Feline Body Parts – The Liver “Liver Me This” by Arnold Plotnick, MS, DVM, ACVIM Published in Catster Volume 1, No. 3, Sept/Oct 2015 “What am I? Chopped liver?” You’ve probably heard this figure of speech before, the speaker implying that he’s worthless. I can assure you, as a cat veterinarian, that the liver (unchopped, at least) is anything but…
Common occurrence: I examine a cat that was brought in for a gastrointestinal problem. I asked the client what her main concern was, and she said that the cat was regurgitating frequently. I asked if the cat was truly regurgitating, or if he was vomiting. She said, “I didn’t realize there was a difference”. I would venture that most people…
As many of you know, in addition to my veterinary work, I also am a writer. I have this blog and I am the former medical editor and contributor to Catnip magazine. I was the Ask the Vet columnist for Cat Fancy for many years. Sadly, Cat Fancy is no more, and was replaced by a new magazine, Catster. I am…
Most cat parents ask me what the best diet for their healthy cat is. These days, it is becoming more difficult to answer this seemingly simple question. Many people feel that cats should be fed canned food only, and that dry food is terrible for their cat. Other people feel that the composition of the food is much more important…
My first appointment of the morning was to see Gypsy, a 5 year old neutered male Siamese owned by Gail H. The chief complaint written in the appointment book was the vaguely worded “hairball problem”. In the exam room, I asked Gail to elaborate. “He’s been trying to cough up a hairball for weeks”, said Gail, “but nothing comes up.”…
Would you know a cat emergency if you saw one? I discussed feline first aid for cats and kittens (what to do in a cat emergency), but now I want to point out signs that should cause the pet owner to say, “This is a cat emergency! I need to get my cat to the veterinarian immediately.” It’s amazing the…
Although most of us cat lovers will tell you that it’s a cat’s personality that matters most, many of us will admit that we find ourselves drawn to a cat’s particular coat color. At my cat hospital, my technician Hiromi is drawn to orange boys. I tend to go for the torties. My technician Gina favors black cats. A close…
There’s a post from the Reader’s Digest website that is making the rounds. It hasn’t gone “viral”, but I’m seeing it pop up on a lot of the newsfeeds that I subscribe to. It’s entitled “50 Things That Your Veterinarian Won’t Tell You”. They make it sound like you’re getting some super-secret scoop on what really goes on behind the…
Being a cat veterinarian is like being a pediatrician. We can’t ask our patients what’s wrong. We have to figure it out. And nowhere is the role of a cat owner more important than at a veterinarian’s office, where a good history can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Veterinarians are faced with a variety of diagnostic challenges…
As a cats-only practitioner, I don’t mind when people say that I’m looking down in the mouth, because the feline mouth is fascinating. Cats use their mouths for a lot of things – eating, drinking, grooming, and communication. Although cats breathe mainly through their nose, the mouth provides an additional passageway for air to enter the lungs. Cats are true…
I have a funny story and memorable photos from a case I saw a while back. A cat named Hot Dog Stallard. When Jennifer Stallard brought her 16-pound orange bruiser of a cat into my office and introduced me to “Hot Dawg”, it was clear that Ms. Stallard had come to the Big Apple from a place firmly south of…
We jokingly call them “crazy cat ladies”, but it’s no laughing matter. Animal hoarding is a pathological behavior that causes terrible suffering. Grosse Pointe, MI – A woman who exposed her two teenage children to the excrement from 42 cats, three dogs and six birds kept in her Grosse Pointe Farms home has been sentenced to two years of probation.…
Of all of the infectious disease that cats can acquire, feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is perhaps the most devastating. FIP is a viral disease caused by a type of virus called a coronavirus. Most cats are exposed to, and become infected with, the coronavirus as kittens. At worst, kittens may get mild diarrhea. Many show no clinical signs at all. …
“Tom”, an 8-month old male domestic shorthaired kitten, presented to my hospital with a complaint of lethargy and unusual ingestive behavior. According to his owners Pat Galloway and Peter Webb, the normally rambunctious kitten had become lethargic over the past two days, spending most of his time sleeping. The cat’s appetite had markedly decreased, although he was still gaining weight…