Feline Q&A Archive

Have a pet related question you need answered? Every week we pick a few of the best questions to be answered by Acme Pet's panel of Pet Professionals & Veterinarians. So read through these previously answered questions, or ask a question of your own!

Topics

Kitten Care | Breeding Concerns | Flea Control | Feline Diseases
Behavior Problems | Diet | Dental Care | Pet Loss | Other
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Legal Stuff: All answers should be considered free advice. Always consult your Veterinarian before following any information on this page. Acme Pet specifically disclaims liability for mistakes or damages that may stem from the content of this Web page.


Kitten Care

Q. I recently aquired a kitten from the shelter. What is the best way to insure that the cat makes good use of the litter box? What should I do if the it has an accident outside of the box?

A. It is very infrequent that a cat will not use a litter box. Just make sure that the box is easily accessable and that you use good quality litter. If the cat refuses to use the box or is having accidents, have him checked by your veterinarian.


Q. Will a male cat harm his new kittens?

A. For the most part, a male cat will not harm his kittens as long as there is no competition for food and the cat is not normally aggressive towards other cats. If you are unsure, do not leave the male cat alone with the kittens for long periods of time until the kittens are old enough to fend for themselves.


Q. I will be acquiring a kitten soon and am concerned as to the best age to have her spayed. I've heard this can be done as young as 7 weeks without adverse effects but is it better to do this when she is older? She will be 8 weeks when I get her.

A. I do not recommend having her spayed until six months of age. Some shelters do the surgery on very young animals just so they can get them spayed. Personally, I feel this is far too young. The animals do require hormones for normal development, and there has not been proof that early spaying is not potentially dangerous later in life. Also, lung development is not that great to handle an operation like this without the potential for complications. If spayed around six months of age, they usually have not had a heat cycle and they are well developed enough to make the surgery safe. My recommendation is to wait until six months.


Q. Is it normal for kittens to try to nurse from a male cat? neither the kittens nor the male seem to mind and they don't go near the mother any more.

A. It is not abnormal for kittens to nurse on a male cat especially if the mother is gone or won't allow the kittens to nurse anymore. Kittens are weaned from their mother at six weeks of age. If they are a lot younger than this, they should still be on a kitten formula. If they are six weeks or older, they should be given a kitten food. Usually, the male cat will discourage this behavior when the kittens get older, or if the male tires of it.


Breeding Concerns

Q. I think my cat is pregnant, and so I'm looking for more information about the whole thing (I'm a first time 'parent' !). Maybe I'm being lazy, but can you point me to more info, please?!

A. You should take your cat to your local veterinarian to find out for sure if she is pregnant or not. A cat's gestation period is around 2 months, and fetal balls can usually be palpated at about 3-4 weeks. Remember, the cat can be spayed at any time, regardless of how pregnant she is, if you do not want her to have the kittens. If you do want her to have the kittens, has she been vaccinated? Has she been tested for Leukemia? Do you know who she might have been bred with? These are all important questions. Your local veterinarian can help you determine if she is healthy, when to vaccinate after birth (the cat can't be vaccinated while pregnant to avoid birth defects) and how far along she might be.


Flea Control

Q. I am curious about the various forms of flea control both the natural (i.e. homeopathic) and chemical.

A. Flea control can be a big problem and deciding what the best form of control is can be an even bigger problem. There are many, many different products-both prescription and over-the-counter. In my experience, the OTC products do not work as well as the prescription products. The newest flea control product out now is Program which is a once a month liquid suspension that is given to the cat to prevent flea infestation. Program prevents any flea that bites the cat from reproducing. It is very good for those people that have problems with fleas in the house. The down side is that it does not directly kill fleas so flea shampoos and sprays are still recommended.

The one thing that I have found consistently works in dealing with fleas is being diligent about looking for them. In bad infestations, I recommend that you take your cat to your veterinarian and have the cat bathed and sprayed. While that is going on, go home and treat your house. A very good product to use for this is Siphotrol Plus House Treatment. I prefer the spray to the bombs(foggers) because it is cheaper and it allows you to get right where the fleas hide, like in corners of carpet, under furniture, and in cool, dark places. After you bring the clean cat into the clean house, check him EVERY day. This only takes a couple of minutes and if you find a flea, spray the cat or give it a flea bath with a good quality flea shampoo.


Feline Diseases

Q. I have a 1 year old cat that was recently diagnosed with bacterial cystitis. The vet at the emergency clinic suggested that I change his diet but, to check with our regular vet with regard to specific brands. The brand that our vet suggested was higher in both ash and magnesium content than what we are currently feeding Peaches. In personally researching other brands of food, I have found brands with lower ash and magnesium contents. All this information has just led to more confusion. Can you please suggest some possible brands of cat food that would be appropriate for our situation. Thank you for your consideration regarding this matter.

A. My personal feelings on your cat's situation is that one bout of cystitis is not a reason to change your cat's diet as long as he/she was on a good quality diet. If you really want to change, one of the better diets is feline c/d which is a prescription diet with low enough ash and magnesium to prevent or help prevent problems.


Q. My seven-year-old (?) female calico develops pink, scaly patches on her chest & abdomen every 3-4 months, sometimes accompanied by feline acne. Her vet says there's no "cure", and cause is unknown. A cortisone shot clears it in about a week. Any comments/suggestions?

A. This sounds like you cat may have Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex. When these plaques or patches appear, a biopsy will sometimes confirm this, not always though. If you want to know exactly what it is, have a full thickness biopsy of the skin and an impression smear of the acne lesions done. The "cure" for this is steroids. I put cure in quotes because there really is not a cure, but cortisone manages the problem nicely. It sounds like this is what is already being done in your cat's case. A shot of Depo-Medrol, a long acting corticosteroid, is what is normally used.


Q. My cat has an elevated thyroid [15.2] He is taking tapazole twice daily. What are the long term health consequences and should he be on a special diet? He has also lost a lot of weight.

A. A thyroid level of 15 is pretty high. Hopefully your cat is not too ill. Tapazole is an anti-thyroid medication that will bring down the levels to normal, even subnormal ranges of 1-5. It is typically given as a 2-3 times a day drug. The dosage is based initially on weight and severity of clinical signs. It is then adjusted based on repeated thyroid level tests. The drug is not without risks and can cause some blood abnormalities such as anemias, etc. I recommend checking a complete blood count within the first 2-3 weeks of therapy, even sooner if the cat is severely compromised, then every 4-6 months along with a thyroid level.

The thing to remember about Tapazole is it is not a cure. It only fixes the clinical signs and decreases thyroid levels. Hyperthyroidism is due to a tumor of the thyroid gland, one or both, and surgical removal or treatment with radioactive Iodine is the cure. Many times, Tapazole becomes ineffective over time. Some can be maintained for the rest of their life on the drug, but the treatment of choice is surgery.

The Iodine treatment can only be done at certain veterinary universities. Surgery can be done by a board certified surgeon, or your veterinarian if he/she is equipped to deal with the monitoring needed after surgery and is comfortable with the procedure. Good luck.


Q. My cat is three years old. We have had her since she was born. She was born here actually. She and her brother both have this skin problem. It is like a rash, but never goes away. My parents think they are allergic to fleas, but I am not sure. We tried some type of medicine, but the condition came back. What can we do? What do you think it is? Is There any way to treat it so Sam (my cat) won't have it anymore. It really doesn't bother her too much, except that she is constantly licking her back where the condition mostly is. It is also on her neck. Please tell me there is something we can do.

A. It is difficult to know what is going on without actually seeing the skin. However, if the cats have no hair in these areas and are constantly licking, the problem could be psychogenic alopecia. This is a fairly common condition of cats that excessively groom themselves to the point of licking out all there hair for no reason (like fleas). The treatment can be a long-lasting steroid injection called Depo-Medrol or hormonal treatment like Ovaban. If the cats have fleas, that is probably 90% of the problem.


Q. My 12 year old indoor cat who has always been very healthy just started turning jaundice. After many test the vet believes it is due to old age. He only threw up once. We notice the coloring start about 2 weeks before we took him in since he had no symptoms. The vet gave him fluids to flush him out and it seemed to help a little; he is still somewhat yellow, he has white ears and you can see it there and around his mouth. He eats fine and is frisky. Can you give me any insight to this problem. The vet was very vague as to what brought this on beside age. We recently lost our 18 year old siamese very suddenly. In fact, he was fine one minute and just fell over dead in front of us. could this be connected? We are very attached and hate to think we might lose him too. Any information on liver disease in older cats would be helpful.

A. Cat's don't turn yellow because they get old. Jaundice is a sign of liver disease and usually severe. The fact that he eating is a good sign though. The causes of liver disease and jaundice are many and varied. If he just had a bout of hepatitis and turned jaundice and now it has cleared up with treatment, the yellow color can take several weeks to go away. If it is not going away, then there is something going on and the cat will get sick. I would recommend a biopsy of the liver as well as x-rays and ultrasound. You need to find out the cause of the jaundice before the problem gets too severe.


Behavior Problems

Q. My eight year old male cat has just started to use a large planter as a litter box. What is his problem?

A. This is probably one of two things, a behavioral problem or a urinary tract infection. The urinary tract infection is easy enough to diagnose at your veterinarian's office. If it is behavioral, there could be many reasons. Did you get another pet, just move, change litter etc? Try putting foil around the planter. Cats don't like the feel of the foil and oftentimes stay away.


Q. My 7 year old neutered male cat is spraying\/urinating all over my house. He first chose only the formal dining room for his personal powder room. Now he is hitting the guest room, my closet, the furniture etc. I have been a stay-at-home Mom for 12 years and got a job 1 1/2 years ago. He needs to get over it! OUR HOUSE STINKS!!! We are getting our house re-carpeted next week. I don't want to get rid of the cat. My kids love him, my husband loves him and Yeah, I love him too! But, I refuse to let him ruin the new carpet (we're getting carpet instead of a trip to Jamaica so I'm a little bitter) I've been to our vet and he doesn't have bladder problems. We are trying elavil (sp) but he throws up when I give him the pill and/or bites me. If we do get it down all he does is sleep. I don't want to put the cat to sleep! He doesn't have front claws so he can't be an outdoor cat. A shelter that takes cats and doesn't euthanize them is an option but would he be happy? Do you have any ideas at all?

A. Inappropriate urination is one of the most frustrating and difficult problems that veterinarians face. If you have tried all of the different "tricks" such as changing litter, using several litter boxes, etc., there are other drugs that can be used. There are several different drugs that are used for spraying and they are like headache medicines-some work for some cats, others work for other cats. There are no guarantees, and in my experience, one doesn't work better than another. However, I have had luck with Valium, Ovaban, and, a newer drug on the market, Busparone. If these do not work, you could try getting another cat, this behavior may all be due to separation anxiety. If that is not an option, and the drug therapy doesn't work, most shelters will not take a cat that has this behavior problem because it is hard to find (and really isn't fair to the new owner) a new home for them. Unfortunately, inappropriate urination is probably the most common reason we have to euthanize young, healthy cats. I hope it does not come down to that. Investigate the other therapies with your veterinarian and good luck.


Q. I have a cat, 9 yrs. old, who has, since she was a kitten, urinated on carpets, clothing, etc. We have seen countless vets, ruled out a urinary tract infection, and replaced thousands of dollars worth of carpet. Having moved to a new house we feel we simply cannot afford the kind of damage she incurs and are faced with having to give her away if a solution is not found. We have tried sprays and such which are supposed to keep her away from certain areas, tried changing her litter box daily, and just about everything else we could think up. Do you have any suggestions? We're desperate.

A. Have you tried any behavior modifying drugs for this problem. There are many out there, such as Valium, Ovaban, Busparone, Prozac etc. This is a very frustrating problem not only for owners but also for veterinarians. Sometimes this behavior can not be corrected for whatever reason. If you have not tried some of these drugs, talk to your veterinarian before you give up. You may need to try all of them before you find the one that works. Good luck and let me know how things turn out.


Diet

Q. Our cat suffered an episode of urolithiasis a year ago. We were feeding him about half dry food, and half canned food. This has been treated, and the cat is healthy on a proprietary diet of canned food designed to alter urinary pH. The trouble is that the diet is very expensive, and really BORING. This is the plan: we go back to normal canned cat food, and no more dried food. But, the canned food is immersed in water to ensure that he urinates plenty. Is this a bad plan?

A. Your plan of ensuring that your cat drinks plenty of water is never a bad one. The question is, what exactly did your cat have? Urolithiasis is a condition of having stones which, if in the bladder or urethra, are usually surgically removed. If this is a male cat and he was blocked, where he couldn't urinate, that's another story. Either way, one episode does not guarantee that your cat will always have problems. If the cat does not like the food, I would feed him what you want as far as cat food goes and have a urine checked by your veterinarian on a routine basis. Dry food is better for them, as far as their teeth go, and usually cheaper. If you want to make sure they drink enough water, you can lightly salt the dry food and keep the water topped off and fresh.


Dental Care

Q. My cat’s teeth seem to get a lot of tartar. Is there anything I can do to stop this?

A. To cut down on the amount of tartar build up on your pet's teeth, feed him/her a dry food. Wet or canned foods tend to accumulate tartar on the teeth. Also, brushing the teeth or at least wiping them with warm water and cotton can help decrease the rate of tartar build up. To get rid of what is on the teeth, have your veterinarian perform a dental. Routine dentals have been shown to increase a dog's or cat's life expectancy and quality of life.


Pet Loss

Q. It might be helpful to animal lovers if you had a special section on losing a pet. I've been there...and it's hard to let go. Things like articles, stories, poems, books to read...anything to help people cope with the heartfelt loss.

A. To those who have lost a pet and are looking for ways to cope, there are support groups and hot lines for this special and difficult problem. Some examples:

  1. Grief Counseling by University of California-Davis Veterinary Student volunteers; staffed weekdays 6:30pm-9:30pm Pacific Time. (916)752-4200

  2. Grief Counseling by University of Florida-Gainsville Veterinary Students and Volunteers; staffed weekdays 7pm-9pm Eastern Time. (904)392-4700 then dial 1 and 4080

  3. Grief Counseling by Michigan State University Veterinary Student Volunteers; staffed Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:30pm-9:30pm Eastern Time. (517)432-2696

  4. Grief Counseling by Chicago VMA Veterinarians and Staffs. Call anytime to leave a voice-mail message; calls will be returned 7pm-9pm Central Time-long distance calls will be returned collect. (708)603-3994

If these numbers are not in your area or you want someone in your area to talk to face-to-face, try calling your local veterinarian or humane society, they may have local support groups you can join. Also, getting yourself a new friend can be very therapeutic...there are a lot of pets out there that would be very lucky to get such caring owners,


Miscellaneous Topics

Q. Is it alright to trim my cat's nails with ordinary human nail cutters? If not, what should I do besides getting the cat declawed? Also, Do I need to give my cat baths, or do they clean thenselves well enough?

A. You can use a regular nail trimmer to cut the nails. Just do not cut the pink part called the quick or they will bleed. Some cats do need baths, but cats by nature are very clean animals and groom themselves regularly.


Q. I have 2 female cats: (1) 17 yr. old, street-smart, cranky, outdoor (formerly) and (1) 4 yr. old sheltered, starved for attention, playful indoor cat. They have been together for 3 months now in a 2 room apartment (each has claimed a room). The older cat allows the younger cat to exist, but at a distance. Of course since the younger cat is playful and very curious, though terrified of Cranky cat, she often goes to close and we get kitty karate. Is there anyway to make them become more tolerant or even friends?

A. Asking a 17 year old cat to become friends with anything that she is not used to could be asking a lot. One of two things will happen over time, the young cat will tire of being attacked and leave the older one alone, or the older one will accept the younger to some extent and they will co-exist. Just make sure they can't truly hurt each other. The best you may be able to hope for is an occasional hiss at each other and co-existance.


Q. My cat eats a lot of grass and then he throws up, is this common in a cat?

A. Some cats do this for no apparent reason, but some do it because they are nauseous. It might not be a bad idea to have your veterinarian check him out.


Q. We just adopted a cat from the humane society and now it turns out my husband has terrible allergies. Do you know of any "cures" or remedies for allergic reactions to cats? What can he do to alleviate the symptoms? Will the allergic reaction ever go away? Are there any treatments available?

A. There are remedies that can work against allergies to cats. This would involve seeing an allergist and receiving allergy shots. It can be a long and expensive process, but I have seen people who have had very good success. Shampoos and such for the cat do not work and in as much as allergies can be dangerous, if your husband can't or won't get allergy shots, I suggest you find a new home for the cat and try a different kind of pet, like a dog that doesn't shed.

Send us your Questions!


Biography: Douglas James Hoffman D.V.M., attended the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine earning his degree in 1993. He now is a general practitioner concentrating on small animals and exotics at the Lewis Animal Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.


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