They’re lurking quietly: in your kitchen; in your garden; in your medicine cabinet; on your nightstand. Substances potentially hazardous to your cat are everywhere. Medications. Human medications are a very common cause of toxicity in cats. Cats have a unique metabolism, and some drugs that people tolerate well can be harmful or even fatal to cats. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)…
Worldwide Veterinary Services International Training Centre by Dr. Arnold Plotnick – Catster.com
Mission Rabies Fights Rabies in Both Dogs and Humans Dr. Arnold Plotnick discusses his work in India with Mission Rabies, an organization that vaccinates dogs to prevent rabies. Check out the full story here on Dogster.com Check out my elaborated journey here.
Cats are meticulous about their appearance. They take grooming seriously, and most cats maintain a beautiful, spotless hair coat. Occasionally, however, cats will develop (horror of horrors)… dandruff! Of course, dandruff – dry, dead skin cells that flake off from the skin – isn’t a cause of social embarrassment in cats that it is in humans. They couldn’t care less. In most cases, dandruff…
Few things are more frustrating and irritating for humans than the common cold. The sneezing, the congestion, the runny nose, and the watery eyes can make us truly miserable. Unfortunately, our feline counterparts can relate; they, too, can fall victim to this annoying malady. In cats, we tend to be a little more technical with the terminology, preferring to call the condition…
A successful examination begins with the owner. If you think about it, being a cat veterinarian is not very different from being a pediatrician. We can’t ask our patients what’s wrong. We just have to figure it out.Nowhere is the role of a cat owner more important than at the veterinarian’s office, where a good history can sometimes mean the…
Cats can be tricky to medicate. Veterinarians know that it is difficult to medicate a cat consistently with a medication that is required twice daily, and almost impossible to administer a medication reliably and unfailingly three times daily. Most veterinarians, when dealing with cats, try to strike a balance between efficacy and ease of administration, prescribing the most effective drug…
The brain is the main organ that comprises the central nervous system of the cat. It is the control center for receiving and interpreting information that comes from the cat’s own body, and from the outside world. Learning and perception takes place in the brain, and all of the sensations – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and pain – are…
They say that big things come in little packages, and nowhere is this more apparent than the feline pancreas. This small organ, often weighing no more than 6 to 8 ounces, plays a huge, multifaceted role in maintaining your cat’s health. The pancreas is shaped like an upside down V. The left lobe of the pancreas is nestled up…
Feline lungs are remarkably similar to a human’s lungs. For example, the lungs occupy most of the space in the chest cavity, lying on both sides of the heart, just like they do in humans. In my mind, I think of the lungs as being divided into two portions – the airways, and the lung tissue. An easy way…
In a past blog post, I described the important role the kidneys play in a cat’s overall health. In addition to making hormones and regulating the blood pressure, the kidneys filter toxins from the bloodstream, creating urine in the process. So where does that urine go after it is manufactured by the kidneys? Anyone who’s waited in line for the…
Body Parts – The Spleen Ask most people what their cat’s heart does, and they’ll tell you it pumps blood. How about the lungs? They breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The kidneys? They filter toxins from the blood stream and put them in the urine. The spleen? That’s easy. It… it… Admit it: you have no idea what…
Body Parts – the Feline Heart The heart is the main organ in the circulatory system. Its job is to pump blood throughout the body, supplying oxygen and nutrients to the tissues. Similar to the human heart, the feline heart has four chambers. The two chambers on the top of the heart are the atria (plural for atrium). The…
Cat feet are fascinating. They function as shock absorbers when landing after aerial acrobatics. The pads on the paws are thick, with a substantial amount of adipose (fat) tissue just below the pad surfaces. This acts as a cushion, allowing for cats to walk quietly. To me, however, the most impressive parts of the feet are the claws. All members…
Body Parts – the Adrenal Glands I would venture that most people have heard of the adrenal glands. I would also bet that if asked about what the adrenals do, most folks would correctly guess that they make adrenaline, the “fight or flight” hormone that makes your heart race before that first big plunge on the roller coaster. But…