HERDIN' CATS!

HEARTWORMS

2009-09-14T02:12:00.000-07:00

YES! Cats can get heartworms...it's not only a disease for dogs anymore. Heartworms are a parasite transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. Indoor cats are NOT immune from this, because mosquitoes can get inside your home and bite your cat. My mother was amazed to find out that one of her cats had heartworms, and he was strictly an indoor cat.

A dog with heartworms can sometimes be successfully treated and the parasites killed. But as of now, there is no known approved treatment to kill the parasite in cats who already have them.

The symptoms of heartworm can be respiratory issues (think asthma-type breathing), coughing (without anything coming up...like a hairball cough), sometimes your cat will have seizures, and you'll notice a significant lack of energy. They will also stop eating or showing interest in any type of food. Some cats won't show any symptoms at all and will drop dead with no warning. Most cats WILL die if they have heartworms, and since the cat has a smaller heart than dogs, it only takes one or two of these parasites to do the damage. There is no cure at this time for cats. Various products are being tested, but nothing definitive has been released.

If you suspect heartworms, your vet can run some tests to verify this - a blood test or xray are the first to be done. Utrasounds and angiograms can then be done if the other two are inconclusive.

So what do you do to prevent this?? Your vet has products available - one being Heartguard. NOTE: do NOT give your cat anything over the counter or a product made for dogs! Never use a preventative without your pet being tested FIRST! If your cat does not have heartworms, the preventative can then be used. If your cat DOES have heartworms, then the preventative cannot be used and your vet will discuss with you options for keeping your cat comfortable from the side effects of the parasite.

The preventative is very easy to apply, it's in a little tube that you squeeze out onto the back of your cat's neck. It's easy, reasonably priced, and crucial to the health and well-being of your beloved furbaby.

So remember, mosquitoes can get inside your home very easily and infect your cats. The best medicine is prevention!

MIGHTY MAX

2009-09-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

This is Mr Mighty Max. He was my neighbor's outside kitty. He's gone now, but he lived a very full and content (and spoiled!) life ... between my neighbor and I, we kept him fat and happy. We had noticed he had a bit of a cold... so I told her that I would be more than happy to run him to my wonderful vet's office and get him checked out.

Now, in the 8 years that I have lived where I live, he has never ... NOT ONCE... been on my roof. He's always down by the food bowls ready to munch out! He never even left our yards!

Well, the morning of the vet visit, I went outside and looked everywhere for him. My neighbor came out and helped me call for him. I happened to look up - and this is where he was! I had my camera in the car and I snatched this picture of him.

Needless to say, we had to reschedule his appointment! It's as if he just KNEW what we had planned for him!

God bless him, he passed a couple of years later - he had cancer - he was a wonderful and dear friend to us both. Even though he wasn't technically 'my' cat, he was a huge part of my life. And this picture will forever remind me of his wonderful spirit!

MISS ELSA

2009-04-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

Miss Elsa is a little mess. This is her being very cute.... which is about 10 minutes out of the day! She loves to jump on my shoulder when I least expect it... thankfully she doesn't weigh very much!

It would, however, be a good thing if she'd let me trim her toes.... YOWSA! She has an absolute meltdown... so I have to sneak and do a few at a time when she's sleeping.

She's better than a good strong cup of coffee in waking me up in the mornings!

CHARLIE REVISITED!

2008-10-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

This is little Charlie at his second vet visit! His blue eyes aren't blue anymore, but they're still so pretty. AND, he doubled in size from his first visit! My aunt is spoiling him rotten. He has NO idea he's a cat!

LITTLE CHARLIE

2008-10-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

When I was working at Petsmart back in the summer of '08, a couple of ladies came in with a one day old kitten that they had found in a trash dumpster! They had no clue as to how to care for the little fellow and thought someone at the store might be able to help.

Thankfully, I was there when they came in and I offered to take the little fellow off their hands, since I'd worked with little ones like this before. I didn't have him home one day before my aunt snatched him up! She's our expert on raising little wee babies (actually, she just loves them to death and they can't help but do well!) This is Charlie at his first vet visit...having come a very long way from the dumpster!

MR SASSY

2008-10-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

The picture at the top of my blog is one of Mr Sassy. He's a bobtail and he's a mess! He loves to sit on the plastic drawers to the right of my desk, giving me the hairy eyeball whenever I'm trying to eat something. He'll whup my behind for anything with cheese in it!