Pet Haven

For many years, cat treatments were simply extensions of treatment given to dogs.  Cat disorders of the skin, the eyes, the ears, the circulatory, respiratory, urinary, digestive, nervous, skeletal, and the blood, as well as contagious cat diseases and external and internal parasites have been extensively studied.

Despite this, cats die because their ailments become fatal before their general conditions changes sufficiently to reveal any symptoms of illness and  many symptoms used in diagnosing cat ailments are not definitive for given disorders. Signs of illness include general symptoms such as a dull coat, lack of appetite, and listlessness. Diarrhea may be a result of serious illness or simply reflect a change in diet. Tearing of the eyes, especially when accompanied by sneezing, may indicate conjunctivitis or a cold. Since, however, sneezing is the cat's only mechanism for blowing its nose, not all sneezing indicates illness.

Open sores, usually at the base of the ear, around the mouth, or on the toes, can point to an ear mite or a ringworm infection or to a fight with another animal.

Cats are attacked by several kinds of external and internal parasites. External parasites are often found in kittens, although they can occur in adults. Frequently they are fleas, but lice, ticks, and ear mites occur. Internal parasites include roundworms, tapeworms, and protozoan coccidia. Once diagnosed all these diseases are easy to treat successfully.

Panleucopenia, often called feline distemper, is the best-known viral disease in cats. Highly contagious, with a high mortality rate, it is most evident in young cats. Vaccines are effective protective measures. Rabies is less of a problem with cats than with dogs, but all free-roaming cats should be vaccinated. Vaccines have also been developed for other feline diseases, including feline leukemia, pneumonitis (chlamydiosis), viral rhinotracheitis (cat influenza), and calicivirus infections.

Cats permitted to wander outdoors are exposed to a variety of hazards, including accidents, attacks from other animals, poisoning, fleas and other parasites, and contagious diseases such as feline acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Cats that kill and eat rodents and other small animals can become infected with the parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which can be transmitted to humans and causes the disease toxoplasmosis.

Surprisingly acne on the chin is not restricted to humans, feline chin acne is a fairly common condition. A cat’s face has two types of gland, the sweat glands and the sebaceous glands. The sebum produced by the sebaceous glands waterproofs the skin and as in humans, it keeps the skin soft and supple. However a cat has larger sebaceous glands on the chin, the top surface of the tail and the eyelids, and in the case of the chin these glands are referred to as the submental glands.  These extra sebaceous glands excrete an oily substance that is used for marking the cat’s territory.

These submental glands can get over stimulated and when they are  active they  can clearly be seen on the cat’s chin as an oily greasy “stain” it is more apparent on cats with a very light coloring. Sometimes it appears as a dark greasy mark, which can easily be mistaken for flea dirt.

This over activity of the submental glands is feline chin acne and when it is only mild the feline chin acne appears as a blackhead,  a black comedone is clearly visible and it is not flea dirt. Feline chin acne can be a particular problem for Persian carts and it is called

Idiopathic Persian facial dermatitis often referred to in the vernacular as “dirty face!”

Feline chin activity can often be made worse in cats that are messy feeders. Interestingly the cat acne treatment is not that different from the acne medications that the humans have, it is a topical cream.

Unfortunately cats are more likely to lick the acne medication off their faces than humans are, and it can be less effective, and they need a stronger acne treatment. Acne is something that is not confined to humans and neither is the treatment, but fortunately, your cat will not be worried about the scars from feline chin acne. 

Unneutered males are most likely to spray. Neutered males as well as unneutered females and neutered females also may exhibit this behavior.

Owners may observe their cat spraying and notice a urine odor, or find evidence of urine on vertical surfaces.

Urine marking is a normal social behavior of domestic cats which serves several communication functions. Contrary to popular belief, spraying does not intent to exclude other cats from the marking cat’s territory; other cats are drawn rather than avoid sprayed sites, making it appear more like an advertisement and information sharing.

 Neutering stops or at least greatly reduces urine marking in 87 percent of intact males that spray. Generally, cats will cease spraying within two weeks after undergoing this procedure; however, improvement may not occur for up to six months in some cats.

 For unneutered cats, neutering by itself is often effective in eliminating or greatly reducing urine marking. In neutered cats that spray, however, environmental, behavioral and pharmacological management is required.

Urine marking occurs in sexual, territorial and competitive contexts. Treatment requires first identifying the specific social or environmental factors that trigger the marking and then both limiting the cat’s exposure to those factors and reducing its response to them.

Environmental management involves making changes in the household that reduce the cat’s exposure to arousing stimuli. For example, when the presence of stray or neighbor cats triggers spraying, it is necessary to either block the cat’s view of those cats or to use repelling devices to keep the other cats away. Sometimes it is possible to work out a "traffic control" schedule with neighbors to reduce the cats’ exposure to one another.

Some pets with urinary tract infections produce crystals which form in their urine. Sometimes, the crystals form before the infections starts, and sometimes, after the infection have already set in. The crystals are like fine sand and irritate the bladder like rough sandpaper. They can develop into much larger bladder stones as well. In male cats, the crystals may plug the urethra, the tube that leads from the bladder, through the penis, to the outside of the cat. This is a life-threatening condition, since the cat is then be unable to urinate.

The two most common crystals are struvite and oxalate. Struvite crystals are more likely to form in urine that has an alkaline pH. If struvite crystals are a problem, special diets are available to make the urine more acid. There are diets available, that are lower in the minerals that make up the crystals such as magnesium and phosphorous. The diets are available through your veterinarian. Some of these diets are used to treat existing problems and are given for several months only. Others are used to prevent the condition from occurring in the future and can be fed for the lifetime of the animal.

Oxalate crystals are more likely to form if the pH of the urine is acidic. Special diets are available which make the urine more alkaline. These diets are lower in calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and sodium.

Therefore, depending on the type of crystals seen in your pet's urine, a different diet may help prevent the recurrence of the problem.

FELINE UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS

A complex of infections involving Feline Pneumonitis (Chlamydia), Rhinotracheitis (Herpes virus), Calicivirus, and a few others causes symptoms similar to those of a head cold.

FELINE DISTEMPER

Feline distemper (also called "feline panleukopenia") is a generally lethal infection in kittens and young adult cats. It has no relationship to canine distemper, but is closely related to canine parvovirus. This virus forms the basis of regular feline vaccination, and represents one of the most >FELINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS

Feline Leukemia Virus is a deadly virus of usually young cats and kittens. Mortality is high with 80% of infected cats dying within the first 3 years. No effective treatment has emerged but vaccination is preventive. We have assembled some external links to create an informative collection regarding this terrible infection. 

FELINE IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS

There is finally a vaccine for this disease, but our hospital chooses not to use it. Why not? This page explains why we don’t think you should vaccinate your cat against FIV.
  

FELINE INFECTIOUS PERITONITIS

FIP is a very serious disease with nearly 100% mortality. Testing is extremely difficult and a tremendous amount of misinformation has circulated. We would like to present an FAQ to hopefully straighten out what is known about this condition.

RABIES VACCINATION FOR CATS

Dogs are not the only animals susceptible to this deadly disease. Click here to check out the part of this page dealing specifically with our feline friends.

Cats are territorial animals and will fight with other cats to establish territory or to defend their existing territory. As a result fight wounds occur commonly in cats. These wounds often result in an infection that can be quite nasty, especially if left untreated.

Fight wounds occur more in male than female cats. Un-neutered males are especially prone to fighting.

Bacteria trapped under the skin following a bite wound can multiply for several days before any signs of infection become visible. Swelling and pain at the puncture site are the most common signs of infection.

Fever is not rare. If loose skin is present around the puncture sites, a pocket of pus will form an abscess. If the skin is not loose, such as on a foot or the tail, infection spreads throughout the tissues, but the swelling may be less visible than with an abscess. This particular infection is called cellulitis. With both an abscess and cellulitis, trapped pus can made the cat quite toxic and extremely ill.

When a cat bites, its teeth go through the skin, and then it releases quickly which results in small puncture wounds in the skin, with holes about the same diameter as the cat's teeth. These holes seal and virtually disappear within hours, trapping bacteria from the cat's mouth under the skin of the victim. The types of bacteria which live in the cat's mouth grow in an environment where the oxygen concentration is low. Once the wound seals shut, bacteria can begin to multiply at a rapid rate.

The organisms most commonly involved with cat bites are Pasteurella multocida and Streptococcus; as previously stated, bacteria which can survive with little or no oxygen are often involved.

Treatment

Treatment of cat bite wounds varies. If you know that your cat has bite wounds from a fight, antibiotics given within 24 hours will usually stop spread of the infection and prevent the development of an abscess. If several days have elapsed since the fight, an abscess will usually form. The abscess must be drained through the bite wound holes or by incising the skin over the abscess. Occasionally, a latex drain tube must be placed to keep the wound open and allow pus to drain out completely.

Antibiotics given by injection and/or by mouth complete the treatment. The abscess usually heals within 2-5 days. If cellulitis occurs instead of an abscess, drainage is not possible because the infection is not confined to a local area. In this case, antibiotics are the sole treatment. Cellulitis is slower to heal than an abscess but will usually take place within 3-7 days.

Neutering the male cat can make a huge difference in decreasing or even eliminating the problem of bite wounds. If their territory is invaded by another cat, however, they will defend it by fighting. Female cats, whether intact or spayed, will also defend their territory.

Keeping cats indoors and away from other cats can also help in management of this problem.