Online Drugstore Warnings!
Before you spend money for drugs or products online, you should be aware of some of the pitfalls of ordering drugs over the internet.
Here is a link to a wonderful article that everyone should read before ordering: http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/AnimalHealthLiteracy/ucm203000.htm
Since our feline friends all have a shorter lifespans than us, sooner or later you will need to make decisions for your cat that we all find difficult. Our cats spend their lives enriching ours so we should be prepared to make decisions that relieve any pain or suffering that may occur at the end of life. But when is it the “right time” to make that decision? THERE ARE NO SIMPLE ANSWERS!
Let’s start by explaining how we go about performing this procedure in what we believe is the most humane way we can. Once we have all arrived at the decision that it is time to end one of our friend’s suffering, we first administer a combination of drugs that are sedatives, painkillers, and an anesthetic. This is done via an intramuscular injection. Depending on how sick a patient may be, it can take anywhere from 1-7 minutes for your cat to fall “asleep”, or be anesthetized by the drugs and not feel any pain or be aware of the rest of the procedures. We then shave a small area on either a front or back leg and administer an intravenous injection of an overdose of pentobarbital and an anti seizure drug. This will cause the heart to stop beating and end any brain function almost instantly. Your cat will not know or feel any of this final step. At that time you will need to decide what to do with your kitty’s remains. Many of our clients have them cremated and the ashes returned. You can take the remains home and bury your kitty in your yard if you prefer.
So now, when is it the proper time to make this decision? Cats with severe injuries are a little easier to make make the decision. If there is no hope of a functional life following an injury then the decision should be made immediately. However with chronic disease such as kidney failure, cancer, or just old age, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact proper time.
I would like to offer some of the things that we consider when we are making recommendations to cat owners. First, are the basics of being a cat still in place? That is, is your cat eating enough to sustain life? Is there chronic nausea or vomiting, or is there chronic diarrhea that we cannot control with medication? Is your cat drinking to maintain hydration? Being dehydrated is unpleasant or even painful in all species, so this must be easily controlled or it is time. Is your cat using the litter box? If we have made the litter area “handicapped accessible”, and your cat still cannot make it to the box, then it is time.
Finally, and I think most important, is your cat enjoying its life still? That is, if your cat always greeted you when you came home, is it still doing that? Is it still coming to you at dinner time and asking for food? Does it play with its toys? Does it enjoy sitting in your lap and being petted and /or groomed? If it does not interact with you on its own, or if it is hiding all the time, not coming out for food, does not enjoy being touched or petted, or could care less if you are present or not, then it is time.
Often, cat owners will make an appointment to end their kitties’ life and just before, the kitty seems to rally some. This always make the decision tougher, but if there are more “bad” days than “good” days, then I usually suggest we call it quits because there will probably be many more “bad” days to come.
The decision is always a painful one for all cat owners, but remember that we are more concerned about your cat’s pain than yours. We will always make our recommendations based on your cat’s quality of life and the expectations for improvement or not. Remember that each patient has a unique situation of disease and personal strength, so we try to treat each patient with care and compassion. What would we want if this was me? Would I want to continue to live like this? These are the things that we consider and ask you to consider.
Geriatric Cat Guidelines.
The American Association of Feline Practitioners have recently released a new set of guidelines for care of the geriatric cat. Over the next few weeks, we will follow their lead with several blogs about your older cat.
The most common disease of the older cat is Chronic Kidney Disease. This disease is multifactorial in it’s causes, but it essentially is a progressive decreased ability of the kidney to get rid of waste products from the blood stream. Signs of this disease are non-specific but include:
Mild changes in behavior
Change in drinking frequency or location
Excessive thirst
Larger Volumes of urine
Small, dry bowel movements
Decreased appetite
Decrease in muscle mass
Nausea
Poor hair coat
The earlier it is diagnosed, the more likely we can slow down the progression of this disease. Simple blood and urine tests aid in diagnosing this disease, and should be considered in all older cats. Some cats that have kidney disease also suffer from hypertension. Any older cat with any of the above signs should be examined and a determination made if testing is warranted.
Older cats should visit their veterinarian at least every 6 months. In the life of a senior cat, six months is about the same as two years for a human. Certainly long enough for significant health changes to occur.
H1N1 update: Chinese dogs, Va. turkeys and Calif. cheetah
2009 H1N1 influenza virus confirmed in Iowa cat
November 4, 2009 – A 13-year old cat in Iowa developed signs of a respiratory infection after several people in the household were ill. Preliminary testing was positive for 2009 H1N1 on October 29, and the results were confirmed on November 2. This is the first report of a cat infected with H1N1. The cat has recovered from its illness.
To date, this is the first cat confirmed infected with the 2009 H1N1 virus. Two ferrets, one in Oregon and one in Nebraska, have also recently been confirmed infected with the 2009 H1N1 virus. The Nebraska ferret died, but the Oregon ferret has recovered. To date, there is no evidence that the ferrets or the cat passed the virus to people.
The American Veterinary Medical Association and American Association of Feline Practitioners are reminding pet owners that many viruses can pass between people and animals, so this was not an altogether unexpected event. We are advising pet owners to monitor their pets’ health very closely, no matter what type of animal, and visit a veterinarian if there are any signs of illness.
For more information, view the AVMA’s press release on the Iowa case or visit the AVMA’s H1N1 resources Web page.
These are 6 simple things you should do to keep your cat healthy:
Notes from “Cat Camp”: Part Two
One very hot topic at the Cornell Feline Health Center Conference this summer was feline obesity and how to deal with it. This is a topic we discuss daily here at The Cat Doctor, and one with which most of our clients will be familiar. At least 25% of the cats in the United States are obese, and 35-40% are thought to be overweight.
According to Dr. Jacquie Rand, a feline diabetes expert who visited us from the University of Queensland in Australia, the increasing incidence of obesity in cats results from a number of factors. Obviously, pet cats who are fed by their owners do not need to work for food, so many pet cats are less active than their wild counterparts. The constant quest by the pet food industry to make delicious food that cats will love also plays a role. As most of us can attest, we are more likely to overeat when the food tastes good than when it is just so-so. Neutering cats also reduces their metabolic rate and can lead to weight gain. Neutering has many positive benefits, but as pet owners we just have to realize that calorie control is simply more important after the cat has had surgery.
Dr. Rand pointed out that it takes just 10 extra kilocalories per day for a cat to gain about 1 pound per year. This is roughly equivalent to 10 kibbles of dry food–not much at all! In some ways, this is discouraging, because it seems like it must then be difficult to keep a cat from gaining weight. However, it also means that your cat does not necessarily need to go on a drastic diet to maintain or get back to a healthy weight.
Dr. Rand pointed to research that shows that even 10 minutes of physical activity a day for a cat can produce the same amount of weight loss as calorie restriction. Even though it can be hard to get your cat to play for more than a minute or two at a time, this research shows that every little bit counts! Try to get your cat to play, or even lure him up and down the stairs a few times with toys or a treat, just to get him moving.
Dr. Rand believes, as we do, that weight loss is more successful in cats eating a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, such as that found in canned foods. Another speaker at the conference, Dr. Joe Wakshlag, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, also spoke on the value of high protein diets in cats.
For some cats with stubborn weight problems that do not respond to calorie restriction and increased appetite, L-carnitine, an amino acid, can help to increase the fat-burning capacity of the body and has been proven to enhance weight loss in clinical trials. It is important to point out that Slentrol, a weight-loss drug marketed for dogs, is NOT safe in cats and leads to fatal liver complications.
One of Dr. Rand’s final points is that it’s important to weigh your cat frequently when he’s on a diet so that you can see if you are making any progress. Even a small amount of progress is important and can encourage you to stick with the program. Here at the office, you are welcome to make an appointment with the technician staff to bring your cat in for a free weigh-in on our scales. That way, they can record your cat’s weight, let you know how the diet is going, and we can make changes if you are not having success.
It’s important not to make any drastic changes in your cat’s diet without consulting the vet. Please make an appointment to discuss nutrition or be sure to bring it up at the annual checkup if you have any questions!
Notes from “Cat Camp”: Part One
Between July 24th and 26th, all three of The Cat Doctor’s veterinarians went to the Cornell Feline Health Center’s Annual Feline Symposium, aka “Cat Camp.” We try to make this excellent conference an annual event for at least some, if not all, of us. There are always great lectures by the top specialists in feline care, plus there are feline-oriented veterinarians to meet from all over the US and Canada.
This year was one of the best meetings so far! Over the next few weeks, I’d like to try to pass along some very interesting and important information that came up over the course of the weekend.
The first speaker of the weekend was Dr. Mike Lappin, an internal medicine and infectious disease specialist from Colorado State University. He does an amazing amount of research on a wide variety of infectious diseases in cats, and one of his areas of focus is zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are infections that can infect both animals and humans. These diseases are always a concern, but are of increased concern in people with suppressed immune systems. With the rise of HIV and AIDs in the past thirty years, and the increasing number of people who are successfully treated for cancer but are on drugs that suppress their immune systems, these diseases are receiving more attention. Also, seniors, pregnant women, and children are considered to be immunosuppressed, and the senior population is on the rise all around the world.
The most important information we discussed is that even people with severely suppressed immune systems can have pets! Even though many misinformed physicians still recommend that AIDs patients and pregnant women give up their pets, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends keeping your pets with appropriate precautions.
As long as pets are mature, indoors, and healthy, they present a very small risk of infection to people. Indoor pets are less likely to pick up blood-borne infections from biting insects and are also less likely to contract gastrointestinal bacteria and parasites that could be passed on to people. Mature pets are less likely to inadvertantly or playfully scratch or bite. As long as your cat is not showing signs of illness and is not having vomiting or diarrhea, the risk of infection is small. Washing your hands after petting your cat or scooping the litterbox is always a good idea and can make your risk even smaller.
It’s always important to bring your cat to the vet if he or she is sick, but especially important if your immune system is not strong. We can test for and treat any contagious infections to minimize your risk, and recommend any parasite preventatives that might be necessary to reduce any risks in the future. Indoor pets may still require flea preventatives and regular testing or deworming for intestinal parasites, despite their indoor lifestyle. One tip we learned in Cat Camp is that intestinal worm eggs can be carried on the feet of houseflies and come indoors that way. Yuck!
If you want more info on zoonotic diseases here is a great source: http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/
Ticks, Your Cat, and You
Most of us welcome the coming of spring and summer, with the longer days, warm weather, and freedom from shoveling snow! Unfortunately, the warmer weather also brings unwelcome blood-sucking pests such as fleas, ticks, and mosquitos. The dangers of heartworm carried by mosquitos have already been addressed in an earlier entry. Unlike mosquitos, which bite a host and then go away, ticks must attach to their host, sometimes for several days, to feed on their blood.
Ticks are arachnids that prefer to live in wooded areas and tall grass. There are two main types of ticks that live in the Northeast. The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, is larger and the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, is very small. Ticks go through three life stages–the six-legged larval stage, then the eight-legged nymph and adult stages. At each immature stage, the tick needs to find a host to feed on before it can progress to the next stage in the life cycle. Once the tick reaches adulthood, it feeds and then mates. Female ticks lay thousands of eggs, and the life cycle starts again.
Ticks are yucky and nobody likes the idea of an insect attached to their body or the body of their pet! However, ticks are undesirable from a medical standpoint because they can carry a wide variety of diseases that are transmitted to the animals and people that they bite. Deer ticks can carry Lyme disease, a bacterial disease that can cause joint swelling and pain, fever, and achiness. In severe cases, it can affect the eyes, the nervous system, and various internal organs. Dog ticks can carry various species of a bacterial parasite called Ehrlichia, as well as a closely related bacterial parasite called Anaplasma. Bacteria in this family seek out various types of blood cells to colonize, and can cause fever, lethargy, and low red and white blood cell counts. Ticks must be attached to a host animal for 24 hours before they can transmit Lyme disease, but some of the other tick-borne diseases can be passed on within 6-12 hours of attachment.
Dogs are very susceptible to Lyme disease and Ehrlichia infections, as are horses. Luckily, most cats are resistant to infection and rarely get sick from tick-borne diseases. Cats do occasionally get Lyme disease and Erhlichia, however, and these diseases should be considered in a sick cat who has access to the outdoors, especially if the cause of illness is not immediately obvious. There is a very convenient blood test for sick animals that screens for the most common tick-borne diseases.
Our office cat in Nashua, Big Papi, contracted Lyme disease while he was a stray, and had terribly sore and swollen joints. Treatment has improved his joints considerably, but because he was ill for so long before he came to us he has been left with permanent arthritis.
Despite the fact that cats rarely get tick-borne diseases, tick control is still very important for outdoor cats. We want to prevent cats from getting life-threatening diseases, even if they are rare. Tick control is also very important for protecting other people and pets in the cat’s household. Ticks sometimes come into the house on a host animal, but then drop off and transfer to a human or other animal in the house. Since people are very susceptible to Lyme disease, and also can get Ehrlichia infections and become very ill, it is important to prevent exposure to ticks via outdoor cats.
The most important thing you can do to prevent your cat or yourself from suffering from tick bites is to check your cat for ticks every time he comes in from outside. This way you can remove any unattached ticks that could jump onto you as well as finding ticks before they have been attached for long enough to pass on an infection. A tick control medication, called Frontline, is also generally safe and effective at killing ticks once they have attached to your cat. Frontline should be applied every 3-4 weeks if you live in an area that has many ticks.
Frontline is available over the counter as well as in our office. We also offer several other parasite preventatives, such as Advantage, Revolution, and Heartgard. Please call if you have any questions about parasites and ways to prevent them. Other medications that are available in pet stores and grocery stores are not as safe for your cat and can cause life-threatening side effects and reactions. If you choose to buy medications somewhere other than our office, please do not purchase any product other than Frontline.
Learn The Proper Way to Remove a Tick
1. Using tweezers, grasp the tick as close to where it is embedded in the skin as possible. Do not grasp the tick by the body. Never use your fingers, as this can expose you to diseases the tick may be carrying.
2. Pull slowly and steadily, directly out. Do not jerk, twist or wiggle the tick. The steady pressure will make the tick release its hold and allow you to remove it intact. Be patient if this takes a little time.
3. Check to make sure all of the tick has been removed. Occasionally some of the tick’s mouth remains imbedded in the skin. Be careful to remove any parts remaining.
4. Once you have removed the tick, put it in alcohol to kill it. Ticks can survive being flushed down the toilet, as well as being thrown in the garbage.
5. Disinfect the wound with soap or a disinfectant. Hydrogen peroxide applied to the area, left on for one minute, then blotted dry works well. Remember to wash your own hands with soap and water.
Powered by WordPress