Hear the science behind uncommon female orange tabby cats and the extremely rare tortoiseshell or calico male cat. Question: I have heard that all orange tabby cats are male, and to find one that is female is rare and worth up to $1,000. I also have heard that calico cats and tortoiseshell cats are female and to find a male…

When Peggy Lee sang “Fever isn’t such a new thing, fever started long time ago”, she wasn’t kidding.  Since the beginning of recorded history, fever has been a hallmark of disease.  Body temperature is regulated by a structure in the brain called the hypothalamus.  It controls the body’s “thermal set point” in very similar fashion to a thermostat. When body…

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)…

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…