When It’s Okay to Use an Automatic Feeder to Give Your Cat Her Meals...
Pop quiz (a tale of two feeding scenarios):
You sometimes have to be away from home more hours than usual — perhaps even...
With Summer Comes Territorial Urine Marking
There are four main reasons cats will urinate outside the litterbox. The first is litterbox aversion, meaning that a cat finds her “toilet” unacceptable....
Regurgitation versus vomiting
Q: When a cat regurgitates, is that the same thing as vomiting? I often see the two terms used interchangeably.
Patsy Van der Meer
Huntsville, Alabama
Dear Ms....
Caregiver Burden for People with Sick Cats
The term “caregiver burden” is often applied to people taking care of human loved ones who are very sick and possibly dying. Such caretakers...
Let Your Cat Go Outside — Safely
We often have it drummed into us that to remain safe and live as long as possible, our cats should remain entirely indoors at...
Why Cats Stick Out Their Tongues
Some cats sit around sticking out their tongue from time to time. It’s nothing to be concerned about. A slightly protruding tongue is just...
New Standards Announced for Human Grade Cat Food
On its homepage recently, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) announced that there are new guidelines for pet food labeled “human grade.”...
No Cure for Heartworm Disease in Cats
Dogs are a natural host for heartworms. A single dog may harbor hundreds of them, which can cause lasting damage to the heart, lungs,...
Fearfulness Associated with Litterbox Issues
A study of more than 3,000 house cats published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association showed that fearfulness in cats is significantly associated with urinating and defecating outside the litterbox. It’s also associated with litterbox fussiness — distinct preferences about the type of litter used and less willingness to use an unclean litter box or share it with other cats.
Over-the-Counter Antimicrobials Now Available By Prescription Only
Certain antimicrobial medicines used in cats and other animals have been available over the counter. That ends now. As of June 11th, all antimicrobial...
Fungal Disease Spreading from Cats to People
In the United States, a fungal infection called sporotrichosis has been known as rose gardener’s disease. The fungus that causes it, Sporothrix, lives in...
Can You Reliably Assess Your Cat’s Pain? Yes.
Because cats do not give clear signals when they are in pain, their physical suffering tends to be inadvertently neglected — and therefore under-treated....
