Happy Pets

The first thing to note is that a cat’s nutritional requirements will change throughout the course of its life. Their mother’s milk contains all of the nutrients that kittens need for the first month or two of their lives, after which, in the wild, they would be weaned on mice and other sources of fresh flesh. Your kitten should have been weaned before it moves in with you, but because its nose and stomach will probably have become accustomed to a particular diet, you will probably have to wean it off this gradually before switching to your preferred alternative full-time. (more…)

As well as transmitting and receiving scent messages, cats communicate volumes by means of their body language and vocalization.

The feline body – particularly the ears and tail – is a highly expressive instrument that instantly communicates how a cat is feeling within its skin if only you know how to interpret the key notes. The emotional signal that is perhaps the easiest for humans to recognize is fear. When threatened by a more dominant cat with hostile intent which it has no desire to fight, the undercat will nevertheless stand its ground, albeit flattening its body, fur and ears in an attempt to make itself look as small and inoffensive as it can, shortly thereafter beginning to creep slowly backwards as it tries to remove itself from danger. (more…)

Its hearing is the first sense that alerts the cat to potential prey when it is out hunting and, due to its genetic inheritance, the sounds that are most likely to signal the proximity of rodents, its favourite meal, are the ones to which it is the most attuned. And because rodents utter high- pitched squeaks, the upper frequencies of the sound range are those that the cat’s ears are especially adept at detecting, exceeding both dogs and humans in their sensitivity. Indeed, when you think that our detection of acoustic vibrations rises to around 20,000 hertz, and a cat’s to 50,000, we must be deaf to a cacophony of interesting sounds. (more…)

Caspar and Mechior

Despite the devoted attention that they pay to ear-washing, sadly neither of our two cats seem to possess the power — or, perhaps, the inclination — to save us the bother of watering the garden on a sultry summer’s night. Caspar and Melchior will be putting in an occasional appearance to illustrate some of the choices and problems — as well as the pleasures — that all cat-owners inevitably face. I hope that sharing our experience of their habits and idiosyncrasies, as well as of the ailments that have afflicted them during the past twelve years and the care strategies that we have used (some successful, others less so), will prove useful to you. (more…)

Ulcers are painful areas of inflammation affecting the skin, eye or membranes such as the gums and nose. The affected tissue becomes swollen, red and often moist and angry looking. Various things can trigger an ulcer: trauma, infection or allergy being the commonest. Corrosive chemicals can also be responsible and if swallowed these can ulcerate the throat, oesophagus and stomach, giving very unpleasant symptoms. Ulceration of the ear tips (see EAR PROBLEMS; SUNBURN) is common in white cats which sun bathe a lot. (more…)

Travel sickness is somewhat different from anxiety about traveling, although there is undoubtedly considerable overlap between the two problems. Acclimatization to travel is best started in young kittens, since they adapt better and learn quickly, and the acclimatization process can be as gradual as needed. This can work in older cats too, and is worth tackling if frequent travel becomes necessary (see below for a suitable programme). (more…)

Wheezing

Wheezing is noisy breathing (respiration) and may be accompanied by increased effort during breathing, noticeable by exaggerated movements of the abdomen or chest, and perhaps more rapid breathing than normal. True wheezing is often caused by allergic conditions, especially the quite common condition of feline ASTHMA, but most owners would be unable to differentiate this from similar breathing noises caused by other conditions such as PNEUMONIA. (more…)

Adverse effects of vaccination

Modern vaccines are very safe in the vast majority of patients, nevertheless, as with all medical products and drugs, a small risk remains in their administration. This small risk is considered preferable to the larger risk imposed by the disease being protected against in most cases; in other words a ‘risk-benefit analysis’ is usually seen as coming out in favour of the vaccine, since some of the diseases being protected against can be fatal. A recent comprehensive review’ of vaccination in cats and dogs continued to support the administration of vaccines and their annual booster in most cases.

Adverse reactions can be variable in nature, from the temporary slight increase in temperature and sleepiness, sometimes associated with lameness, often noticed in kittens at their very first vaccine, to rarer symptoms such as allergy/hypersensitivity type reactions and even anaphylaxis (an unusual severe allergic reaction which is treated as an emergency). (more…)

Cat Warts

Warts are small benign growths on the skin surface which often have a characteristic wrinkled appearance. They are common in dogs, less so in cats. All skin growths should be checked out by a veterinary surgeon in case removal is necessary. Warts near the eye may be removed quickly owing to possible interference with the eyelids. (more…)

Arsenicum album

Chemical substance from which the remedy is prepared: arsenic trioxide

Arsenic is of course the ‘archetypal’ poison and if anyone is asked to name a poison it is likely that they will mention this chemical. Arsenic’s potency as a toxin means, of course, that it can also be an extremely potent and valuable homoeopathic remedy, with wide-ranging constitutional effects in the body. There is of course no danger of toxicity in homoeopathic preparation since there are so few, or no, molecules of arsenic present in the prepared remedy. (more…)