Cats

Christmas holly, or English Holly is a commonly prized holiday ornamental that may prove to be irresistible to your pets. Although there are two genera of holly, the Ilex genus, with its 29 species, are all toxic. The technical name for the Christmas holly is Ilex aquifolium.

It is just a few short weeks before the Christmas holidays. Your best friend sends you a beautiful Christmas cactus to accent the season. Unfortunately your pets decide that the colorful flowers of your holiday plant are truly irresistible. Your dog, with the help of the family cat, uses the plant as a newly acquired play toy and disassembles the Christmas cactus while you are at work. Should you be concerned that some of the flat segments which comprise the Christmas cactus found their way into your pet’s stomach? Probably not!

Do you own a collie or an Australian shepherd?  Have you been cautioned that they may be particularly sensitive to certain drugs, or have you heard not to give them certain medications?

Frontline® “Top Spot®”
 

If your cat has been suffering from chronic large bowel diarrhea and nothing seems to be working, don’t overlook trichomoniasis as a possible cause.  Feline trichomoniasis is an infection caused by the protozoal parasite Tritrichomonas foetus.  The infection is hard to diagnose and even harder to treat. 
 

According to the CATalyst Council, which is a coalition of veterinary, academic, nonprofit, pet industry, and animal welfare organizations, the top 10 cat-friendly cities in the United States for 2009 are:  Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR; Denver, CO; Boston, MA; Seattle, WA; San Diego, CA; Atlanta, GA; and Minneapolis, MN; with the friendliest city being Tampa, FL.

 
References:
 
“Top Cat Cities.”  Pet Age. June 2009. P. 10

Has your cat been coughing lately?  Have you noticed weight loss in your pet or periods with difficulty breathing?  You may be dealing with a parasitic infection rather than a respiratory disease, feline heartworms, or feline asthma.  Any cat with clinical signs of respiratory disease that is over 3 months of age should be screened for the feline lungworm, or Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, which is a nematode (type of roundworm) capable of infecting the lungs of cats. 
 

The age old question for pet owners has been, “Why do dogs, who are largely carnivores, and cats, who are obligate carnivores, eat grass?”  Dogs and cats receive no nutritive value from grass.  So why do they consume greens, typically grasses?  Traditionally veterinarians and behaviorists have theorized that these pets are sick and need to vomit or have some perceived dietary deficiency that perhaps the owner is unaware of.  The answer may be more fundamental:  eating grass may be a necessary inherited predisposition of dogs and cats from their wild ancestors.  

Is your pet suddenly lame when you have seen no indication of trauma?  Have you recently removed ticks from your pet or are you late on your tick treatment this month?  Has your dog had any abnormal bleeding or are his joints swollen or painful?  Then you may want to consider the possibility that your dog could be suffering from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF).

Do you have a beautiful, full, dark green exotic palm tree as a houseplant? Do you have exotic palms as part of your landscaping? If you have pets or livestock that can access these plants you may want to rethink the use of them in your garden.