Friday, October 30, 2009
AVMA weekly podcast
Visit this site weekly for a podcast regarding "pet health and safety tips" from The American Veterinary Medical Association.
www.avma.org/news/info_rss.asp
and click on Animal Tracks.
www.avma.org/news/info_rss.asp
and click on Animal Tracks.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
cats 101
The average life span of an indoor/outdoor cat is 4 years. Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Gruesome things happen to cats that go outside... believe me, I've seen them.
If your cat goes 24 hours without eating... something is wrong, seek medical attention.
Buy pet insurance for your cat/kitten when you get it. Paying a small amount of money each month will make an ENORMOUS difference if your cat ever has a major medical crisis... is diagnosed with a chronic illness, sustains life threatening trauma, or needs major surgery. Trust me, you'll be happy in the long run... and will have saved money. Or you may be able to afford/provide expensive diagnostics or treatments that you would not normally be able to. For example, my clinic charges $600 for an ultrasound, $2000 - $2500 for a fracture repair, and $2500 - $3000 for abdominal surgery!!!!!
You can also get insurance plans for preventative care... yearly examinations and vaccines, routine dental cleanings and screening blood work.
(in no particular order)
www.petinsurance.com
www.aspcapetinsurance.com
www.petcareinsurance.com
www.petsbest.com
Cats LOVE eating string... and string-like "stuff", ie: dental floss, ribbon, tinsel, yarn, etc. The thing that happens here is that the string gets caught in the stomach/intestines and causes the intestines to bunch up. The movement of the intestines upon the caught string can create a slicing action and a hole in the intestines can be created. Having the contents from the intestines (poop) hanging out in the abdominal cavity is very, very bad, very, very, very painful and very, very expensive. An unbelievably large amount of money has been made by cutting into the abdomens of cats to retrieve these items. My advice... DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO KEEP THESE ITEMS AWAY FROM YOUR CAT. :)
Never ever, ever, ever give your cat Acetaminophen (Tylenol), their bodies cannot metabolize it and 98% of the time it will kill them. Further, just to be safe, never give your cat any medications that your veterinarian hasn't prescribed.
Adult cats should see a veterinarian yearly for a thorough physical exam, and geriatric cats, those 7 years or older should be examined every 6 months.
Male cats having significant trouble urinating or NOT urinating can be in a life threatening situation. The anatomy of a male cat's urinary system is such that a stone or mucous plug can lodge in its urethra and completely obstruct the flow of urine. If this happens your cat will likely make frequent trips to the litter box, without producing urine and may vocalize while straining to urinate. Not a good situation. Your cat will also likely obsessively lick its penis and start to act sick. What is sick?... not moving, hiding, not eating or drinking, vocalizing, going to the litter box, going to the litter box, going to the litter box, going to the litter box... IF THIS IS YOUR CAT, GO IMMEDIATELY TO THE VETERINARIAN!!
And that's all I can think of right now... hope you learned something. Dana
PS- This information is Fran Kondek, DVM approved.
If your cat goes 24 hours without eating... something is wrong, seek medical attention.
Buy pet insurance for your cat/kitten when you get it. Paying a small amount of money each month will make an ENORMOUS difference if your cat ever has a major medical crisis... is diagnosed with a chronic illness, sustains life threatening trauma, or needs major surgery. Trust me, you'll be happy in the long run... and will have saved money. Or you may be able to afford/provide expensive diagnostics or treatments that you would not normally be able to. For example, my clinic charges $600 for an ultrasound, $2000 - $2500 for a fracture repair, and $2500 - $3000 for abdominal surgery!!!!!
You can also get insurance plans for preventative care... yearly examinations and vaccines, routine dental cleanings and screening blood work.
(in no particular order)
www.petinsurance.com
www.aspcapetinsurance.com
www.petcareinsurance.com
www.petsbest.com
Cats LOVE eating string... and string-like "stuff", ie: dental floss, ribbon, tinsel, yarn, etc. The thing that happens here is that the string gets caught in the stomach/intestines and causes the intestines to bunch up. The movement of the intestines upon the caught string can create a slicing action and a hole in the intestines can be created. Having the contents from the intestines (poop) hanging out in the abdominal cavity is very, very bad, very, very, very painful and very, very expensive. An unbelievably large amount of money has been made by cutting into the abdomens of cats to retrieve these items. My advice... DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO KEEP THESE ITEMS AWAY FROM YOUR CAT. :)
Never ever, ever, ever give your cat Acetaminophen (Tylenol), their bodies cannot metabolize it and 98% of the time it will kill them. Further, just to be safe, never give your cat any medications that your veterinarian hasn't prescribed.
Adult cats should see a veterinarian yearly for a thorough physical exam, and geriatric cats, those 7 years or older should be examined every 6 months.
Male cats having significant trouble urinating or NOT urinating can be in a life threatening situation. The anatomy of a male cat's urinary system is such that a stone or mucous plug can lodge in its urethra and completely obstruct the flow of urine. If this happens your cat will likely make frequent trips to the litter box, without producing urine and may vocalize while straining to urinate. Not a good situation. Your cat will also likely obsessively lick its penis and start to act sick. What is sick?... not moving, hiding, not eating or drinking, vocalizing, going to the litter box, going to the litter box, going to the litter box, going to the litter box... IF THIS IS YOUR CAT, GO IMMEDIATELY TO THE VETERINARIAN!!
And that's all I can think of right now... hope you learned something. Dana
PS- This information is Fran Kondek, DVM approved.
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