Albuquerque Journal Articles
Pets, without question, feel pain just as we do. Better pet hospitals treat & prevent pain. Question: I have often wondered about cats and dogs and pain, especially when Skippy, our wonder cat with 3 legs, had most of his hind leg amputated to the hip. He came home the evening of surgery and my wife and I took turns holding him all night. He did not seem to be in pain, but rather out of it or a little crazy from the anesthetic. Isn’t pain medication typically given for this kind of thing, and for such procedures as…
Have a stool check done for the kitty’s health. Have a new kitten wormed for yours. Question: We got a new cat last week and took him to the vet for his first shots. After the doctor gave him the shot he said that we need to bring in a stool sample to check Teka for worms. He also said Teka needs to be wormed anyway even if they don’t find worms in his stool. Why not just worm the darn cat in the first place and forget the stool sample? Dr. Nichol: That piece of advice is…
A nasty parasite, they can also infect humans. Question: What causes hookworms and what are the symptoms? Can my kitten be reinfested with them? (She is strictly an indoor cat.) Dr. Nichol: Hookworms are passed between cats and dogs by microscopic eggs and through the skin. They bite into the inside wall of the intestine and suck blood. They cause weight loss, diarrhea, and anemia. If you fail to dump out your cat’s litter pan after every use your girl can become reinfected as you give her the medication to eliminate those worms. The good news is that…
A grumpy, sleepy cat with fleas is also anemic & sick. Frontline should do the trick. Question: My cat of eight months, recently has been sleeping a lot, and every time I pick him up, he gets mad, and bites me. My cat is normally very active, and doesn’t mind getting handled. My cat right now is experiencing a lot of fleas. I don’t know if that has to do with anything. Dr. Nichol: You make the diagnosis simple. Those fleas are a major nuisance to your cat and, in large numbers, will cause grumpiness. But more importantly,…
Don’t Waste Time with Meat Diets & Supplements. Get a Diagnosis & Save Your Cats’ Lives Question: When my 5-year old sibling cats had a dental cleaning, the vet performed blood tests. The results indicated less than 50% of normal red blood cell count for one and low normal for the other. He suggested feeding them some red meat. I also have been putting drops the vet prescribed, to prevent anemia, on their food. Both are feisty, active, well-adjusted and affectionate cats. I don’t want to subject them to more blood work, but do not know if their red blood…
Feline hyperthyroidism (benign thyroid tumors) continues to advance among our pet cat population so I thought I’d share some useful research. The big bad guy in the blogosphere has been a chemical coating on the inside of pop-top cat food cans called bis phenol A. But there have also been links to certain types of cat litter, flea preventatives, and even chemicals in the environment that affect hormone levels. Flame retardants are also suspect. Research, I am learning from direct experience, is often complicated by multiple factors. Feline hyperthyroidism, first recognized in 1979, has become more common. At the…
Cat Food in Pop Top Cans & other possible Risk Factors Question: I just heard about the possible link between bisphenol-A in pop-top canned cat food and hyperthyroidism. How can I safely feed canned food to my cats? From another reader: I heard that tuna can cause hyperthyroidism in cats. Dr. Nichol: There is evidence that food from pop top cans may put cats at risk of hyperthyroidism (benign thyroid tumors) but other factors are clearly at work. A disease of older cats that causes weight loss, voracious appetites, and potentially fatal heart and kidney disease, hyperthyroidism is curable,…
Methimazole Helps Many. Consider the Cures Carefully Question: My 10 year old female cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism 2 years ago and placed on oral methimazole 10mg. The dose was too high (she wouldn’t eat or play and she was always cold) so she has been taking 5mg. for the past year. Now our vet is saying that her dose needs to be increased again even though neither her behavior nor weight have changed. I am very concerned about the increase, but I certainly don’t want to shorten her life span. Is a surgical option worth the risks involved? Dr. Nichol:…
Symptoms are Red Flags; there is Help for Financial Constraints Question: Gritz is an 8 year old cat, weighs 14 lbs. His urine has an overwhelming odor. When he uses the litter box it sounds like a fire hose. It seems sticky. He has a good appetite and drinks plenty of water. He was very sick 1 month ago with severe dehydration, not eating, drinking, or going to the bathroom. He also had a very sticky clear substance that he was drooling. The only thing the vet could find was a high protein level in his urine. He now seems…
New Insulin & Better Diets Question: Please write about feline diabetes and its management. Every owner I meet has been told something different by his/her vet. Food is a biggy, but what brands? Wet? Dry? Carbs vs. protein? What types of insulin are best? Dr. Nichol: There are good reasons for the differing information. Some diabetics require a change in treatment because they stop responding. To further muddy the waters some reliable forms of insulin are recently no longer available. We still have good choices. Many newly diagnosed cats with uncomplicated diabetes do very well on glargine insulin.…