Archive for August, 2009

Cleaning your cat’s ears is essential in ensuring he doesn’t get ear infections that can cause horrendous damage if left untreated.  For the sake of your cat’s health and your pet insurance, it is well worth cleaning your cat’s ears regularly.  In this post I provide a simple guide to how to clean your cat’s ears thoroughly.  You will need cotton balls and ear cleaning fluid, though some owners prefer to use olive oil instead.  You can also clean with the addition of cotton swabs, as I shall explain later.

Firstly, place the olive oil or ear cleaning fluid container in some warm water to heat it to body temperature.  Then, with the cat lying down on a flat surface, fill the ear canal with the fluid – this should only take a few drops!  With the fluid in the ear canal, massage the base of the ear for about 30 seconds to work the fluid around and release the debris.  Some owners suggest leaving the cat alone for a while now, to allow him to shake his head around, further dislodge dirt and move the fluid to the outer ear – this stage is entirely up to you.  Lastly, using a cotton ball, wipe out the loose debris and excess fluid to thoroughly clean the ear and move on to the other.

Cotton swabs can be used to further clean the ear, as they are very useful for cleaning out the earflap and visible part of the ear canal.  However, please note that cleaning further down the ear canal is more likely to push debris further down than remove it.  It is highly advisable NOT to clean any further down the ear canal than you can see.

Despite the abundance of cases of ear mites, lice and fleas taking up residence on our cats; the most common parasite seen in adult cats is actually the tapeworm, which attaches itself to the wall of the intestine by hooks and suckers on its head! 

The body of a tapeworm is made up of quarter-inch long segments, each of which contains eggs.  Over the course of the tapeworm’s life, these segments break off and are passed out of the anus in the faeces for other organisms to pick up.  These organisms are normally lice and fleas which, having picked up the tapeworm segment, are commonly ingested by another animal – continuing the tapeworm’s life in a new intestine.  Hence, if your cat has a tapeworm, the chances are that it has lice or fleas as well!

Tapeworms are easily treated by either a deworming pill or injection.  Signs that your cat has tapeworms include dry segments found in the hair around the anus or in the bedding.  On rare occasions or when they are present in large numbers, tapeworms can cause weight loss and debilitation in cats, though a more reliable sign may be “scooting” – where the cat drags his behind across the ground to soothe anal irritation.  This sign is far more common in dogs that cats, however.   

Luckily tapeworms aren’t that bad for you cat’s health so don’t worry yourself too much about seeking out the signs.

Although ear infection of the outer ear (otitis externa) is very common in cats, the disease can also spread deeper down the ear canal if not treated quickly enough.  Otitis externa is has a range of causes and treatments, but will normally have no more serious an affect than discomfort and trauma to the ear from scratching.

Inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media) however, can actually require surgery to put right – although treatment normally involve antibiotics or antifungals.  Symptoms include shaking or tilting or the head as well as a loss of balance in some cases.  Should the infection reach the inner ear (otitis interna), then your cat is in real trouble as these infections can result in permanent damage or even death!  The signs of otitis interna are un-missable and include vomiting, hearing loss and loss of coordination.  For this reason it is imperative that ear diseases are diagnosed and treated as soon as possible, as many cats are put down when the treatment is too expensive for owners without pet insurance.

There are many causes of ear disease and hence many treatments.  In this post I explain a few of the causes and their appropriate treatments.

Bacteria and Yeast:

There are many different kinds of bacteria and yeast that can cause ear infections and hence the ear has evolved to have excellent defences against them.  However, variations in the ear environment – caused by moisture, for example – can provide a breeding ground for bacteria and yeast, allowing them to multiply and overcome the ear’s natural defences.

Regular ear cleaning helps combat both bacterial and yeast infections, though normally a course of antibiotics or antifungals will be required as well, to prevent the infection spreading deeper in the ear.

Allergies:

Allergies change the ear environment, increasing the chances of bacteria and yeast infections.  However, simply treating the infection is not enough in cases when the problem is cause by allergies in the first place.  Allergy testing is recommended to discern the best treatment.

Normal treatment of allergies in cats involves regular ear cleaning combined with antihistamines and fatty acid supplements.

Parasites:

Ear mites are a very common cause of ear problems in cats that can be detected by debris of a dark, crumbly material in the ear.  If a cat is hypersensitive to mites, the itching caused by the parasite can be so intense that the cat may actually damage their ear by scratching so much! 

Once again, regular ear cleaning is recommended, though this time a mediation will be required to kill the mites.  

As should be obvious from the above information; it is essential to keep your cat’s ears clean!

Cats are not humans.  Whilst that may seem an obvious thing to write on a cat-lover’s blog, many people treat their feline friend as if he were a human companion.  Whilst I fully approve of talking to your cat and treating him with equal respect as any human being; you simply cannot feed a cat the same things you would feed a human.

No matter what the government and your nutritionalist might tell you about the necessity of fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet – this is not the case for cats.  Cats are carnivores; their body has literally evolved to eat nothing but meat, meaning lots of seemingly harmless foods are actually poisonous to cats.  This is because harmful substances in plants are normally broken down by the liver; because cats have not evolved to eat plants, their livers don’t function particularly well and cannot handle various foods we have come to consider as safe. 

 Although some foods must be eaten in large quantities before they cause illness, others are toxic in small amounts and can cause major health problems very quickly.  It is highly important that any cat owner learns to recognise when their cat has eaten enough of something, or is suffering from something in their diet.  I cannot teach you to learn these skills over the internet; what I can do is include posts in this blog that detail what is unsafe to give your cat.  Hopefully this will help you protect your favourite feline from falling ill.

Ear disease, especially of the outer ear (otitis externa), is one of the most common conditions in pets and is estimated to be responsible for up to 6% of feline hospitalisations. The main reason for this is that ear disease can have a variety of causes, including hereditary conditions, allergies, parasites and microorganisms, objects stuck in the ear, trauma and the environment within the ear itself.

Due to the various causes of ear disease, careful diagnosis is required to ascertain the correct treatment. This will include a through physical examination, as well as inspection of the ear canal and taking swabs of the ear. Depending on the cause of the problem, treatments include antibiotics for bacterial infection, antifungals for yeast infections and glucocorticoids to reduce inflammation. When it is a systemic disease that is causing the ear infection, the treatment will have to involve the entire cat rather than just the ear.

Signs of Ear Disease Include:

• Ear odour
• Scratching of ears
• Discharge from ears
• Redness of ear canal
• Shaking or tilting of head
• Pain around the ears

Pyelonephritis is an inflammation of the kidney, commonly caused by a urinary tract infection that has travelled up to the kidney. It is a serious disease that can lead to kidney failure, sepsis and death, but although acute infections can cause bloody urine, vomiting and fever, the signs can be so subtle that they can easily go unnoticed. There are more obvious signs of the disease, like hunched posture, listlessness and weight loss; but often these do not come about until kidney failure has already occurred.

For this reason, pyelonephritis must be diagnosed early to be successfully treated. Diagnosis normally takes the form of a through physical examination and complete history and description of clinical signs, as well as the following baseline tests: a urinalysis to detect the presence of protein, bacteria or white blood cells in the urine; a complete blood count to detect elevated numbers of white blood cells; biochemical profiling to detected elevations in kidney enzymes.

Treatment normally involves dietary modification, fluid therapy and courses of antibiotics over at least four to six weeks. Surgery is sometimes necessary when pyelonephritis is associated with urinary calculi, though this can be expensive for owners without pet insurance.

Signs of Pyelonephritis Include:

• Painful, bloody and malodorous urinationE
• Excessive drinking but loss of appetite
• Abdominal or back pain
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• Lethargy

Cats eating mice is just about as old an image as you can get; after all, the mouse is the natural prey for any breed of cat. However, when you consider the size of a mouse, doesn’t it seem that a cat might have to eat a fair amount of them on a daily basis to get enough food? The truth is that a mouse only provides about 10% of the daily energy that a cat requires, so – in the wild – cats need to catch quite a lot of prey every day!

However, despite having evolved eating small meals multiple times a day; it is common practise for most cat owners to feed their pet fairly large meals twice a day instead. Yet feeding studies into felines have shown that, when given a choice, cats prefer to eat up to 20 times in 24 hours!

Some cats will happily nibble away at food left out twice a day, but others seem to make it a personal mission to scoff it all down – whether they want to or not! For this reason it is advisable, if you have the time available, to try catering for your cat’s natural tendency towards small meals. Although pet insurance companies are yet to take “feeding habits” into account when you apply, small meals will actually help keep your cat slim, healthy and full of energy.

I thought I’d start this blog with some information about fantastic breed of cat; the highly popular Abyssinian, whose direct descendents were literally worshiped by Ancient Egyptians, who believed they were manifestations of the very Gods themselves! However, despite this grand herriatage, the behaviour of modern Abyssinians could hardly be less Godlike! Known as the clowns or jokers of the cat kingdom, Abyssinians are playful and amusing cats, full of energy and life and rarely aloof. Although they love being involved in as much of their owner’s life as possible, they are very curious cats and are not particularly fond of being restrained, so try not to cramp their style!

When it comes to looking after Abyssinians, it is worth knowing they are prone to tooth decay and hence gingivitis. This is not a major problem if you can persuade your cat to put up with tooth-brushing, but this can be harder than it sounds. I highly recommend regular dental check-ups and taking out cat insurance to help cover the cost of any dental procedures that might come by surprise! Otherwise, Abyssinians are a fairly healthy breed of cat with no major genetic defects, although cases of hereditary amyloidosis are not uncommon.

Hello and welcome to the cat health bulletin!  I – catexpert - have been a lover of all things feline since infancy and hope to share my accumulated knowledge and passion for cats with the rest of you.

When I was just a toddler, my family had three cats; Wacky and Sammy (the parents) and a kitten called Teeny who I grew up with and who sparked my passion for everything cat-related!  As luck would have it, I lived very close to London zoo and, before long, big cats were another huge part of my life.  This feline passion of mine reached an high just after my 18th birthday, when I was given the opportuniy to spend six months in Zambia, in a Lion rehabilitation centre where I helped a dediated team get injured Lions back into the wild, without taming them.

As soon as I returned I signed up for veterinary science at Nottingham University and spent a few happy years learing as much as possible about my favourite subject.  Since then, I have worked closely with the RSPCA and Cat Protection, caring for and rehousing cats across the UK, as well as offering cat insurance advice to owners.  Hopefully this collection of information and insights about different breeds of cat will help you readers care for your cats too.