Basic Health Care

On the other hand, if you already have a vet appointment, or have had the vet look at it and be stumped by the symptoms, rec.pets.cats can be a valuable resource of tips on what might be wrong, or reassurances that the cat is not at risk of immediate death, so do not hesitate to ask the group under these circumstances.

Home vet books

Pet Insurance

The article included a sample plan. For $75 a year, your cat receives:

BASIC HEALTH CARE

1 physical exam, no charge
1 FVRCPC booster, no charge
1 Rabies booster, no charge
1 FeLV test, no charge
50% off FeLV series
Fecal analysis, ear flush, worming, no charge
1 Pedicure, no charge

MAJOR ELECTIVE PROCEDURES:

Spay or Neuter, 40% off
Declawing, 20% off
Dental Prophylaxis, 50% off
(anesthesia included)

HEALTH SURVEY:

Radiographs, 20% off
EKG, 20% off
Chemistry screen profile, 20% off
Complete blood count, 20% off

(All of these things are included in this HMO for $75/year. OR $125 for two years.) Here's the company's address:

RLI Planned Services Inc.
Dept. CF
9025 N. Lindbergh Drive
Peoria, IL 61615

Vets also may be able to direct you to other pet insurance plans that they know about. You may want to consider that $100/year over an expected 15 to 20 year lifetime is $1500 to $2000. Plus whatever you have to pay for excluded costs, coverage limits, deductibles. Pet insurance will help with major medical problems such as FUS, cancer, etc, or emergency care. If your pet is basically healthy, you will pay about as much either way, for insurance or for preventative care that keeps it healthy.

Choosing a vet

• Ask your trusted former vet if s/he knows someone good in the new town. Often you'll get an excellent referral that way (I found my current vets because the senior partner was well known for his excellence in surgery).

• If there's a local humane society or shelter, see if there are vets who volunteer their time there. Many vets who care about animals are often trustees and/or volunteer their services.

• Check with any local breed associations: see who their members go to.

• Look for memberships in associations like the American Animal Hospital Association (which has a fairly stiff inspection), Feline Practitioners Association, American Assoc. of Vet Cardiology, Animal Behavior Association, etc. These are usually people who have kept up with new developments.

24 hour emergency care

Fecal samples

Cat reactions

• Make sure to drive your cat around (WITHOUT going to the vet) to get it used to the car.
• Use the relaxant acepromazine.
• Find a "cats only" vet.
• Find a vet who will make housecalls.
• Find a vet who manages the lobby efficiently to reduce waiting time.
• Keep your cat away from dogs in the waiting room.
• Keep your cat in a pillowcase rather than a carrier or box.

Further steps

Do arrange for the kitten to meet plenty of people; this will socialize your cat and it will not hide from people when adult.

Vet bills

You might be able to negotiate a monthy payment toward a large bill, or a slightly reduced one in exchange for a bit of labor or other work (for example, one accountant prepared his vet's taxes in exchange for reducing the cost of surgery that his dog had had).

The humane society may know of lower-cost clinics or vets who are prepared to cut prices for people who are not particularly well off. It can't hurt to call around and ask.

But as other posters have mentioned, being a vet is a business, too, and vets tend not to have high incomes. They also have many of the same expenses as an MD (equipment, office staff) and the additional expenses of running their own pharmacy (and animal medicine is just as expensive as people medicine).

Human-Cat Disease Transmission (Zoonoses)

Anyone with an impaired immune system is at risk of exposure to germs and other things from cats that healthy people would not contract; this is regardless of the health of the cat.

You are more likely to contract diseases from other people than your pets. Transmission of disease generally requires close contact between susceptible people and animals or their oral, nasal, ocular or digestive excretions. Use common sense and practice good hygiene to reduce your risks.

From the Cornell Book of Cats:

• Viral diseases transmitted by cats are rabies and cowpox, usually through biting or direct contact.
• Ringworm is a fungus infection affecting the hair, skin, and nails. Humans contract it either by direct contact with the cat or by the spores shed from an infected animal.
• Cat bites can cause a variety of diseases and infections, including pasteurella and tetanus.
• Campylobacter enteritis, a disease of the small intestine, can be caused by contact with contaminated cat feces.
• Cat scratch fever is an infection caused by a bacterial agent transmitted to the human via a cat scratch.
• Conjunctivitis in humans can be caused by contact with the nasal and ocular discharges of cats infected with feline chlamydiosis.
• Humans can become infected by Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever when a cat brings home ticks. If the cat becomes infected with plague, it can also infect humans directly.
• Salmonella organisms, which are shed in discharges from the mouth, eyes, and in the feces, can cause intestinal disease in humans.
• Toxoplasmosis is transmitted by contact with the feces of an infected cat. Although it is well-known that cats can transmit toxoplasmosis, many do not know that humans are more commonly infected by eating incompletely cooked meat.
• Other parasites which can be acquired by humans are hookworms, roundworms, and tapeworms: usually by direct or indirect contact with contaminated feces, or ingestion of contaminated fleas.

Neutering

Castration

Some male cats may have undescended testicles. These must be surgically removed, as they often turn cancerous later. This is a more serious (and expensive) surgery than the usual castration, as the vet will have to use a general anesthetic and exploratory surgery to find the undescended testicle and remove it.

An intact male cat (a "tom") will spray a foul-smelling urine to mark his territory, he will roam widely, and he will be involved in more fights. Often, he will be more aggressive. He will be at higher risk for certain diseases, such as cancer; he will also be more prone to infection from the injuries in fights. A neutered male cat will lose the foul-smelling odor in his urine (but may still spray); he will not roam as widely nor fight as often. You will be able to keep him indoors if you wish. Contrary to popular opinion, he will not become more lazy or fat. Laziness and fatness depend on cat temperament and how much you feed him.

Spaying

The cat must be put under general anesthesia. There is always an element of risk in general anesthesia and while it is rare, a few rec.pets.cats readers have had their cats die under anesthesia. The earlier the female cat is spayed, the better. Any time after four months is good, preferably before the heat cyles start. Heat cycles may begin as five months.. On occasion, a female cat will not have all of her ovaries removed. The ovaries produce the hormones that induce heat: if your cat still goes through heat after being spayed, you may have to take her in for exploratory surgery to find the missed ovary, or even piece of ovary.

An intact female cat (a "queen") will go through heat which can be as frequent as every other week, and may last eight to ten days at a time. It may even appear as though she remains in heat constantly. You must keep her confined to prevent breeding, and she will do her best to escape. During her heat, she may "spray" a strong smelling urine just as tomcats do. Many cats will meow loudly for long periods of time. She will twitch her tail to the side and display her vulva. If she becomes pregnant, she will undergo all the risks and expenses associated with pregnancy (extra visits to the vet and extra food). Male cats will try very hard to get at her; there are documented cases, for example, of male cats entering homes through the chimney.

An unbred, intact queen has a much higher risk of developing cancer of the reproductive system. Queens also risk pyometra (a life threatening infection of the uterus). Spayed cats have a much lower risk of cancer and will not contract pyometra.

Female cats may come into estrus within a few days of giving birth. If you have a queen that you want to stop from having more litters, try to get her spayed as soon as possible after the kittens are born.

Post-op recovery

Some stitches "dissolve" on their own; others require a return to the vet for removal. Some vets, especially with male cats, may use "glue" instead, which works as well in most cases and does not require later removal.

You should note that male cats will take some time to flush all testosterone and semen out of their systems. There have been recorded cases of "neutered" cats impregnating female cats shortly after their operation. Three to four weeks is sufficient time for neutered toms to become sterile.

Cost

In the US, there is at least one group, "Friends of Animals" (1-800-321-7387) that will give you information on low-cost spay/neutering places, or do it themselves. They often have price-reduction certificates that your vet may accept.

Quoting actual prices may or may not give you an idea of the cost for you in your area. Costs can range from US$10 for castration at a clinic to US$100 for spaying at the vet's. This is money well spent. One pair of cats, allowed to breed, and with 2 litters a year and 2.8 surviving kittens per litter, will account for 80,000 cats in 10 years!

Early Neutering

Skin Problems

Matted fur

Bald patches

If ringworm is indicated, you must take care not to get it yourself. It is a fungus just like athletes foot. Tresaderm and similar medications are used to treat this. Since ringworm spreads by spores, you can reduce transmission and spreading by cleaning everything you can with bleach (save the cat itself), and washing bedding and clothing in hot water. It may take some time (like several months) to get ringworm under control.

Scratching

Scratching and a discharge from the ears means a bacterial or fungal infection and the vet should be immediately consulted. Other possible causes of scratching include fleas, lice, eczema, allergies, or stud tail (in male cats).

Feline Acne

Tips on caring for feline acne

• Use glass or metal food/water dishes. It is next to impossible to remove the bacteria from acne from plastic dishes.
• Wash the food and water dishes daily. This removes the bacteria from the dishes and helps to keep the problem from getting worse. Also, in multi-cat households, it will help reduce the chance of others breaking out with it.
• Bathe the cat's chin daily with a disinfectant soap/solution from the vet. Nolvasan, Xenodine, Betadine soaps are a few of the ones to try. More severe cases may need to be washed twice a day. DO NOT USE HUMAN ACNE SOLUTIONS, these are too strong for cats and may cause serious problems. Don't try to pick the spots off, just clean it well.

Once the acne is cleared up, keep an eye out for reoccurances. Washing the cat's chin once a week is a good preventative measure.

Dental Care

Tartar buildup

Some cats are more prone to plaque buildup than others. Some never need dental care, others need to have their teeth cleaned at regular intervals. Many vets encourage you to bring your cat in annually for teeth cleaning, using a general anesthetic. The cost, which can be considerable, and the risk of the anesthesia itself are both good incentives for doing some cat dental care at home.

If you must have the vet clean your cat's teeth, see if your vet is willing to try a mild sedative (rather than putting the cat under entirely) first when cleaning the teeth. If your cat is an older cat (5 years or more) and it must be put under, see if the vet will use a gas anesthesia rather than an injected form.

What you can do:

Brush your cat's teeth once a week. Use little cat toothbrushes, or soft child-size toothbrushes, and edible cat toothpaste (available at most vets or pet stores). Cats often hate to have their teeth brushed, so you may have to use a bathtowel straightjacket and a helper. If you are skilled and have a compliant cat, you can clean its teeth using the same type of tool the human dentist does.

Rootwork

Smelly breath

• Teething: at about 6 months of age, cats will lose their baby teeth and get permanent ones. If the gums are red and puffy and you can see the points of teeth breaking through here and there, the cat is just teething and the odor will subside as the teeth come in.
• Gingivitus: if the gums appear red and puffy and you've ruled teething out, your cat may have a gum infection of some sort. Take the cat to the vet.
• Diet: certain foods, usually canned foods or prescription foods, can make your cat's breath smell. If possible, try changing your cat's diet.
• Abscessed tooth: may show no symptoms other than smelly breath. Drooling sometimes occurs in conjunction. The cat must be taken to the vet to have the abscess drained and possibly the teeth involved removed. If this is not done, the infection can easily spread to the sinuses and cause the face to swell, especially just under the eyes.

Declawing

Declawed cats often compensate with their rear claws; many can still climb well, although their ability to defend themselves is often impaired and they should not be allowed outside without supervision. Many declawed cats become biters when they find that their claws no longer work; others develop displays of growling. Scratching is one way of marking territory (there are scent glands among the paw pads), so declawed cats will still "scratch" things even though there are no claws to sharpen.

Alternatives are trimming the claws (see section on Trimming Claws) or "Soft Paws". These are soft plastic covers for the cat's claws. Generally, the vet will put them on, but cat owners can do so themselves if shown how. They will last about a month despite efforts to remove them. Check the July 1992 issue of Animal Sense. There is an informative article titled "Fake Fingernails for Felines?" by Dr. Marilyn Hayes at the Rowley Animal Hospital in Rowley, MA. They can make a useful training tool if used in conjuction with techniques to redirect clawing and scratching to approved items.

Pills, Dosing and Medication

Giving pills

Another trick is to buy a bottle of gelatin capsules. Take the capsule apart, dump the contents, put the pill in the empty capsule (in pieces if it won't otherwise fit) and reassemble the two capsule halves. Some places, especially natural food stores, will sell empty gelatin capsules, try and get size "00". This makes the administration of small pills much easier, and can also allow you to give more than one pill at one time, if they're sufficiently small. The capsule itself just dissolves away harmlessly. Do NOT use capsules which have been filled with any other substance but plain gelatin, since the residue may not agree with your pet!

You can try babyfood as a deception: get some pureed baby food meat, dip your finger in the jar, and sort of nestle the pill in the baby food. Offer it to your cat and it may lick it up. Be warned, some cats are very good at licking up everything BUT the pill.

You can get a pill plunger from your vet. This is a syringe-like tool that takes the pill on one end and lets you "inject" the pill. You can insert the pill deep down the cat's throat this way.

Administring Liquids

Cats can vomit easily, so keep an eye on them for a while after they've been dosed: it's not impossible that they'll run off to a corner and upchuck the medicine. Giving them a pet treat after dosage may help prevent this.

Topical Application

Start with lots of handling. At first don't handle the affected area, at all or for long. Gradually increase the amount of handling of the affected area. Move closer to it day by day, spend more time near it or on it. Talk to the cat while you're handling it. At the same time you're handling the affected area, pet the cat in an area it likes to be handled. After handling the affected area, praise the cat, pet the cat, give the cat a food treat, do things the cat likes.

As long as the medical problem you're treating isn't acute, don't restrain the cat to apply treatment. Gradually working up to a tolerable if not pleasant approach is much better in the long run.

If you must restrain the cat, grab the fur on the back of the neck with one hand, holding the head down, and clean/medicate with the other hand. Have your vet show you how. Sometimes wrapping the cat in a towel helps too.

Worms

• Roundworms: can cause diarrhea, constipation, anemia, potbellies, general poor condition. They are present in the intestines and feed on the digesting food.
• Whipworms and threadworms: fairly rare, can cause diarrhea, loss of weight, or anemia. Whipworms burrow into the large intestine; threadworms into the small. Both may cause internal bleeding.
• Hookworms: can cause (often bloody) diarrhea, weakness and anemia. They enter through the mouth or the skin and migrate to the small intestine.
• Tapeworms: look for small "rice grains" or irritation around the anus. They live in the intestines and share the cat's food. Tapeworms are commonly transmitted through fleas. If you cat has fleas or hashad fleas, it may have tapeworms.
• Flukes: can cause digestive upsets, jaundice, diarrhea, or anemia. They are found in the small intestine, pancreas and bile ducts.

General tips on preventing worm infestation: stop your cat from eating wild life; groom regularly; keep flea-free; keep bedding clean; and get regular vet examination for worms.

Note that a fecal exam may not be enough to determine if a cat has worms. In particular, tapeworms are often not visible in a fecal exam.

Fleas

Poisons (incl. plants, food & household chemicals)

In particular, notice that the list of problematic plants cannot be all inclusive. There are many plants with multiple names and even a botanist can't come up with a conclusive list. This is why you will almost never see identical lists put out by different organizations. When in doubt, try to go by the most regional information you can find, which is the most likely to use names current in your regions.

Treatment after ingestion

• Hydrogen peroxide 3% (most effective): One teaspoon every ten minutes; repeat three times.
• One-fourth teaspoonful of salt, placed at the back of the tongue.
• Syrup of Ipecac (one teaspoonful per ten pounds of body weight).

• has swallowed an acid, alkali, solvent, heavy duty cleaner, petroleum product, tranquilizers, or a sharp object (i.e., something that will cause as much or more damage coming back up)
• is severely depressed or comatose
• swallowed the substance more than two hours ago

• Mix activated charcoal with water (5 grams to 20 cc.). Give one teaspoonful per two pounds body weight.
• Thirty minutes later, give sodium sulphate (glauber's salt), one teaspoon per ten pounds body weight, or Milk of Magnesia, one teaspoon per five pounds body weight.
• In the absence of any of these agents, coat the bowel with milk, egg whites, vegetable oil and give a warm water enema.

Greenhouse plants

You'll need to ask about what the sprays are, how often, etc. They should have MSDS (material safety data sheets) on hand for everything they use. Many greenhouses also buy foliage plants (esp.) from commercial growers in southern states, rather than raising their own plants, so you need to ask about that too.

Household plants

• Gives a rash after contact: chrysanthemum; creeping fig; weeping fig; pot mum; spider mum.
• Irritating; the mouth gets swollen; tongue pain; sore lips -- potentially fatal, these plants have large calcium oxalate crystals and when chewed, esophageal swelling may result, resulting in death unless an immediate tracheotomy is done: Arrowhead vine; Boston ivy; caladium; dumbcane (highly fatal); Emerald Duke; heart leaf (philodendrum); Marble Queen; majesty; neththyis; parlor ivy; pathos; red princess; saddle leaf (philodendron); split leaf (philodendron).
• Generally toxic; wide variety of poisons; usually cause vomiting, abdominal pain, cramps; some cause tremors, heart and respiratory and/or kidney problems (difficult for you to interpret): Amaryllis; azalea; bird of paradise; crown of thorns; elephant ears; glocal ivy; heart ivy; ivy; Jerusalem cherry; needlepoint ivy; pot mum; ripple ivy; spider mum; umbrella plant.

Outdoor plants

• Vomiting and diarrhea in some cases: Delphinium; daffodil; castor bean; Indian turnip; skunk cabbage; poke weed; bittersweet; ground cherry; foxglove; larkspur; Indian tobacco; wisteria; soap berry.
• Poisonous and may produce vomiting, abdominal pain, sometimes diarrhea: horse chestnut/buckeye; rain tree/monkey pod; American yew; English yew; Western yew; English holly; privet; mock orange; bird of paradise bush; apricot & almond; peach & cherry; wild cherry; Japanese plum; balsam pear; black locust.
• Various toxic effects: rhubarb; spinach; sunburned potatoes; loco weed; lupine; Halogeton; buttercup; nightshade; poison hemlock; pig weed; water hemlock; mushrooms; moonseed; May apple; Dutchman's breeches; Angel's trumpet; jasmine; matrimony vine.
• Hallucinogens: marijuana; morning glory; nutmeg; periwinkle; peyote; loco weed.
• Convulsions: china berry; coriaria; moonweed; nux vomica; water hemlock.

Non-Poisonous Plants

To start with, you can assume anything with square stems (in cross-section) and opposite leaves is OK. That's the hallmark of the mint family, which includes catnip, _Nepeta_ and _Coleus_. Catnip can be grown in a bright window in the winter, but the cats may knock it off the sill. Coleus is easy, and kind of bright and cheerful with its colored leaves. Swedish Ivy, _Plectranthus_, is also in this family and incredibly easy to grow. Good hanging basket plant. Tolerates kitty-nibbles well.

• Tulips are OK, daffodils and lily of the valley are not.
• Miniature roses.
• Cyclamens, the genus _Cyclamen_, seem to be OK.
• African violet, Saintpaulia; Hanging African Violet (=Flame Violet), Episcia; gloxinia, Sinningia; goldfish plant, Hypoestes; and lipstick vine, Aeschynanthus are all members of the african violet family, the Gesneriaceae.
• All the cacti are fine -- but not all succulents are cactus. Make sure it has spines like a prickly pear or an old-man cactus. There are some look-alike foolers that are not good to eat! (But they don't have spines). (One cactus, Lophophora (peyote) will get you arrested.)
• Airplane plant, also called spider plant, Chlorophytum, is pretty commonly available and easy to grow. They come in solid green or green and white striped leaves, usually grown in hanging baskets.
• Wax begonias, Begonia semperflorens are easy and non-toxic. These are the little begonias you see in shady areas outside now in the north; in the southern states, they're often grown as winter outdoor plants. The other begonia species are OK too, but tougher to grow.
• Sweet potatoes, Ipomoea, if you can find some that haven't been treated to prevent sprouting! Looks like common philodendron at first glance.
• Shrimp plant, Beleperone guttata.
• Prayer plant, Maranta (needs humidity).
• Burn plant, Aloe vera.
• Grape ivy, Cissus (several different leaf shapes).
• Asparagus fern, Asparagus (several species).
• If you've got the humidity, any of the true ferns are OK, including maidenhair, Adaiantum, Boston fern (lots of variants!) Nephrolepis, Victorian Table Fern, Pteris...
• Wandering jew, Zebrina, and its close relatives that are often called "Moses in the boat" -- the flowers are in a pair of boat-shaped bracts.
• Impatiens, or patience plant, Impatiens.
• Common geranium, Pelargonium, in any of the many leaf forms and scents.
• AVOID anything with a milky juice or colored sap. Almost guaranteed toxic (wild lettuce and dandelion are the two major exceptions).
• Poinsettas: Many books continue to indicate that poinsettias are poisonous to animals and children. The Ohio State University conducted some tests and confirms that they are NOT poisonous to children or animals. The furor was because of a story about a child who ate a bunch of poinsettia leaves and died. According to Norsworthy's 1993 Feline Practice (thanks to Kay Klier), eating leaves will give a cat an upset stomach and maybe some diarrhea that can be cured with Kaopectate.

Chemical substances

• Strychnine, Sodium fluoroacetate, Phosphorus, Zinc Phosphide: rat/mouse/mole/roach poisons, rodents killed by same. Phosphorus is also found in fireworks, matches, matchboxes, and fertilizer.
• Arsenic, Metaldehyde, Lead: slug/snail bait; some ant poisons, weed killers and insecticides; arsenic is a common impurity found in many chemicals. Commercial paints, linoleum, batteries are sources of lead.
• Warfarin (Decon; Pindone): grain feeds used as rat/mouse poison, Also used as a prescription anti-coagulant for humans, various brand names, such as coumadin. The animal bleeds to death. Vitamin-K is antidote: look for purplish spots on white of eyes and gums (at this point animal is VERY sick).
• Antifreeze (ethylene glycol): from cars. Wash down any from your driveway as this is "good tasting" but highly toxic to most animals.
• Organophosphates and Carbamates (Dichlorvos, Ectoral, Malathion, Sevin (in high percentages) etc), Chlorinated Hydrocarbons (Chloradane, Toxaphene, Lindane, Methoxychlor: flea/parasite treatments, insecticides.
• Petroleum products: gasoline, kerosene, turpentine.
• Corrosives (acid and alkali): household cleaners; drain decloggers; commercial solvents.
• Many household cleaning products. Pine-oil products are very toxic and should be avoided or rinsed thoroughly (bleach is a better alternative). In particular, avoid items containing Phenol.
• Garbage (food poisoning): carrion; decomposing foods; animal manure.
• People Medicines: antihistamines, pain relievers (esp. aspirin), sleeping pills, diet pills, heart preparations and vitamins. Anything smelling of wintergreen or having methyl salicylate as an ingredient. Tylenol (acetominophen) will kill cats.

Food

Caffeine: can cause problems for your cat. Do not feed it coffee, Coco Cola, or other foods containing caffeine.

Household medications

Medications that cats should NEVER be given:

• Acetominophen (=tylenol, paracetamol) (1 tablet can be fatal to an adult cat)
• Benzocaine (the topical anaesthetic) (available in spray and cream forms--- Lanacaine and several hemhherrhoid preparations have lots of benzocaine)
• Benzyl alcohol
• Chlorinated hydrocarbons (like lindane, chlordane, etc.)
• Hexachlorophene (found in pHiso-Hex soap, among others)
• Methylene Blue (used to be used for urinary infections, many cats cannot tolerate it)
• Phenazopyridine (used in combination with sulfa as AzoGantrisin: fine for humans, deadly for cats)
• Phenytoin (=Dilantin) often used for seizures in other species
• Phosphate enemas (including Fleet (tm) enemas): may be fatal

• Aspirin: but not more than 1 baby aspirin (1/4 regular tablet) in 3 days!
• Chloramphenicol: generally safe at doses of less than 50-100 mg 2x/day
• Griseofulvin (=fulvicin)
• Lidocaine: another topical anaesthetic
• Megestrol acetate (Ovaban, Megace) may cause behavioral changes, breast cancer, diabetes. Extremely useful for some conditions, so use needs to be monitored.
• Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Agents (things like ibuprofen)-- tend to cause perforated ulcers. Banamine and aspirin are the best tolerated of this class of drugs
• Pepto-bismol: too high in salicylates
• Smooth muscle relaxants (like Lomotil): strange behavior
• Tetracycline: may cause fever, diarrhea, depression; better antibiotics available
• Thiacetarsamide (Caparsolate) used to treat heartworm in dogs
• Thiamylal sodium (Biotal) used for brief surgeries. Animals become sensitized after repeat exposures. If you change vets, be SURE to get your records so that the new vet can tell if this drug has been used previously.
• Urinary acidifiers; be careful of dosage.