Archive for the ‘Health Problems’ Category

A couple of months ago we brought you information on the correct technique to use when cleaning your cat’s ears. However, it was clear by your responses that you weren’t all entirely confident with what to do. Bearing in mind that ear infections are amongst the most common forms of health problems found in cats, it’s especially important that you know what you’re doing in this area; even those of you with the very best cat insurance can’t afford to neglect learning this technique. That’s why today we bring you this video from Cat the Vet – a detailed video guide to cleaning your cat’s ears. We figured it would be better to show you what to do this time, so here you go:

[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMVLrgKNP5M[/youtube]

Hopefully now you can see what we mean for yourself, you’ll be able to clean your cat’s ears properly!

Remember to keep checking back for more help and information.

Life humans, all cats will vomit at some point in their lives – it’s perfectly natural. However, if you find your cat continues to vomit over a prolonged period of time, even when there is nothing left in their stomach – there could be something more serious going on. Other symptoms that may indicate that the vomiting might be due to a more serious problem include:

• Blood in the vomit or faeces
• Overall weakness and distress
• Pain in the abdomen

The biggest problem with regards to acute vomiting is that it can have many causes and it’s not easy to discern which is to blame. Some of these causes include:

• Allergic reactions to food (or food intolerance)
• Sudden diet changes
• Worms
• Gastroenteritis
• Tumours
• Kidney disease

Although allergies are fairly easy to treat, more serious problems can require urgent medical intervention. For this reason it is highly important not only that you take your pet to the vet as soon as possible, but that you also invest in cat insurance to ensure you can afford for your cat to have surgery if required.

Next time we’ll cover a few of the ways to tell what might be causing acute vomiting in your cat.

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.