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Your cat is wobbly on her back legs and perhaps seems to be in pain. Maybe she also has urinary and fecal incontinence; waste exits her body when she is not trying to “go.” It’s possible she has intervertebral disc disease (IVDD). It’s much less common in cats than dogs, but it does occur. A new study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association says that advancing age and excess weight predispose cats to the condition. What is it exactly?

Q: What’s the difference between a stray cat and a feral one?

Q: I can’t get my cat to stay off the kitchen counter. If I catch her there, I yell at her to get down, and she does. But it doesn’t stop her from jumping up again at other times. 
Any suggestions?
Dee Jonas
Houston, Texas

An occasional bout of diarrhea is no cause for alarm. If your cat’s appetite remains good and she is as active as she usually is, it’s generally safe to wait two or three days to see if the problem resolves on its own, says Tufts veterinary internist Michael Stone, DVM. Reasons for loose stools that quickly resolve on their own:
™ Your cat had a bacterial or viral infection, but her body was able to vanquish it without medical treatment.
™ Your pet was feeling stressed. Something like young children visiting your home and running around or coming home from a stressful veterinary visit could send her gastrointestinal tract into temporary overdrive.
™ 
Your cat ate more food than she’s used to.
™ She had an unusually rich treat.
When do loose stools become a concern?
The clue to whether you should take your cat to the doctor because of diarrhea is whether it’s persistent over the course of a day or a day and a half, your pet is lethargic, or she has a decreased appetite. Then it’s not just a few instances of watery stools but a situation that perhaps could lead to dehydration and potentially dangerous electrolyte imbalances. In such cases, some professional sleuthing is necessary to find out what’s causing the problem and also to get it under control.
If it’s a young cat such as a kitten, the diarrhea may be due to intestinal parasites like roundworms. An older cat’s diarrhea may be attributable to, say, hyperthyroidism or perhaps lymphoma that has spread to the GI tract. The vet may have to run some tests.
Whether or not the situation seems serious, don’t give your cat anti-diarrheal medication intended for people. Many of those medications contain ingredients that can be dangerous for felines and will only serve to make a bad situation worse.

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If you notice small, hairless nodules on the head, neck, trunk, limbs, or other parts of your cat’s body, take your pet to the doctor. They may be mast cell tumors—one of the most common types of skin tumors on cats, and in some cases malignant. The good news: Even though mast cell tumors are a source of concern and can be intermittently itchy, red, and even ulcerated, they tend not to recur or spread to other sites in the body if promptly taken care of.

If you have a short-haired cat, brushing once a week will generally do the trick. Try using a metal comb, and work in the direction your cat’s hair grows. Another option for short-haired cats, especially when it comes to removing dead fur: a rubber brush.

You love your cat and let him get up close even though having him around makes your eyes water, your nose run, or your throat scratchy. You’re not alone. About 10 percent of the U.S. population has a pet allergy, with twice as many people allergic to cats as to dogs, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. With an estimated 47 million cat-owning households in the U.S., that’s a lot of discomfort endured in the name of feline love.

We’ve all seen it—cats rubbing their cheeks or chins along furniture legs or your own face or other part of your body. What’s it about?
It’s called bunting, and it has several possible reasons, all related to the fact that cats have scent glands around their faces—their ears and neck as well as their cheeks and chins. In other words, when a cat engages in bunting, it leaves an odor.

The survival rate for cats in the hospital who stop breathing and undergo CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is very low. Fewer than 20 percent make it out alive. In an effort to improve the odds, researchers participating in an initiative known as RECOVER—Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation—combed through almost 1,400 studies to ascertain which methods work best.

Surgical spaying or neutering is one of the most commonly performed procedures in companion animals. A female’s ovaries (and usually the uterus) are removed or a male’s testicles, and unwanted offspring cease to become a concern. But a new survey suggests that dogs may be more likely to be sent home with pain-relieving drugs once their ovaries or testicles are removed than cats.

Q: We live in an area that has very hard water. Would it be better to give our cats distilled water instead of tap water? Our two felines are 1½-year-old healthy females.
Roberta Mure
Mayville, New York