CAT HEALTH & MEDICINE

The Missing Link to FIP After gathering the worlds largest collection of samples of the virus that causes feline infectious peritonitis, Cornell scientists may finally have found the mutation that makes the virus fatal. Scheduled to be published in an upcoming issue of Emerging Infectious Disease, the Cornell study provides a long-sought breakthrough - which will hopefully open the door to development of the first working diagnostics, vaccines and treatments for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). …

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Regardless of breed or gender, all cats have a number of things in common, including their dentition - the number, size, shape, arrangement and function of their teeth. They also share an unfortunate tendency to lose some or all of these teeth over the course of their lives. In some cases, the missing teeth have been knocked out during a traumatic event - the animal has been struck by a car, for example, or has…

Lymphoma is the most common malignancy in cats, accounting for approximately 33 percent of all diagnosed cancers in cats. Diagnosis is usually achieved either via cytology, in which a needle is inserted into the affected tumor or lymph node and cells are removed and evaluated on a microscope slide; or via biopsy, in which a small piece of the tumor or lymph node is removed and then examined by a pathologist. …

A few decades ago, recommendations regarding feline vaccinations were relatively simple. Veterinarians generally agreed that all domestic cats should be inoculated annually with a number of vaccines. In recent years, however, the issue has become far more complicated and in some respects more controversial. Back in the early 1990s, only four or five vaccines were available; today, no fewer than 10 vaccines have proven to be generally effective in providing a cat with immunity against a…

Spay and neuter: not ideal? As many people realize, colonies of feral cats can grow at a rapid pace, leaving them to combat miserable conditions and causing the death of millions of birds, small mammals and reptiles. In urban areas, wild-born cat colonies can also create health hazards to humans and other species, and create quality of life issues like foul odors, loud fighting and flea infestations. In the U.S., experts believe that the population of…

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Cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) can feel better, and their disease may progress slower, when owners use veterinarian-recommended nutritional as well as medical therapies. Current research shows that veterinary renal diets can prolong the lives of cats with CKD - although the benefits will vary among individuals. The bottom line is that changing cats to a diet with certain properties can help improve outcomes, says Lisa Freeman, DVM, PhD.

Jo Miller wasnt too worried initially when her 15-year-old tortie, Zilpha, stopped eating and became lethargic. The Emmy award-winning writer for The Daily Show had been through this scenario a year earlier - when Zilpha was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis - and she suspected that this was another flare-up. I examined Zilpha, and her clinical signs were indeed compatible with pancreatitis - but more worrisome to me was the observation that Zilpha was breathing hard. I…

Administered orally, topically, or by injection, antibiotics are commonly used by veterinarians to prevent or relieve a vast array of bacteria-caused feline health problems, including salmonellosis, tuberculosis and bacterial hepatitis, as well as infections resulting from bite wounds, notes Dr. Michael Stone, DVM.

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Have you tried a probiotic on your cat to see if it would settle her stomach and relieve either constipation or diarrhea? If so, did it work? If not, veterinary researchers arent surprised. The evidence behind currently marketed probiotics, supplements that contain supposedly good bacteria to help an overactive or sensitive gut adjust, is pretty limited, says J Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, DACVIM.