CAT HEALTH & MEDICINE

This months Short Takes makes me particularly happy, and I really hope it sparks a trend in the animal welfare community. Researchers at the University of Georgia are matching senior citizens who live alone with shelter cats - to see if the relationship is helpful at making the person feel less lonely and with more purpose.

I have an eight-year-old cat who I rescued from a shelter as a kitten. I take Daisy to our local veterinarian once a year for a health examination. During our last visit, the veterinarian recommended that we run blood work every year. Is this really necessary for my cat, who is overall healthy? If so, can you explain the advantages of looking at blood work every year?

I have a cat that has a problem with a weeping eye (at the nose), a condition she has had for several years.

Compared with its human counterpart, the feline heart is quite tiny - only two inches or so in diameter, about the size of a golf ball. This hollow, muscular organ, however, is structured almost exactly like the human heart and plays the same powerful life-sustaining role.

Earlier in the year, I received a phone call from a cat owner seeking a second opinion. Their four-year-old male orange tabby, Teddy, has always been a bit of a troublemaker, knocking things off counters, chasing imaginary mice and leaving no houseplant un-nibbled. Over the last few weeks, however, Teddy had been battling a stubborn upper respiratory infection (URI), and it was only getting worse, despite treatment.

Inflamed and swollen gums, bad breath, a decline in appetite, noticeable weight loss - these are among the most common indications that your cat is suffering from a disorder centered in her oral cavity, most likely in her teeth and gums. She may not behave as if shes in pain, but thats because cats are very good at concealing health issues; after all, she doesnt want to signal to a potential predator that shes in a weakened condition and therefore vulnerable to attack.

I am fostering an adolescent stray mother cat and her three kittens (I picked them up when the kittens were about one-week-old) and I fed her a high-quality wet cat food the first few days.

My nine-year-old cats breath has always been slightly unpleasant, but over the past few months, it has become noticeably worse. I would like to know what might be causing this, and if theres anything I can do to remedy the problem.

We have two wonderful 14-year-old cats who are sisters. A few months ago, our veterinarian cleaned their teeth and discovered that the one named Julie had a bladder infection, which was treated with an oral medication for two weeks.

Most people have some familiarity with the concept of a blood transfusion, perhaps by donating blood to the local Red Cross, or possibly as a recipient during a hospital stay. Thankfully, most cat owners have very little experience with transfusions when it comes to their pets.

Although two submicroscopic organisms - the feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) - differ from one another in a number of significant ways, they have one very important characteristic in common: Infection with either of them can cause a cats premature death.

Much in the same way that stress affects humans, it can also affect cats. While brief periods of stress can help cats to survive dangerous situations, recurrent or prolonged stress can be harmful for them both physically and emotionally.