CAT HEALTH & MEDICINE

Last month, a little stray kitten showed up at my house and I brought him into my home (I have three other adult cats). The following day, I took him to the vet to be examined and started on vaccines, etc. He appeared to be about 10 to 12 weeks at the time. During the appointment, I mentioned that his anus sometimes pokes out a little and looks a little red. Other times, it looks normal.

I have worked for a spay/neuter non-profit organization called Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County for the past 16 years, and we deal primarily with stray and feral cats. Over the past two years, we have been seeing a condition that is commonly known here as puffy pad disease.

Ascites (pronounced a-site-eez) is the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. It is a sign of disease, rather than a diagnosis. Unfortunately, there are very few benign causes of ascites. Because there are so many possible causes of ascites, the historical findings will vary in each individual case.

When it comes to glandular problems in the cat, the thyroid gets all the glory. Hyperthyroidism is the most common feline endocrine disorder, and every cat-centric publication regularly features articles about it. Adjacent to the thyroid gland, however, are four small glands called the parathyroid glands. These little glands are immensely important in finely regulating the blood calcium level. There are two pairs of parathyroid glands in the cat, the external and the internal parathyroids.

In the July 2016 of Catnip, there was an article on the value of joint supplements, highlighting the fact that there has not been any research focusing on the value of glucosamine and chondroitin in cats. While I have not seen any research papers either, I have had positive personal experience with these supplements with multiple cats.

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.

Stub your toe, bump your head or cut your thumb while peeling an apple, and youre apt to give out a yell that will clearly indicate youre in pain. And then you might spend the next hour or two discussing the incident, lamenting it and seeking the solace of those who are near and dear to you.

When it comes to dealing with pain, however, our cats arent like that. Eons of experience in the wild have taught cats to conceal any sort of physical disability as best as they can from potential enemies. A part of their natural survival instinct is to hide the fact that they have been injured or otherwise weakened, which could render them susceptible to attack by a predator.

In an effort to identify the most common signs of feline pain, a team of animal behaviorists in Great Britain conducted a year-long series of in-depth interviews with 19 veterinary experts. According to the researchers findings - published in February 2016 in the scientific journal PLoS ONE - the signs listed below are considered to be the most reliable pain indicators.

A modern concept used in recognizing and assessing acute pain in cats is the use of a facial pain expression scale, modeled after the neonatal facial scales which shows the changes in a babys facial expression from happy to painful. According to Alicia Karas, DVM, MS, DACVAA, pain medicine specialist and assistant professor at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, pain researchers designed similar scales for mice and rats.

Q My 17-year-old cat developed a lump in the underside of her neck in the past year, and it concerns me. About four years ago, she was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid, and I was instructed to give her 5 mg of methimazole twice a day.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a very common cause of illness in cats, especially older animals. Previous studies estimated that one in three cats are likely to develop kidney disease during their lifetime. A recent study in cats has shown the prevalence of CKD to be even higher than formerly believed, however - with 50 percent of cats of all ages, and up to 81 percent of cats aged 15 years and older, being afflicted.

Cancer. The word alone evokes high emotions when we hear its diagnosis, whether the disease involves 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 it, and what to do next. Like humans, our pets are also living longer these days - and that fact alone contributes to the increasing likelihood of some of our cats one day developing cancer.