BEHAVIOR

Recently, social media has been inundated by tweets of cats that seem compelled to position themselves in the center of squares of tape mapped out on the floor. These cats cant resist the temptation of the #CatSquare.

Its an age-old debate that never goes out of style: Are dogs smarter than cats? Well, researchers may now have an answer once and for all.

I have a black cat that I rescued from a shelter five months ago, hoping that I could train him to be a therapy cat. My last cat and I served for 12 years with Pet Partners as a R.E.A.D. team. He was one of only six therapy cats in Michigan! Sadly, I lost him to squamous cell carcinoma.

There is a variety of bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal diseases that can affect both cats and humans. These zoonotic diseases can be passed from an affected cat to her owner through touching, biting or scratching.

I wonder if you could give me any suggestions regarding my 10-year-old cat Ringlings behavior. We lost our 22-year-old Siamese a month ago, who was Ringlings lifelong friend. Ever since he died, Ringling has gotten very clingy and vocal, following me around, continually begging to be petted and held. She seems to need constant attention and reassurance. She has also thrown up several times in the last weeks, something she has not done before.

An adult male named Grey, who is by far the least socialized of the group - fell from a tree last month and kept his distance for a while. Now, he seems fine. My question is: Is it possible for a cat to suffer a concussion? And if this happens again, what would be the best course of action?

As you probably already know, the topic of declawing in cats is quite controversial, and some veterinary hospitals, including Tufts Universitys School of Veterinary Medicine, do not perform it. For those who are unclear, here is what is involved in the procedure: Under anesthesia, each of the cats claws and the third bone of every toe are removed with a laser, blade or nail trimmers. If the bone is not removed, the claw will eventually grow back.

Ways to Help Reduce Environmental Stress Experts recommend that cats be kept indoors for their safety and overall health. However, if the indoor environment isnt configured to meet their basic feline needs, it may predispose them to feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC).

Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) is commonly seen in cats, and it has many different causes. FLUTD isnt a specific disease itself, but actually a broad term that describes any physical illness or condition that affects the lower urinary tract - the urinary bladder and urethra (the tube thats connected to the bladder which carries urine to the outside of the body).

Regardless of age, breed or gender, any cat can develop a serious and potentially disabling anxiety disorder. This is an affliction in which a cat is persistently and significantly disturbed by phenomena or situations that a normal cat would ignore or soon learn to disregard. Unfortunately, this baffling condition is one of the more frequently observed among all feline behavioral syndromes.

The Drugs Commonly Used to Treat Anxiety Three drugs are most frequently used to treat feline anxiety, explains Dr. Dodman. They are: acepromazine, buspirone hydrochloride and alprazolam. Each drug works in a specific way, he notes. Acepromazine, for example, is primarily a tranquilizer, while buspirone hydrochloride is a serotonin antagonist and alprazolam is an anxiolitic.

A fearful cat may roll over on its back, turning its head to face the aggressor with all four paws ready for protection. This might appear to some observers as a submissive posture, like that of a dog, whose belly-up posture is intended to discourage an attack by signaling Okay, okay: Im lower ranking. But cats do not have specific dominance or subordinance displays. They convey their relative social status by a combination of offensive…