CAT HEALTH & MEDICINE

Even the most caring cat owner probably wouldnt list mouth-to-snout as the preferred way of expressing affection. But what if it could save the life of a companion animal who has stopped breathing?

Ask someone with a cat what happens if the pet wants breakfast at 4 A.M. and you dont feel like getting up and feeding her. Theyll keep annoying you until you do, says Alicia Karas, DVM, a pain specialist at the Tufts Cummings School. But when theyre not feeling well, they act more like prey species rather than the predators they are, Dr. Karas comments. They lie low. We dont really know why. Unless youre very astute about reading your pet, youll very likely miss the cues.

Only 5 percent of cats are covered by health insurance, according to a survey of more than 450 cat owners conducted by the American Pet Products Association. But 100 percent of cats get sick at one point or another, just like people. Thats why we firmly believe that cat owners should seriously consider buying a health insurance policy for their pets.

After a second cat tested positive for rabies in North Miami Beach this past fall, Floridas Department of Health issued a rabies alert. The disease had been found in an unvaccinated stray, and at least one person in the area received rabies treatment; a second person was scratched by the cat and was being examined.

Cats dont get cavities. Their teeth dont touch each other in a way that lets cavity-causing bacteria collect between them, and they dont have little pits and fissures in their teeth, like people do, to serve as natural places for cavities to form. The pH of their saliva also stops cavity formation.

Cancer. The word alone evokes high emotions, whether its impacting a family member, friend or beloved pet. Our thoughts tend to run from astonishment to guilt and fear as we grapple to come to terms with the new reality and what to do next. Like humans, our pets are also living longer these days - and that fact alone contributes to the likelihood of our cats one day developing cancer.

According to research, feline tumors arent used nearly as often as those in dogs to study cancer. While cats tend to have a type of skin cancer in their heads and mouths that some researchers use as a model for human head and neck cancers, dogs are diagnosed more frequently with tumors that overlap with human cancer.

Upper respiratory infections are very common in cats, especially kittens. Most of these infections are caused by viruses. In fact, roughly 90 percent of all upper airway infections in cats are caused by two common viruses: feline herpesvirus and feline calicivirus. Some affected cats develop secondary bacterial infections, which can make treatment and recovery longer and more difficult.

All companion animals require regular veterinary attention. Cats arent little dogs - they have their own unique and specific medical requirements. Additionally, many cats are extremely anxious when being cared for at a veterinary hospital that cares for both dogs and cats. To provide cats with the most appropriate care - and the least stressful experience possible - there are many advantages in using the services of a feline-only veterinary practice.

Google free vaccines for life and you will see page after page of veterinary practices that engage in this very type of program - free vaccines annually for cats who are patients at these clinics. They all operate a bit differently, but heres the gist. If you take your cat to the clinic once a year for her wellness visit, vaccines deemed necessary at that time will be given at no cost.

Perhaps the most troublesome of all feline parasites are various types of worms that inhabit a cats gastrointestinal tract - the stomach and intestines. Among these invaders, the most frequently found are roundworms, which are classified as nematodes - worms with distinctively cylindrical, unsegmented bodies.

Below are the 30 veterinary schools in the U.S listed alphabetically. Check the map to see which you live closest to in case you might like to see about enrolling your cat in a clinical trial.