certainly a link concerning pancreatic illness, hormonal imbalance and selected drugs.

The signs or symptoms of most of these ailments talked about have a lot in common. These incorporate diarrhea, vomiting, lameness lasting for a lot more than 5 days,  poor vision, excessive panting, a seizure, blood in the stool or urine, hair loss, persistent coughing or gagging and breathing closely or rapidly at rest. In order to discover the exact problem, your cat will have to undergo some tests.

The vet will need to get some blood, urine and feces samples in order to see what’s going on internally. Any input that you personally have observed and give will also be very useful. When the assessments arrive out, only then will the suitable treatment be administered for your cat.  Each circumstance varies, so what worked for one cat might not have a similar positive impact with yours.

Your cat may now be very healthy but you should always gave it constant observation and care. This may be accomplished by feeding it good quality food, providing it fresh drinking water, providing it with play opportunities, suitable grooming, keeping your cat indoors and taking it for yearly routine vet visits. Here is a video that demonstrates how to remove mats especially on long haired cats:

If you have missed any of these uncomplicated guidelines, something unfortunate is bound to happen. You will quickly notice a change in behavior from the feline and by doing absolutely nothing about it, it just gonna makes matters worse.

Simply by observing your cat, you will know when there are  unusual signs and symptoms you need to act on.

Keeping your cat safe and healthy at all times should be one of your major concerns, and this can be even more difficult around the holidays. There are a number of special considerations you must make for regarding cat safety around the holidays. Your vet can give you more specific instructions, but here are just a few of the things you need to consider:

• Decorations - Holidays are not festive without a little decorating, and this includes, in many cases, the use of flowers. If you have a cat in your house, make sure that flowers are well out of reach if they are toxic, remembering that cats can jump very high. Some of the most popular flowers that are harmful to your pet include bleeding hearts, calla lilies, poinsettias, daffodils, Easter lilies, irises, ivies, tulips (the bulb part), and a number of other plants. Most cats will not go out of their way to eat these things, but to be on the safe side, make sure you use them in a safe way in your home or, better yet, opt for faux versions instead! There are many kinds of plants that can harm your cat, so check with your vet to make sure before bringing new kinds of plants into your house.

• Company - The holidays also may bring a number of guests into your home for parties and gatherings. Consider that this can be very scary for your cat, unless he or she is used to high levels of traffic. It’s a good idea to keep your cat in a room away from the party with the door shut. This will prevent your cat from being scared. When people are coming into and out of your house, there’s also the potential that your cat could get outside, and there is also the danger that guests will feed your cat unsafe human foods. It is better to keep your cat away from the party.

• Remember also that alcohol and animals do not mix well. Alcohol, in fact, is deadly to animals. Although you or (more likely) a guest might think it’s funny to slip a little vodka into your cat’s water bowl, this could prove fatal! When you have guests, put your cat’s food and water bowls somewhere safe where no one can tamper with them.

• Candles and electrical lights could also be unsafe for your pet. Cats are attracted to bright lights, and a candle could not only burn your pet, but you may find that a cat knocking over a candle will start a fire in your house or, at the least, spill wax onto furniture or carpets. Use electrical lights instead, but remember to keep the cords covered and taped down so your pet isn’t tempted to play with them.

Enjoy the following presentation by a few of my friends

To sum it up, just keep an extra eye on your cat during the holiday season. Make sure they are staying safe at all times. By taking a few precautions you can still have a good time without compromising your cat’s health.

Your Best Friend Is Counting On You!
Get a Free Pet Emergency Preparedness Report at www.WhiskerFeathers.com

What You Need to Watch For

When we experience pain in our bodies, we can easily tell someone that there is something wrong and that person will be able to bring you to the hospital. Pets cannot do that but watching them can tell you a lot of things which is why owners should practice cat care and be aware of the symptoms.

Here are a few diseases you should watch out for and their symptoms:

• Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is the most feared disease and in fact is the leading cause of death among cats. It is caused by a coronavirus infection and the worse part is that the symptoms are very common with other ailments so it is really hard to tell.

• There is also Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) that is similar to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Just like the human version, it is a life long infection that progresses slowly and kills the cat.

• Cats can also in infected by Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). It is a retrovirus that causes fatal cancerous and non-cancerous diseases. Fortunately, it can be treated using some household detergents and bleach as well as warmth and drying. It is transmitted through the saliva, tears, urine and feces of infected cats. Unlike the other two, it cannot survive that long in the environment so it is only contagious when the infected cat stays with another cat for a long period of time.

• Worms are also another threat to cats and this is caused by a fungal infection that is spread through the spores. Since it is a self-limiting disease, you don’t to do anything to make it go away. It will eventually clear up but it may just take a few months.

• If you cat is overweight, chances are it already has feline diabetes. The symptoms of this disease include excessive urination and thirst as well as weight loss or gain. Vets are not yet sure what causes this but there have been a few research studies that have shown that there is a link between pancreatic disease, hormonal imbalance and certain medications.

The symptoms of most of the diseases mentioned are very similar. These include diarrhea, vomiting, lameness lasting for more than 5 days in one leg,   a decrease in vision, excessive panting, a seizure, blood in the stool or urine, hair loss, persistent coughing or gagging and breathing heavily or rapidly at rest. In order to find the answer, your cat will have to undergo some tests.

Your veterinarian will take some blood, urine and feces samples. Any input that you have observed and give will also be useful. When the tests come out, only then will the proper treatment be administered to the cat as each case varies so what worked for one cat may not have the same positive effect with yours.

Your cat could still be healthy if you gave it constant attention. This can be done by feeding it high quality food, giving it fresh water, allowing it to exercise, proper grooming, making sure it stays indoors and taking it regularly to the vet.

If you have missed any of these simple steps, something wrong is bound to happen and you will soon notice a change in the behavior of the feline and doing nothing about it just going to make matters worse. So observe proper cat care tips and look out for symptoms.

Your Best Friend Is Counting On You!Get a Free Pet Emergency Preparedness Report at  www.WhiskerFeathers.com

The first time I took my dog to the Vet to have her teeth cleaned, which my vet strongly advocated, they gave me a very long tooth brush and tooth paste! I thought they were crazy, there was no way my dog was going to let me come at her with that thing. Well there is more than one way to skin a cat, pardon the phrase.

Teeth cleaning for dogs is very important.  Every single time you walk through the door your dog is so happy to see you that he wags his tail and practically smiles at you.  How can you show your pet how much they mean to you?  Well, one way is to take care of that smile for your pet.  Did you know that your dog’s diet can influence their oral health?

Humans need to brush and floss their teeth regularly to keep their teeth, tongue, and gums in good condition.  Research has recently shown a link between good oral health in humans and a lower risk of heart disease.  If good oral health can have such a profound affect on people, then it only makes sense to consider the impact it can have on man’s best friend.

It is important to brush your dog’s teeth frequently to keep plaque and tartar from becoming an issue.  Even wiping his gums with a clean, damp cloth can be beneficial.

Your dog’s diet also plays a role in your pet’s oral health.  Do you typically feed your dog canned or dry dog food?  What kind of treats and toys do you provide for your pet?  All of these things can affect the likelihood of trouble with your pet’s teeth.

When your dog’s diet is nutritionally sound, containing essential vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes, your pet’s oral health will be at its very best.  Feeding dry dog food rather than a moist canned variety is best for your dog.  The tiny kibbles’ hard surface rubs against the teeth to remove and reduce plaque.  The simple act of moistening the dry dog food with water or gravy eliminates this property from dry dog food.

The treats you give your pet are part of your dog’s diet just like snacks are part of a person’s diet.  As humans, we tend to want to overlook our snacking habits, so it can be easy to overlook the treats you give your dog.  This is not a good idea.  Carefully consider any and all items your dog will consume.

Do you give your dog bones, rawhides, jerky treats, or dog biscuits?  Maybe your pet prefers greenies or corn starch chews.  You may not have considered it, but tossing Spot a rawhide chew is like giving him a candy bar!  The rawhide, for example, contains calories and is often provided between meals.

Many of the treats and snacks you provide in your dog’s diet can be just empty wasted calories.  Some treats, alternatively, provide excellent opportunity to improve oral health.  Greenies, rawhides, bones, and hard dog biscuits all help to keep tartar at bay.  The softer snacks, such as jerky treats, do not provide much relief from plaque.  The healthy treat, on occasion, will also prevent your dog from having bad breath.

Your dog’s diet must be healthy to ensure excellent oral health and prevent your dog having bad teeth.  Dry dog food is best whenever possible.  Don’t forget to select treats for your pet that will enhance your dog’s diet.  Consciously monitoring your dog’s diet will positively influence your  best friend’s oral health.

Are Vaccinations Necessary?

When I got my first puppy off we went to my veterinarian to get her shots.  Getting puppy vaccinations was a given for me. I kept up with them religiously over the years and never really gave it much thought. However, as my indoor cat has gotten older I have begun to wonder, do I really need to continue her yearly shots?

Timely vaccinations are very important part of pet’s health. Different types of vaccine shots are to be given at different times. Some people are against vaccinations while others are in favor of it. The fact is there are risks involved with both, so it’s up to the pet owner to decide which is the best decision for them. A definitive statement cannot cover all circumstances, the rules vary from one individual animal to another depending on the needs and tolerance levels of the pet. There are certain factors that have to be taken into consideration before a decision is made.

Young ones which have been separated from their mothers before six weeks and are bottle-fed are at a higher risk of getting diseases. This is because the animals, which feed on their mother’s milk, get maternal antibodies, which protects them until their own immune system has been fully developed. The development of immune system can differ on the basis of amount and type of viruses they are getting exposed to, the potency of the virus and the body’s ability to face the virus attack. Diet and nutrition also plays an important role in preventing diseases.

Animals, which aren’t exposed enough to these natural antibodies may need to get vaccinated  to help their system develop immunities. The quantity is also important, because a little more virus can actually infest the disease in the animal. The amount can be determined by analyzing whether the animal has a weak or strong resistance to the virus.

Age is also another important factor. Animals, which are older in age, react differently. One of the reasons is that the system will be obviously weaker because of the daily activities, when compared to the younger ones. Since their immune system would have undergone different conditions; there could be a possibility of deposition of toxins in the body. Sometimes the healthier older animal won’t be requiring vaccination at all if it has received adequate shots before.

Before vaccinating an animal, its history should be checked. The number of times a particular vaccination has been given should be checked against the records. There are breeders who give a weekly dose of vaccination to their animal, which is for sure an overdose! This leads to many problems such as thickening of blood because of the protein complexes released from the immune system. This can also damage other internal organs and might even result in the failure of the immune system. In worst circumstances, it could even lead to the death of the animal.

Pregnant females react differently to the vaccines when compared to their male and female counterparts. The pregnant females should never be injected with live virus vaccines or even exposed to other animals that have recently received them. Animals, which have been injected with dead-virus vaccines, are safe for the childbearing animal.

Animals, which are already suffering from a disease, should be examined more carefully, so that the vaccination doesn’t aggravate the problem. Genetics also plays an important role. If the animal stands a chance of getting a disease because of hereditary reason, vaccinations can create an adverse reaction.

The environment also plays a major role. If the animal is kept in a sanitary and clean place, it is exposed to lesser viruses, which lowers it’s chances of getting diseases. A dirtier environment not only spreads viruses and bacteria but also affects the immune system and other systems adversely as toxins begin to deposit in the body. The vaccination plan should be designed after analyzing the lifestyle of the animal.

Another major reason for difference in the quantity of vaccination is the improvement in the vaccinations. They have become safer and more efficient. No tests have proved the affective period of the vaccinations. Every state and country has different regulations about vaccination. Vaccination testing cannot only risk the life of the animal, but as well as that of a human. For example, if a dog, which is being tested for rabies vaccination, bites a human, it can lead to the death of the human, in extreme circumstances.

Another consideration is the cost of vaccinations which can add up, especially if you have more than one pet. Around the country there are many low cost vaccination clinics held to make it more affordable for owners who want to vaccinate their pets. Petco for example  offers low cost vaccinations.

If  in doubt, whether you should vaccinate your pet or not  check with your vet, then the decision is up to you.

It doesn’t matter if you have already decided to purchase health insurance for the family pet or if you are still researching. When you are comparing the quote of one health insurance quote to another remember that the base dollar amount is not the only number you have to consider. In addition to the monthly payment make sure you also check out exactly what type of veterinary care and treatments are covered (some basic insurance plans do not include cancer treatment), what kind of deductible you, the pet owner, will be expected to pay, is there a yearly cap on medical expenses, and what type of discounts are available.

At the moment there are only a handful of companies that offer pet health insurance. Five of the most popular companies are Pets Best Pet Insurance, Veterinary Pet Insurance, ShelterCare, Pets Health and PetCare.

An insurance plan through Pets Best Pet Insurance will cost approximately $32.00 a month ($384.00 annually). Pets Best will cover pet sterilization provided the pet owner purchases an additional wellness plan. Pets Best does not cover pre-existing medical conditions a pet has so its best to insure them early in life before problems develop. Pets Best has a life time limit of $99,750 dollars per pet. Pets Best health insurance plans come with a $75.00 deductible. Multiple pet discounts are available. Pet’s Best pet health insurance does cover cancer.

Veterinary Pet Insurance is a company that offers pet owner a $14,000 a year cap on an insurance plan that only costs approximately $20.00 dollars a month. Veterinary Pet Insurance offers plans with a $50.00 deductible (after the deductible they pay ninety percent of the bill) on plans that include pet sterilization and cancer coverage. Veterinary Pet Insurance does not accept pre-existing conditions and does not offer multi-pet discounts.

ShelterCare is a pet insurance that cost pet’s owners approximately $29.95. For that $29.95 there is absolutely no deductible and cancer treatments are covered. ShelterCare will not pay for pet sterilization nor will they cover any pre-existing conditions. ShelterCare does not have a benefit cap. ShelterCare offers premium discounts for multi-pet plans, medical service, and micro-chips.

A pet health insurance policy through PetsHealth insurance company will cost the pet owner approximately $37.17 dollars per month. PetsHealth covers 80% of the pets vet bill after the $100.00 dollar deductible is paid. PetsHealth has a $13,000 dollar cap on each per year. PetHealth does insure pre-existing conditions after ninety days. Multi-pet discounts are available through PetHealth. PetsHealth does offer pet health insurance plans that cover cancer on a case by case basis.

PetCare is a pet health insurance company that estimates the average cost for a policy for a pet is $29.95 a month. This plan includes a fifty dollar deductible. While PetCare is happy to cover the cost your pet’s cancer treatments they will not pay for any pre-existing conditions nor will they pay for pet sterilization. PetCare offers discounts for multi-pet plans and medical service.

None of the estimated monthly prices for these insurance companies include any extra insurances riders.

Any one or all of these companies can change their policies between now and the time you purchase a pet health insurance plan.

Remember to read the fine print before you sign up for a pet health insurance plan.

All five of these pet health insurance companies have their own websites where you can go to get up to date pet health insurance quotes.

There are other pet health insurance companies with different prices, discounts, stipulations, and benefit caps if you are not content with the previous five comparisons.

Any pet owner who has experienced a sick cat or dog knows how quickly the costs add up! As you see, pre-conditions are usually not covered, so while your pet is healthy is the best time to get coverage.

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Age is just a number, right? A human who is 60 years old may act like a young adult, while another human the same age may act like he or she is on their deathbed! Believe it or not, cats are the same! Your pet may act like a kitten for many years or may get gray and achy quite young. Why is this? Specific breed, environment, and genetics play a role, but in general, a well-cared for house cat usually lives to be at least 15 years old. Some cats live to be well over 30!

There are things you can do, however, to provide your cat with the chance for the longest life possible. For example, have your cat spayed or neutered for starters. Statistics show that fixed cats live longer, because this causes the cat to stay closer to home and be exposed to few dangerous situations and disease. Good nutrition is also important. Make sure that you are buying cat food that is appropriate for your cat’s age. You may need to make changes over the years as they get older, be open to change their food if necessary.

As you cat ages, certain medical conditions may cause you to make special considerations for your cat. Examples include:

• reduced tolerance to extreme temperatures
• decreased sensory perception
• susceptibility to infection
• arthritis and joint stiffness
• digestion problems
• kidney & liver problems
• weaker bones
• cancer
• muscle weakness
• slow reaction
• memory loss
• high blood pressure
• irritability

As you can see, aging cats have many of the same problems as aging humans!

Along with a good diet, promote healthy amounts to exercise in your cat. You can do this by allowing your cat to go outside or if you have an indoor cat, playing with your cat every day. Toys and environmental pieces, like scratching posts, are great for encouraging your cat to exercise.

Remember, cats may spend a lot of the day sleeping, which is fine. If you are overly concerned, talk to your vet about your cat’s sleeping habits.

Preventative health care is, of course, important. Make sure that your cat has regular checkups with the vet to make sure everything is in check. You should also brush your cat’s teeth daily and have your cat groomed regularly to prevent skin diseases. As cats age, most of them grow to love grooming. Monitor your cat for diet chances, changing sleep habits, and unsafe water consumption. The key to graceful aging in a cat is an owner who is well involved in his or her life. Make sure that you provide advanced care for your cat as he or she grows, and your pet should be a part of your life for a very long time.

The Fat Cat Store

When I got my first cat Martin Luther Kitty, I swore that I’d feed him cat food only; no people food which might make him a finicky cat! I believed then, and still do that good quality commercial pet foods provide all the nutrients he would need to have a healthy diet. A lot of research has been done to make sure that today’s pet food is well balanced and nutritional. Of course, those pet food recalls of last year are whole other discussion for another day.

Others, particularly holistic veterinarians and other alternative health care experts believe that because many of the original nutrients and enzymes in pet food are destroyed by processing. They believe that the addition of healthful people food to a pet’s diet won’t hurt and may even provide the cat with fresher, more available nutrients than those in processed pet food. Now I know that has its good points also.

An occasional healthy snack for your pet is probably fine in moderation, but certain foods humans eat are dangerous for cats. Food like potato chips and ice cream may not be toxic but they can cause gastrointestinal upset and causes obesity with no particular nutritional benefits.

When giving your cat treats or a homemade diet avoid the following foods:

• Chocolate: Chocolate contains two sub-stances harmful to pets: Theobronjaine and Caffeine. Both of these substances occur in only a small amount in mill chocolate but are much more concentrated in dark chocolate and baking chocolate. The darker and less sweet the chocolate, the more dangerous it is for cats. A little milk chocolate may result in diarrhea and offers no nutritional benefit. A lot of dark chocolate affects the nervous system ant could cause hyperexcitability, restlessness, frequent urination, tremors, and vomiting. Severe cases can result in seizures and cardiac arrest, or even death.
• Onions and garlic: Large quantities of onions and garlic can cause hemolytic anemia. Eating a small amount of garlic powder is harmless; fresh garlic should be avoided. Onions are more potent. While your cat may tolerate eating hits of meat cooked in onion, don’t feed your pet the onion pieces or onion-infused broth.
• Raisins and grapes: According to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, grapes and raisins have caused numerous poisoning cases for as yet unknown reasons. Cats typically experience lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, and eventually kidney failure. While many pets eat the occasional grape without a problem, keep your cat away from grape vines and from eating an entire bunch of grapes. Never feed raisins to your cat; even small servings of raisins have been linked to toxic reactions. Raisins aren’t good for pet dental health, either.
• Alcohol: Cats absorb alcohol quickly and are prone to toxic reactions such as inebriation, seizures, heart arrhythmias, low body temperature, kidney damage, and even coma or death. Never give any form of alcohol to your cat.

The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) recommends that you never feed these foods to your cat:

1.      Avocado

2.      Chocolate (all forms)

3.      Coffee (all forms)

4.      Fatty foods

5.      Macadamia nuts

6.      Moldy or spoiled foods

7.      Onions, onion powder

8.      Raisins and grapes

9.      Salt

10.  Whole, chopped, or minced garlic

11.  Yeast dough

12.  Xylitol-sweetened products

With this guideline you should be able to find a happy medium; of course feed your cat good quality cat food but an occasional treat of harmless people food doesn’t hurt eitherand they’ll love the treat!

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We’re really into the kitten season this time of year. Many people have taken a look into a sweet little kittens face and fallen in love, that’s what happened to me. You want to have your new kitty for many, many years to come and I always vote on the side of prevention. The best thing you can is to make sure you stay on top of their yearly shots.

These shots can be a little confusing so I’ve simplified them here.

Be sure to have your kitten vaccinated with a combination vaccine (called a 3-in-1) at 2, 3 and 4 months of age and then once a year. This vaccine protects cats from Panleukopenia (also called feline distemper), Calicivirus and Rhinotracheitis (flu-like viruses).

If you have an unvaccinated cat older than four months of age, he needs a series of two vaccinations given two to three weeks apart, followed by a yearly vaccination.

There is a vaccine available for Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). This is one of two immune system viruses (retroviruses) that infect cats. The other is Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). There is no vaccine available for FIV.

Cats can be infected with either virus for months to years without any indication that they are carrying a fatal virus. You cannot look at cats or kittens and know if they are infected-a blood test is necessary. Infections can be transmitted at birth from the mother or by being bitten by an infected cat. Neither virus can infect humans.

Many outdoor and stray cats and kittens carry this infection. All cats should be tested for these viruses. Because of the fatal nature of these diseases, you should not expose the cats already living in your home by taking in untested cats or kittens.

To be safe, keep your cat indoors, but if your cat does go outside, be should its vaccinated against feline leukemia virus. And remember that no vaccine is 100-percent effective. Vaccines protect your cat from specific viral and bacterial infections. They are not a treatment.

If your cat gets sick because he is not properly vaccinated, the vaccinations should be given after your pet recovers.

Take your cat to see your veterinarian at least once a year for an examination and annual shots, and immediately if he or she is sick or injured.

Your Best Friend Is Counting On You!

Get a Free Pet Emergency Preparedness Report at  www.WhiskerFeathers.com

Oh Those Aching Joints!

This morning I went for my usual walk, the weather is overcast and it looks like it just might rain. Maybe it is the damp weather but my knees were really aching, it must be the osteoarthritis! Thanks to the marvels of modern veterinary medicine, our pets, just like us are living much longer lives. With longer lives, however, come chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a pretty commonly recognized disease in dogs. However, it is now being recognized as a disease of older geriatric cats.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition of the joints in which the normal cartilage cushion in the joint breaks down. Eventually, adjacent bones rub against each other, causing pain, decreased joint movement, and sometimes the formation of bone spurs and other changes around the joint, sound familiar? Osteoarthritis is a progressive disease; however, it can be actively managed so that the course of the disease is slowed and remaining joint function is preserved.

Physical diagnosis of osteoarthritis in cats is difficult even for experienced veterinarians. Cats, unlike most dogs, can tolerate severe orthopedic disease due to their small size and natural agility. Cats generally resent being physically handled or manipulated during clinical examinations. Thus, the examining veterinarian may have difficulty in determining whether a cat is pulling its foot away because of pain or simply because it doesn’t want to be touched. Cats are also notorious for cowering on the examination table and remaining immobile. Due to these obstacles in diagnosing osteoarthritis in cats, veterinarians will often simply rely on the cat owner’s observations that their pet is not moving around as well as it once did. Veterinarians will rule out osteoarthritis as a diagnosis by actually having the owners treat the cat for osteoarthritis and seeing if the owners note any improvement in their cat’s quality of life.

Changes to osteoarthritis-affected joints in cats are usually subtle. Decreased range of joint motion, commonly seen in dogs, is uncommon in cats in one study by Clarke and Bennett, published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, 5 of 86 cat joints with osteoarthritis had decreased range of motion. Crepitus, a grinding/crunching sound or feeling in a joint, is also common in dogs, but uncommon in cats (no joints of the 86 joints in the same study had crepitus. Thickening of the tissues surrounding affected joints, however, is a common finding.

Clinical signs of osteoarthritis in cats include:

• Weight loss,
• Loss of appetite,
• Depression,
• Change in general attitude
• Poor grooming habits
• Urination or defecation outside the litter pan
• Inability to jump on and off objects. Surprisingly, lameness is not as commonly reported a clinical sign by owners as one would expect.

Because joints are frequently bilaterally affected (meaning that if one elbow is affected, the other elbow is also affected), cats can compensate and appear to be walking normally.

Treatment options for cats with osteoarthritis are limited. Non-pharmaceutical treatment options include weight loss for overweight cats, increased exercise, and environmental accommodations (e.g., using litter pans with lower sides for ease of entering and exiting, and elevating food and water bowls, and providing soft bedding). Regarding pain relief, steroids have been used in the past; however, they have fallen out of favor due to side effects. The only approved non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for use in cats is Metacam® for Injection. However, it is approved for a one-time dose for the control of postoperative pain associated with orthopedic surgery, ovariohysterectomy, and castration in cats. Metacam® is not approved for any repeat dosing. Thus, no NSAID is currently approved for safe, long-term control of osteoarthritis pain in cats.

Pain in animals, particularly cats, is difficult to assess, and there are few validated pain assessment tools. Diagnosis of osteoarthritis in cats is difficult even for the experienced veterinarian. Thus the disease remains largely underdiagnosed and undertreated. However, as new methods of pain assessment are developed, osteoarthritis in cats may soon become a readily recognized and actively managed disease, thus alleviating the silent suffering of many geriatric cats.

We cat owners are ultimately the best source of knowing when something is wrong with our cats. We naturally want to make them feel better. Hands on treatment works great, also, we carry cat health care supplements in our eBay store. You can massage their joints and provide some gentle heat. These are the same things that work for my own aching knees!

Your Best Friend Is Counting On You!

Get a Free Pet Emergency Preparedness Report at  www.WhiskerFeathers.com