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Medical Information For Cats

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Most cats will reach about 11 or 12 years of age. Some make it 18 and very few to 20 and beyond. Much of this will depend on whether or not a cat is indoors or allowed outdoors. Outdoor cats average about 8 years and indoor only cats quite often reach 15 or more years of age.

As for "cat years" versus "human years", according to material provided by the Gaines Research Center, cats will age 15 years in the first year (10 in the first six months!) and 4 years for every year after that. Other vets will say 20 years for the first year, 4 years for each year thereafter.

Cats can suffer from a wide range of allergies.

A cat with one allergy often has others.

15% of all cats in the U.S. suffer from one or more allergies.

Cats' allergies fall into several categories, each with a parallel complaint among human allergy sufferers. Inhalant allergies are caused by airborne articles, such as pollen, that irritate the nasal passages and lungs. Contact alllergies manifest themselves when the cat has prolonged contact with a substance that it just cannot tolerate. Cats have allergies to foods as well -- not so much to the chemical preservatives but to the grains, meats and dairy products used. Some cats react badly to certain drugs, such as antibiotics or anesthesia.

Flea allergy is the most common of all allergies. As cats age, their sensitivity to flea bites increases. Prednisone (oral or injection) is commonly used for a bad reaction.

Between 5 & 10 percent of allergy cases are caused by food. Like contact allergies, food allergies will show up as dermatitis and severe itching but in some cases will also cause vomiting and diarrhea. Also, the cat may have excessively oily skin, ear inflammation, or hair loss (which can also be a sign of hormone imbalance).

A food allergy doesn't show up overnight. It can take from a week to 10 years of exposure to show itself; more than 80 percent of cats with food allergies have been eating the allergen-containing food for more than two years.

Studies are being done to determine possible connections between food allergies and FUS, with some success in eliminating foods and cutting down on FUS symptoms. Results are still experimental.

Food allergies are treated with a bland, hypoallergenic diet -- rice with boiled chicken or lamb, and distilled water is commonly used. Two weeks is the longest it usually takes for the bland diet to work.

Causes, symptoms, and treatments of some types of allergies:

Plants, especially oily-leafed ones, such as rubber plants, that might be brushed against. Other contact allergens include: carpet fresheners, wool, house dust, newsprint, cleansers and topical medications. Even the carpet itself. Signs of contact allergens: dermatitis, pigmentary changes or skin eruptions. Most noticable on the chin, ears, inner thighs, abdomen, underside of the tail, armpits and around the anus. Skin patch tests are used to determine cause of contact allergies.

Medications that commonly cause skin eruptions: penicillin, tetracycline, neomycin and panleukopenia vaccine. Each drug causes different symptoms, but the symptoms differ from cat to cat. There is no way to predict how a cat will react. Antihistamines or steroids may be used to eliminate symptoms (after ceasing administration of the drug)

Kitty litter - when new brands of litter come out, vets frequently see a number of cats that have reactions to it. Other inhalant allergies can include: dust from the furnace esp. when it is first turned on; cigarette smoke; perfumes; household sprays and air freshners; pollen. Inhalent allergies can also result in skin loss, scabbing pustules, or ulcerated areas on the skin. This in addition to the asthmatic symptoms. Treatment uses... antihistamines, such as chlortrimetron. More severe cases are treated with systemic steroids, which can have drawbacks.

Feline urinary syndrome or FUS is the name given to a group of symptoms that occur in the cat secondary to inflammation, irritation, and/or obstruction of the lower urinary tract (urinary bladder, urethra, and penile urethra). A cat with FUS can exhibit one, some, or even all of the symptoms.

FUS is NOT a specific diagnosis: there are many known and some unknown factors that may cause or contribute to FUS. Any cause resulting in particulate debris in the urine is capable of causing obstruction in the male cat.

Males are much more likely to get this disease than females. There is no known means of prevention. Treatment can vary from diet to surgery. Cats usually recover if the disease is caught in time; often the cat must be watched for any recurrence of FUS.

May appear periodically during the life of the cat.

Females: straining to urinate, blood in the urine, frequent trips to the litter box with only small amounts voided, loss of litterbox habits.

Males: In addition to the above symptoms, small particles may lodge in the male urethra and cause complete obstruction with the inability to pass urine-this is a life and death situation if not treated quickly.

Obstruction usually occurs in the male cat and is most often confined to the site where the urethra narrows as it enters the bulbourethral gland and penis; small particles that can easily pass out of the bladder and transverse the urethra congregate at the bottleneck of the penile urethra to cause complete blockage. (note that the female urethra opens widely into the vagina with no bottleneck).

Symptoms of obstruction are much more intense than those of bladder inflammation alone; this is an emergency requiring immediate steps to relieve the obstruction. Symptoms include:

Frequent non-producing straining-no urine produced, discomfort, pain, howling.

Gentle feeling of the cats abdomen reveals a tennis ball size structure which is the overdistended urinary bladder.

feeling of the cats abdomen reveals a tennis ball size structure which is the overdistended urinary bladder. Subsequent depression, vomiting and/or diarrhea, dehydration, loss of appetite, uremic poisoning, and coma may develop rapidly within 24 hours.

Death results from uremic poisoning; advanced uremic poisoning may not be reversible even with relief of the obstruction and intensive care. Bladders can be permanently damaged as a result.

In general: any condition that causes stricture, malfunction, inflammation, or obstruction of the urethra. In addition, any condition that causes inflammation, malfunction, or abnormal anatomy of the urinary bladder.

Known causes

Struvite crystals accompanied by red blood cells--generally caused by a diet too high in magnesium relative to the pH of the urine.

Fish-flavored foods tend to be worse



The ability of a given diet to cause problems in an individual cat is highly variable: only those cats with a history of this kind of FUS may respond well to strictly dietary management. Many cats do not have problems with a diet that may produce FUS in some individuals.



Bladder stones, may occur from struvite crystals, or be secondary to bladder infections. There are metabolic disorders (not all are understood) that result in a higher concentration of a given mineral that can remain in solution; hence stones are formed. Diet may greatly modify the concentration of a given mineral in solution in the urine. Water intake may modify the concentration of all minerals in the urine, and bacterial infection increases the risk of stone formation.



Anatomical abnormalities such as congenital malformations of the bladder and/or urethra (early neutering is NOT a factor) OR acquired strictures of the urethra and/or scarring of the bladder.



Trauma.

Neurolgenic problems affecting the act of urination (difficult to diagnose except at institutions capable of urethral pressure profiles)

Primary bacterial infection--RARE!



Tumors (benign/malignant)



Protein matrix plug (generally urethral obstruction of males); can be from non-mineral protein debris, viral-based, other causes are unknown.

Suspected or unknown factors include non-bacterial infections, toxins, stress, and seasonal influences.

Obstruction of the male cat is a medical emergency. The obstruction must be relieved immediately.

Failure to produce a good stream of urine after relief of obstruction is indicative of urethral stricture and/or stones or matrex plugs. Failure of bladder to empty after relief of obstruction suggests bladder paralysis (usually temporary unless present prior to obstruction). In either event, a urinary catheter must be placed to allow continual urination.

Treatment of uremic poisoning requires IV fluid therapy with monitoring of blood levels of waste products until uremia is no longer present.

Permanent urethral damage with stricture, inability to dislodge a urethral obstruction, or inability to prevent recurring obstructions are all indications for perineal urethrostomy (amputation of the penis and narrow portion of the urethra to create a female-sized opening for urination). This procedure is usually effective in preventing reobstruction of the male cat, but this procedure should be a last resort

If FUS is indicated without obstruction, 75 to 80% of FUS cats without obstruction may be sucessfully managed by diet alone if urine reveals typical crystals and red blood cells. Unobstructed male cats or non-uremic obstructed males who have a good urine stream and bladder function after relief of an early obstruction may be managed as above initially. Cats who are symptom-free after 7 to 10 days of dietary management and who have normal follow-up urines at 21 days, may be maintained indefinitely with dietary management only.

DL-Methionine is often prescribed for cats with FUS. Most commonly, FUS-specific diets contain this acidifier. Antibiotics may be used. Distilled water for FUS-prone cats is often recommended as well.

Treatment may consist of a carefully regulated diet to keep blood sugar levels consistent (especially if the diabetes was triggered by obesity). In most cases, daily injections of insulin are needed. Regular vet visits are required to determine the proper dosage. In between visits, using urine glucose test strips available from the pharmacy helps you determine whether the dosage of insulin is sufficient.

A bottle of Karo syrup or maple syrup kept handy is essential for bringing the cat out of dangerously low blood sugar levels. Diabetic cats should be kept indoors to prevent accidental feeding (and thus disturbing the regulation of blood sugar levels).

You can try changing (temporarily) the cat's diet to one or more of the following (depending on the cat's preferences):

boiled rice

cottage cheese

bread

plain yogurt

boiled chicken

chicken broth

baby food (strained meat varieties)

The vet may or may not prescribe medication. One-half teaspoon of kaopectate (NOT peptobismol, it contains aspirin) usually works pretty well too. The vet may recommend withholding food for 24-48 hours to give the GI tract a rest before starting with some bland food.

Usually diarrhea lasts only a few days. If it lasts longer than that, as long as the cat does not have a fever, it usually does not mean anything serious, but you must protect the cat from dehydration by making it take in plenty of liquids.

Causes of acute (sudden onset) diarrhea

Infections Viral Panleucopenia (distemper) Feline Leukemia Virus Coronavirus Rotavirus Astrovirus Bacterial Salmonella Campylobacter Escherischia coli (not documented in cats) Parasitic Roundworms Hookworms Coccidia Giardia Toxoplasma

Diet esp. dietary change or raid on the garbage

Toxic or drug-induced Acetominophen (tylenol) antibiotics

Miscellaneous partial intestinal obstruction



Causes of chronic diarrhea

Viral and Bacterial FIV FeLeuk Salmonella Campylobacter Clostridium

Parasites as above, except Toxoplasma

Dietary sensitivity

Miscellaneous Inflammatory Bowel Disease Drug Sensitivity Inappropriate use of antibiotics Bacterial overgrowth?? Partial intestinal obstruction Idiopathic (no known cause)



This disease impairs the cat's immune system and it will often fall prey to some other opportunistic disease. While the virus is related to HIV, it is NOT possible to contract AIDS from a cat with FIV.

FIV-positive cats should be kept inside and away from other cats. With this and other precautions, they may live a fairly long time. Because of their subsceptibility to secondary infections and complications, these cats are rather vet-intensive.

They do not often die directly from FIV, but rather one of the diseases that they can get when their immune system is impaired. FIV appears to involve three stages: acute (swollen lymph glands, fever, depression, bacterial infections); latent (apparent wel being, can last months to years); and chronic (cat is susceptible to all kinds of other viruses, fungii, and bacteria). Survival over two years is rare.

Vaccines for FHV-1, FCV, and Chlamydia are available and are generally given as part of the standard kitten shot series. These vaccines protect against systemic infection (symptoms like fever, diarrhea, pneumonia) but they do not give such good protection against local infection of the upper respiratory tract (symptoms like sneezing, runny eyes).

A vet will usually prescribe a broad spectrum antibiotic to clear up secondary bacterial infections, but there is no real cure for the viral infection, just management of it. As in human herpes virus infection, cats may develop a latent infection that causes virus shedding or mild recurrent attacks when the cat is stressed. If you know your cat has had herpes virus infection, try to keep your cat from getting stressed (when that's possible). If he is under stress, he can begin to shed the virus again without showing any signs of being sick himself, which means he may infect other cats. Note that FHV affects only cats. Don't worry, you can't get herpes from your cat!

Regular doses of Tapazol. Surgery to remove most of the thyroid. This is a difficult and potentially dangerous operation (especially for an older cat), and it is not necessarily effective. That is, it will reduce the thyroid activity, but not necessarily stop the runaway thyroid growth--it may only reduce or delay the problem and you'll have to give Tapazol anyway. At the other extreme, you might also end up having to give the animal thyroid supplements... Radioactive Iodine treatment of thyroid. This is reported to be very effective in solving the problem. The troubles are it is very expensive, and it means leaving your cat at the facility where it is done for up to two weeks (they have to monitor the cat to make sure all the radioactivity is gone before letting it go home). Leaving a cat at a facility where there are other cats can expose it to the health problems of the other cats there.

On the other hand, a cat that suddenly starts to vomit, or vomits more than usual or in some way demonstrates a departure from its normal habits should be checked by the vet.

To help prevent this kind of vomiting, feed your cat on a regular basis some petroleum jelly (aka as Vaseline). If they don't like it, you can try Petromalt, a malt-flavored petroleum jelly. Pats of butter will also work. To give it to them, if they won't eat it of their free will, smear some on top of their paw and they will lick it up as they clean it off. Be careful to rub it in thoroughly, otherwise when they shake their paw, you'll have gobs of vaseline go flying onto the walls or carpet. Give it to them daily for a few days if they've just upchucked or are in the midst of dry heaves; go back down to a weekly dose once they've gotten rid of existing hairballs and this should keep them hairball free. Frequent brushing also helps; every bit of hair on the brush is less hair in your cat's stomach.

Another common reason for vomiting is overeating, particularly dry food. The dry food absorbs water and swells, and then they have to throw it back up. If the vomit looks like a semi-solid tube of partially digested cat food, that's probably what it is.

A cat may vomit when it is allergic to its food. You can check this out by trying another brand of food with substantially different ingredients and no food colorings.

Sometimes cats vomit when they have worms. Consult your vet for a worming appointment.

If the vomit is white or clear, that can be one of the symptoms of panleukopenia, feline distemper. If such vomiting occurs a coule of times over the course of a day or night, a phone call to the vet is in order.

If cats eat something that obstructs their digestive system, they may try to vomit it back up. If you can see some of it in their mouth, DO NOT PULL IT OUT, especially if it is string. You may just cut up their intestines in the attempt. Take the cat to the vet immediately.

If the cat displays other changes of behavior along with the vomiting, you should consult the vet. Eg. listlessness, refusing food along with vomiting may indicate poisoning.

Periodic throwing up can be a sign of an over-active thyroid. This is particularly common in older cats. Your vet can do a blood test and find out the thyroid level. It can also be indicative of a kidney infection: something that your vet can also check out.

In general, as distasteful as it may be, you should examine any vomit for indication of why the cat vomited.

sudden change in diet

ingestion of foreign material (garbage, plants, etc)

eating too rapidly

intolerance or allergy to specific foods

specific reactions to certain drugs

accidental overdosages

Lead, ethylene glycol, cleaning agents, herbicides, fertilizers, heavy metals all specifically result in vomiting.

diabetes mellitus

too little or too much of certain hormones, trace elements, etc.

renal disease

hepatic disease

sepsis

acidosis

heat stroke

obstruction (foreign body, disease or trauma)

parasites

assorted gastric disorders

ulcers, polyps

parasites

enteritis

intraluminal obstruction

inflammatory bowel disease

fungal disease

intestinal volvulus

paralytic ileus

colitis

constipation

irritable bowel syndrome

pancreatitis

gastrinoma of the pancreas

peritonitus (any cause including FIP)

inflammatory liver disease

bile duct obstruction

steatitis

prostatitis

pyelonephritis

pyometra (infection of the uterus)

urinary obstruction

diaphragmatic hernia

neoplasia

pain, fear, excitement, stress

motion sickness

inflammatory lesions

trauma

epilepsy

neoplasia