- What does it mean to have a healthy cat (September is Healthy Cat Month!)? Keeping your furry buddy healthy and happy is a focus for PetChatz this month. Here are six common feline ailments:
- Vomiting: Early Symptoms – drooling, abdominal heaving
- Feline Lower Urinary Tract Diseases (FLUTD): most often caused by stress, multi-cat households and change
- Fleas: Look for hot spots or irritated skin (this ailment can lead to the next one as well)
- Tapeworms: almost always caused by ingesting a flea
- Diarrhea: if your cat is suffering from this it is critical to make sure they drink plenty of water
- Eye Problems: Symptoms – watery eyes and tear stained fur
- Here is a link to some great information from our friends at Cornell University: Feline Health Topics
- Senior Pets – like people, animals exhibit different behaviors as they begin to feel the effects of aging. With our “dog or cat as human” filter, we may not always be able to recognize the symptoms. A good rule of thumb is that when animals reach the age of 11, they are likely to show some solid signs of aging (this is for dogs and cats – big dogs may begin to show aging symptoms at eight years old). Here is a quick tour of what to do as your pet ages – from our friends at Angie’s List: Six Steps to Take as Your Pet Ages. The Mad Chatter’s beloved Cavalier King Charles, Guinness, was diagnosed with Sundowners Syndrome when he turned 13 – Guinness became very agitated as sunlight began to fail. This is not an uncommon manifestation of age in animals – learn more by following this link: Dog’s and Alzheimer’s
