CAT HEALTH & MEDICINE

The risk of death for cats under anesthesia used to be one to two deaths in 100 patients, says Lois Wetmore, DVM, an assistant professor of anesthesia and pain management at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Now were down to about one death in 1,000, Dr. Wetmore says. Were headed in the right direction.

Your four-year-old cat Elton seems to be in perfect health. But about twice a year, he comes down with what appears to be a bad cold, complete with sneezing, coughing, lethargy, nasal congestion and watery eyes. These upper respiratory signs persist for a week or 10 days and then suddenly disappear, much to your relief. But then, five or six months later, the very same symptoms will pay a return visit, linger for a week or two, and repeat their vanishing act - a frustrating cycle that is bound to recur until you seek out proper veterinary guidance and treatment.

The art of traditional acupuncture traces back several thousand years to ancient China, and is one branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The other three branches are herbal medicine, food therapy and Tui-Na (medical massage). Although the ancient Chinese used veterinary acupuncture to treat animals, these were primarily valuable livestock such as oxen or the Emperors horses - not dogs and cats.

Researchers recently discovered that upper respiratory infections in shelter cats can be dramatically decreased by doubling cage sizes and providing the cats with two compartments. Funded by the Morris Animal Foundation, the UC Davis team of researchers published their findings in the journal PLoS One.

My veterinarian told me that my cat has a heart murmur. Does this mean he will die prematurely from heart disease?

I am the director of a small-town animal shelter, and we recently took in a two-year-old Bengal who was living with his owner in a meth house. This poor cat was subjected to his owners drug use for most of his life, and he is now suffering the consequences.

Factoring the quality of life remaining for your cat versus the prognosis - and cost of treatment - can be a difficult and emotional decision.

Stem cell therapy is regarded as having enormous potential for the treatment of a variety of diseases in both people and animals. The use of bone-marrow derived stem cells is already well established in the treatment of human cancer patients. As a result, veterinary applications for bone-marrow stem cells are now being evaluated, as well.

I have a cat that has a problem with a weeping eye (at the nose), a condition she has had for several years. Now, the iris is gradually turning orange, starting at the nose, and the eye is starting to squint slightly. This seems to be getting worse.

Wheezing, sneezing, teary eyes, nasal discharge and the sound of labored breathing are among the clear indications that a cat is experiencing an upper respiratory disorder of one kind or another. These signs usually indicate a transient viral infection that will resolve within a week or 10 days.

As a cat reaches the age of eight or nine - the feline equivalent of age 40 or 50 in a human being - he is likely to begin experiencing signs of one or more age-related physical disorders. If unnoticed or untreated, such disorders are likely to intensify over time and may eventually prove lethal.

A friend recently adopted a young kitten from a local humane society, and soon after, the kitten was diagnosed with brittle bone disease. Neither of us had ever heard of this, and now it makes me worry about adopting a new kitten.