Posts in Category: Cats

By Ann Hohenhaus, DVM

An annual visit to your cat’s veterinarian will result in blood tests being submitted to a veterinary laboratory to test for a variety of diseases such as hyperthyroidism and chronic kidney disease. To the typical cat owner, a diagnosis of kidney disease sounds ominous, but it’s not always as bad as it sounds. Take for example my nephew cat BeeDee. He had a rough start in life, abandoned as a kitten at The Animal Medical Center following a head trauma incident. My sister adopted him and he lived a good life, twenty-one years to be exact, despite having been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at age eighteen.

Kidney disease: The diagnosis

Estimates suggest one to three percent of cats will develop kidney disease during their lifetime and one in twelve geriatric cats has kidney disease. The diagnosis of chronic kidney disease in a cat like BeeDee is based on elevations in two blood tests: blood urea nitrogen, commonly abbreviated BUN, and creatinine plus evaluation of urine-specific gravity. In chronic kidney disease, the urine-specific gravity is neither concentrated nor dilute; it falls in a middle range known as isothenuric because the impaired kidneys no longer have the ability to concentrate or dilute the urine. Creatinine and BUN can be elevated in disorders other than chronic kidney disease such as a kidney infection or dehydration. Taking a urine sample from your cat to his annual examination will win you a gold star from your veterinarian and allow the urine to be tested to determine if chronic kidney disease is likely. For suggestions on how to collect feline urine, click here.

Severity scoring

The International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) developed guidelines to grade the severity of chronic kidney disease in cats and dogs. The IRIS guidelines rank kidney disease from stage I to stage IV as the creatinine increases. Since as many as twenty percent of cats with chronic kidney disease have hypertension, your cat’s veterinarian will recommend blood pressure monitoring. Blood pressure, urine protein level, and organ damage from hypertension all play a role in IRIS staging. As your cat’s stage increases, so does the need for treatment.

A low score wins!

A study of 211 cats with chronic kidney disease, performed at The AMC, showed IRIS stage based only on creatinine levels in the blood correlated with the cat’s longevity. Cats diagnosed with Stage IIb had a creatinine >2.3 mg/dl, stage III greater than 2.8 mg/dl and stage IV greater than 5 mg/dl. Those cats with IRIS stage II kidney disease survived on average over 1000 days, stage III cats nearly 800 days and stage IV cats only about 100 days.

If your cat’s diagnosis is low IRIS stage chronic kidney disease, try not to worry. Treatment can help keep your cat around for years to come. I can’t guarantee your cat will do as well as my nephew cat and live to the ripe old age of 21 – but you never know!

Ascites is a fluid buildup in the abdominal cavity. Paracentesis , (the removal of the abdominal fluid) can be not only therapeutic but diagnostic. In many cases a fluid analysis can be done that may help determine the cause, but the ultrasound seemed to give some direction.

In the case of a cat, one possibility is feline infectious peritonitis, which is a viral disease. Often accompanied by high fever, it is usually fatal. Your cat’s age makes me think her ascites was probably not due to FIP but rather a liver condition, some kind of abdominal cancer or heart failure. Blood work may have been diagnostic but ultimately either a cardiac evaluation or abdominal biopsies would have most likely given answers. Had the cause been identified, treatment may have consisted of various medications starting with a diuretic, low-salt diet and periodic abdominal fluid removal.

The problem is that, despite getting answers, sometimes we can still do nothing to improve a situation and that may well have been the case with your cat.

John de Jong, D.V.M., is the owner/operator of Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic and CEO/director at Boston Animal Hospital.

When the school bell rings for the last time, many children have furry friends eagerly awaiting summertime outdoor adventures. Proper veterinary care and good hygiene can help keep pets and kids parasite-free.

Ray said as children play outside, they can contract parasites from contaminated soil.

“Infected animals that defecate on the beach or in the sandbox can leave behind parasites that can burrow into the skin or be ingested when a child eats dirt or gets sand in his or her mouth,” he said. “These intestinal parasites are easily controlled with most monthly heartworm preventives.”

Ray said children are at a higher risk for contracting zoonotic diseases — those that can be transmitted from animals to humans — because of their play habits and love for pets.

Giardiasis is a common parasitic disease with higher infection rates in the summer.

“It is spread by ingesting food or water contaminated by defecation from an infected animal or person – so campers, people who swim in ponds or kiddie pools accessible to animals, travelers and child-care workers are at a higher risk,” he said.

Ray said families can take several precautions against zoonotic diseases.

“Wash all fruits and vegetables before eating them,” he said. “Cover the sand box when it is not in use. Remove feces from the home and backyard, and use proper hygiene when handling it. Wash hands properly. Do not allow pets to roam freely because they can come into contact with infected animals. In some areas, keep your pets on heartworm prevention as well as flea and tick control every 30 days year-round.

“Use insect repellant liberally when in flea- or tick-infested areas. Shower thoroughly and check for ticks after being outside. Keep grass cut short for better flea control,” he said.

You’ve seen police on horseback or drug-sniffing dogs. But those aren’t the only animals with jobs that help their cities. From the most adorable lawn-mowers ever to man’s best bedbug hunters, here are five ways animals are helping address nagging urban problems.

As Brush Clearers

Photo courtesy of Tambako the Jaguar/Flickr

In Seattle, there are two constants: hills and blackberry bushes, the latter of which spread quickly through gardens and green spaces. Combine the two and you’ve got a real headache for the city’s public works department. But there’s one animal that thrives on hills and thorny bushes: goats.

The city’s department of transportation hired 60 goats to clear a hill of brush that was deemed too dangerous for humans to navigate. Seattle City Light, the city’s electric power utility, and the Seattle Parks and Recreation department have also hired the goats for brush clearing. One goat owner who rents them out to the city told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “They suck down blackberry vines like it was spaghetti. I don’t understand it, [but] the thorns don’t bother them at all.”

As Bedbug Finders

Bedbugs are a nightmare to get rid of and they thrive in urban environments. But many cities are finding success employing dogs to search out the elusive pests. City housing authorities from Seattle, Milwaukee, and New York have purchased bedbug-sniffing dogs. Just as dogs can be trained to sniff out drugs and bombs, certain dogs can be trained to find bedbugs.

But these specialized canines come at a high price. In 2009, Milwaukee purchased Gracie, a 12-pound Jack Russell terrier, to go on bedbug-hunting missions throughout the city’s 5,300 units of public housing. Gracie cost the city $10,000, but one city official explained to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel why she’s worth the money:

The advantage is that the animal can pinpoint bedbugs without having to go through all the units in a building, or trying to treat a whole building with various methods like raising the temperature in a building to 120 degrees.

And to stay off this list, we’re guessing it’s worth the cost.

As Natural Pesticides

In Thousand Oaks, California, native Modesto ash trees were being held captive by whiteflies and aphids (“plant lice”). Fortunately for the city, ladybugs have big appetites for these calamitous critters.

Last month, the city’s public works department deployed 720,000 hungry ladybugs to keep the plant destroyers in check. The beetles, which can consume about 5,000 of the insects throughout their two-year lifespan, cost the city about $2,000 per year. Much cheaper than the hundreds of dollars per vial of pesticide, according to the Ventura County Star.

As Lawn Mowers

Vacant lots have become a major problem in struggling cities during and even before the recession, costing taxpayers big money in maintenance and clean-up fees.

In Cleveland, officials came up with a cost-effective alternative: a flock of sheep (along with one llama). “We found that we could reduce the cost of mowing up to 50 percent and, of course, there is significantly less environmental impact,” Laura DeYoung of Urban Shepherds told The Plain Dealer.

As Mosquito Killers

Austin rather famously stumbled across its unlikely non-human ally: bats.

When the Congress Avenue Bridge was constructed in 1980, its crevices proved particularly hospitable to bats. Some Austinites wanted to see them gone, but the city decided to let them be. Today, the bridge is home to about 1.5 million bats, making it the largest urban bat colony in the world.

This has provided Austin a number of benefits. On a typical night flight the colony can consume 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of insects, including agricultural pests and mosquitoes. The bats have also become a popular tourist attraction. It’s the 21st ranked tourist attraction in the city and it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people visit the site each year.

A hot spot is a focal moist dermatitis that is hard to prevent, per se. They can come on quickly and grow from the size of a dime to a very large area in just hours! Dead hair that is trapped next to the skin and a lack of grooming can cause this, but usually it is a bug bite, parasites, allergies, grooming or some other local insult to the skin.

These fast-growing problems can occur almost anywhere but often are on the side of the face just below the ear, under the neck, or near the back end of the dog. Given where your dog had her hot spot, I would make sure the anal glands are not full, potentially causing local irritation and causing the dog to chew the area.

At this time of year, the pollen count is high and dogs with allergies itch and scratch, which could be the cause. I see a lot of these hot spots in the late spring and early fall and attribute them to possible allergic re-sponses. Shaving and cleaning the area is a must because the skin often produces a wet sticky film on the area that needs to be removed. I often suggest that owners put hydrogen peroxide on the cleaned area three times a day for one or two days after I have given the dog a shot of corticosteroids and started them on an antibiotic like Cephalexin. Sounds like the treatment worked and is similar to what I would have done.

John de Jong, D.V.M., is the owner/operator of Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic and CEO/director at Boston Animal Hospital.

In a review of multiple studies involving a total of 582 declawed cats, five suffered from persistent lameness after declaw surgery. That’s 0.86 percent, or 1 cat in 116 that are declawed.
When a cat is declawed, the end of each toe is amputated. The procedure is quite painful, so veterinarians give pain medication before, during and after the surgical procedure.
Signs of pain may include limping and lameness, reluctance to run or jump, presenting a guarded posture, sitting up like a prairie dog or diminished appetite.
Most cats resume their normal activity within a couple of weeks after surgery. Of course, we cats are stoic, so often it’s difficult to determine just how uncomfortable we are and for how long after the procedure.
If you’d rather not subject your cats to the risk of chronic pain, you can do what my mom does: She regularly trims my claws, and she offers me several legal objects to scratch. Soft plastic claw covers work well, too.

Posted: Wed, May 23, 2012 : 10:45 a.m.

Adding to the list of pet food recalls voluntarily posted recently by Diamond Pet Foods, the company has issued yet another recall in their product lines — cat food, specifically — because of salmonella.

By Dr. Cheri Nielsen
Pet Emergency and Specialty Center of Marin (Marin IJ)

Ad special members of our families, it’s difficult to see our cats and dogs suffering. Just like with children, we wish we could take the hurt away. But sometimes that’s just not possible and it’s important to know how to help our furry family members manage pain in uncomfortable situations.

If you want to be proactive about saving your pet’s life, regular veterinary visits, pet insurance and keeping a cat indoors only are certainly high on the list. But the most powerful tool of all could be about the size of a grain of rice: a microchip.

With a little planning, creating a beautiful garden that is also pet-safe is doable, writes emergency veterinarian Denise Petryk, who provides a list of toxic plants and dangerous fertilizers and chemicals. Younger animals will eat anything and are at higher risk for toxicity, but even exposure to small amounts of some toxic garden components can be harmful to pets, Dr. Petryk warns. The Seattle Times/Tails of Seattle blog (5/10)

AVOID the 10 most dangerous, most toxic plants:

— Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), pictured right — vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, cardiac failure, death.

— Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata) — tremors, difficulty breathing, vomiting, seizures, death.

— Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum) — vomiting, seizures, depression, trouble breathing.

— Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) — vomiting, heart trouble, disorientation, coma, seizures.

— Lily (Lilium species) — kidney failure in cats — ALL parts of the plant, even in small amounts.

— Morning Glory (Ipomea sp.) — vomiting, diarrhea, agitation, tremors, disorientation, ataxia, anorexia.

— Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) — drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, slow heart, weakness.

— Oleander (Nerium oleander) — diarrhea, trouble breathing, tremors, collapse, incoordination.

— Precatory Beans (Arbus precatorius) — severe vomiting and diarrhea, tremors, fever, shock, death.

The 10 most common plants that can cause drooling, vomiting, diarrhea — AND if ingested in larger amounts — more serious health problems:

—

— Hydrangea, above

— Azalea

— Boxwood

— Daffodil (bulbs are more toxic than leaves and flowers)

— Tulip (bulbs are more toxic than leaves and flowers)

— Rhododendron

— Iris (Gladiola)

— Elephant’s ear

— Clematis

— English ivy

The 10 most surprising problem plants:

— Apple (the seeds contain cyanide)

— Plum, cherry, apricots and peaches (the pits contain cyanide)

–Onions, chives and garlic (cause anemia)

— Potato and rhubarb plant leaves (vomiting)

There are some wonderfully safe annuals and perennials:

—

–Astilbe (Astilbe sp.)

–Bee Balm (Monarda sp.)

–Begonia (Begonia sp.), pictured right

–Bugbane (Cimifuga racemosa)

–Butterfly flower (Schianthus sp.)

–Calendula (Callendula sp.) –Catmint/catnip (Nepeta sp.)

–Coleus (Coleus sp.), pictured right

–Columbine (Aquilegia sp.)

–Coneflowers (Echinacea purpura)

–Coral Bells (Heuchera sp.)

–Cosmos (Cosmos sp.)

–Goat’s Beard (Aruncus dioicus)

–Impatiens (Impatiens sp.)

–Nasturtium (Tropaeolum sp.)

–New Guinea Impatiens

–Petunia (Petunia sp.)

–Phlox (Phlox sp.)

–Primrose (Primula sp.), pictured right

–Queen of the Meadow (Filipendula ulmaria)

–Roses (Rose sp.)

–Snapdragons (Antirrhinum sp.)

–Spider flower (Cleome sp.)

–Turf Lilly (Liriope sp.)

–Violet (Viola sp.)

–Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea)

–Zinnia (Zinnia sp.)

The non-plant concerns in the spring include fertilizers, pesticides, slug bait, mulch, and garden tools. Talk to your local nursery about the safest options, read labels carefully and store everything safely in sealed containers or out of reach.

Try natural products like vinegar for weeds, coffee grounds, beer and salt for slugs, and soap and water as a natural pesticide.

Avoid cocoa mulch as it comes from chocolate manufacturing and can contain substances that will cause minor chocolate poisoning (vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity) as well as general irritation to the mouth, stomach and intestines.

Many of our mature dogs (and almost all of our cats) are discriminate — they might sniff but they are not inclined to eat plants.

Grass is often the exception and in small amounts, common grasses are safe. Ornamental grasses can be very irritating to the mouth, throat, and nose so if you have a big grass eater, it is safest to avoid these plants.

Remember that puppies and kittens are always an exception. They will generally eat ANYTHING! It still makes most sense however to always pick the safest plants possible for our spring flower gardens and our deck pots.

Horticulturists employed at our favorite plant nurseries are excellent resources for pet safe plants and gardening products. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has a fantastic guide to pet-safe gardening and a wonderful collection of plant pictures and toxicity information here . PetPlace.com also has an array of informative articles written by veterinarians about toxic plants and gardening.

The three most common spring garden problems we see in our busy Tacoma pet emergency room include dogs ingesting SLUG bait poison (metaldehyde), dogs ingesting decomposing things out of the compost pile, and Lily ingestion or sniffing by cats.

A few bites of slug bait can cause horrible tremors. Quick emergency treatment is critical.

A compost pile snack can also cause tremors or it may cause drunk-like behavior or vomiting and diarrhea. Here too, quick emergency treatment is essential for a quick recovery.

Lilies are highly toxic to cats. It is safest to avoid all lilies — both as cut flowers as part of a bouquet or as a garden plant. Potential sniffing of the flower and inhaling the pollen can even be a problem to our cats.

Enjoy your garden but do your research first. Prevention is so much easier than sick animals and treatment.

Dr. Denise Petryk

Dr. Denise Petryk graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1991. Later this year she will complete her MBA at Pacific Lutheran University. For the last 20 years she has enjoyed the fast pace of emergency medicine and enjoys the satisfaction of explaining things clearly to pet owners. At home, she has a family of six — two hairy dogs, one short-haired monster dog and three perfect cats — and a big yard full of safe plants!

Photos from The Seattle Times archives