The Scratching Post

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

Congratulations on having a baby! We truly hope the experience is a great one for your family.

With a few simple steps we can help make sure that the transition goes as smooth as possible for both you and your felines. It is important to help manage their stress because their entire environment is about to completely change.

Start by making sure your cats have a place to retreat, preferably up high. Cat trees or shelving can aid in this. We purchased a large cat tree off Groupon a few weeks before our daughter was born. While assembling the furniture for her room, we assembled the cat tree as well.  The cats seemed to appreciate their gift from the baby immediately.

Consider using feliway and Calm diet starting a few weeks before the baby is due. Feliway is a pheromone that helps reduce stress in cats.  It does not work in every cat, however I have noticed less cat to cat aggression when we use it.  You can find out more information at their website.

Calm diet is a veterinary prescription diet made by Royal Canin that contains tryptophan and casein.  Think of having a large turkey dinner and a warm glass of milk. In some cats it helps them calm down. My cats tend to vomit whenever they are stressed and when we used this diet the vomiting almost ceased to exist.

The two most important aspects of a smooth transition happen after the birth of the baby. Whoever is not stuck in a hospital bed needs to go home with a few of the blankets that were with the baby for the cats to smell. Bring one blanket per cat and leave them spread throughout the living space. Spend some time with them while they smell the blankets so they associate the smell with you.

The second important thing happens when everyone comes home. Please make sure the person who did not come home with the blankets isn’t holding the baby when entering. Your cats missed you, so do not start the jealously immediately. Have a few moments of quality kitty snuggle time without the baby if possible right when you get home.

Try to spend some dedicated time with the cats everyday. Include the cats as much as possible.  Anytime I breastfed, my orange cat would lay on the other side of my daughter across my lap.

The bond my daughter has created with our cats is truly amazing and I wish nothing but the same for you.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

Many people think that because cats are so small compared to humans that they can’t do us any real harm. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Cats have so many weapons for their size — they come equipped with 18 claws and 30 teeth. Today, we are going to focus on cat bites and how they can impact us.

Any bite from a carnivore, like housecats, can be dangerous. Due to their diets, a lot of bacteria is present in their mouths which can lead to a widespread infection quickly in a person if their skin is punctured.

A cat’s teeth are shaped to kill and rip flesh from bones. As a result, when they bite and release the punctures they produce can close up and seal bacteria within the prey’s body. It’s almost as if they can inject bacteria, leading to infections which require medical treatment.

I’ve seen many people who’ve been bitten by cats think it’s no big deal. Then a couple of days later, the hand swells, throbs with pain and one may even be admitted to a hospital.

Years before I was in the veterinary field, I was bitten on the hand by a friend’s cat. I didn’t think too much of it, just washed it and went about my business. Two days later my hand swelled up like a balloon and I was admitted to the hospital for 3 days of IV antibiotic therapy. I also needed a surgical consult because of the location of the bite. Luckily there was no need for surgery, but this can often be a concern because cats tend to bite hands and wrists.

There are so many tendons, ligaments and important structures in the hand that it is not uncommon for a cat bite to need to be surgically debrided. Here at NOVA Cat Clinic, we always recommend that anyone who’s been bitten by a cat receive immediate medical attention and antibiotics.

In addition to the risk of infection and the need for antibiotics, anytime someone is bitten by a cat we must investigate the cat’s rabies status. If kitty is up to date on their rabies vaccine then medical attention is all that’s needed.  If the kitty is not up to date, then by law the clinic must contact Animal Control.

Rabies is prevalent in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. Animal Control must be made aware of any potential transmission form any mammal bites. In Arlington County, the typical protocol for an owned cat that has bitten someone is to follow a 10-day quarantine period. This involves keeping the kitty at home and indoors for a full 10 days for observation of any unusual symptoms.

Depending on the situation, a rabies booster may be given either before or after the quarantine process. If neither the kitty nor the person that was bitten show any symptoms after 10 days, the quarantine is considered complete and the risk of rabies transmission negligible. If there are any unusual symptoms, the kitty may need to be confiscated and the person may need intense medical intervention.

The moral of the story? Anything with teeth CAN bite. If it’s a cat, take precautions and be aware of the potential risks involved.  If a cat bite occurs, please seek immediate medical attention.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

It’s that time of the year that NOVA Cat Clinic starts to see an influx of patients for more than our routine standard of care. We see a significant increase in sick patients. The holidays for us are a sad time of the year since this is usually when we see a rise in euthanasia as well. But why?

Stress

While the winter holidays are supposed to be filled with hot chocolate, turkey, cookies, family visits, gifts, and silly winter sweaters, it is also the most stressful time of the year. And your cat feels it, too (it is not just your sweater).

Cats are creatures of habit. They love routine. What they don’t love is going on a car ride somewhere to board for a week or two while their favorite person(s) are away (even though all of the cats are loved on and spoiled here). Most cats are not fans of household guests either. The quiet, one-on-one time of 6:00 a.m. coffee and cat food might all of a sudden include several people, sometimes screaming children, and possibly even a dog in the mix, not to mention strangers using the bathroom where their potty box could be.

Their routine is changed. Change equals stress which can turn into a trip to the vet’s office. Sometimes they can be expensive ones. We see trends of cats not getting their medication that is needed daily.  In turn, their disease manifests into something that may need urgent medical care simply because our holiday hustle and bustle has made our lives too busy to pay them the attention they normally receive.

Cats that have high anxiety can develop problems such as urinary tract infections, while some can become suddenly aggressive or perhaps depressed. Some elderly or very metabolically sick cats take a turn for the worse and succumb to their diseases right around the holidays. All because the household is stressed even though you don’t think it is.

What can we do about this? If you have guests over, make sure your cat has its own room that you have set up for them. This way your cat is in a “safety zone” that only you or people that your cat are close to can go into. No one else!

Consider pet sitters if your cat does poorly at the vet’s office or boarding facility, especially if your cat tends to be aggressive or very fearful in nature. Don’t be afraid to ask your guests to mind their manners around your cat, or even request that they don’t bring other pets over if your kitty really does not like dogs or other cats.

Teach visiting children that the cat is off limits if the cat doesn’t come out and about and want to socialize on its own. The use of Feliway diffusers or even Sentry Calming Collars can help aid in lowering their stress levels as well.

The most important thing is to stick to your cat’s routine as closely as you can and not wait until the last minute or the day you are supposed to catch a plane to take your ill cat to the vet. If your cat seems to be acting odd or “off,” make an appointment sooner rather than later to prevent those holiday woes of expensive vet visits.

Everyone at NOVA Cat Clinic wishes you a safe and happy holidays!

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

Cats are true, obligate carnivores and should be treated as such. Walk into any grocery store or pet store today and you can find a vast variety of cat food available. So much variety it is difficult to choose what can be considered an extraordinary diet vs. just a good diet.

Commercial cat food started in the early 1900s and gained popularity in the ’30s and ’40s with dry food due to World War II’s metal rations, and a few select companies producing pet food. Step ahead a century later, and there are so many brands it can make your head spin. No longer are cats just eating birds, squirrels or anything else they can hunt for, they have their human counterparts they can count on!

For the past decade, there has been a rise in feeding “natural” cat diets vs. stuff in the bag that is full of cornmeal, byproducts, pillow fluff and staples (just kidding about the last ones). Now you have whole meats, veggies, omega fatty acids added etc… to make them more nutritionally complete.

But what makes a good diet vs. a bad diet? Why are we not feeding cats a raw diet based on ground up mice, squirrels and birds?  They have berries and grains in them too. They must be the perfect diet! It can be if you are an outdoor cat and can manage to hunt five-to-six rodents per day; they sure can sustain a cat easily.

Many cats that hunt leave behind the digestive tract of the rodent, and other parts they find less appealing, so saying they eat the whole thing is not a true statement.  I have yet to see a commercial pet food company jump on the bandwagon on making foods with the names of “Chipmunk Stew and Robin’s Delight.” It is expensive and time consuming to create diets based on a true outdoor, natural diet, not to mention a public outcry on grinding up songbirds and other fuzzy critters.

Commercial diets are readily available and they are easy to feed, which is why the public likes them vs. making a homemade or raw diet. Commercial pet food must meet the minimal AAFCO standards on nutrition as well. A company cannot just dump in a bunch of ingredients, hand it to the consumer with a smile and say “There you go! Enjoy the food! Your cat will live a long life thanks to us!”

They must go through rigorous testing and formulations to meet the minimal standards. If a company wants to go above and beyond those standards, they can and that is what makes the premium diets popular, and a good majority is grain free!

This is where the huge controversy on cats that should not be eating grain takes place. While it is true that cats are carnivores, in some situations carbohydrates can help ill cats by being a source for fast energy or assisting in treating a metabolic disease. So carbohydrates do have their places in cat diets. Not all carbohydrates are bad. 

For those people who wish to feed a raw diet, there are two options. Purchase one that is made correctly and meets the safety standards for creating these diets, or make one at home. While you do feed less with a raw diet, it is expensive and time consuming, but those who feed it find it totally worth the price and labor involved. (more…)

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

If you do have a cat, you may have discovered that they certainly aren’t shy about the occasional need to throw up, so much so that many people think it’s just a normal part of their behavior.

This isn’t necessarily true, though. There are several medical issues that could be causing your kitty to vomit. Let’s dig a little deeper…

What is the point of throwing up? When you get right down to it, vomiting evolved as a way for the body to rid itself of something it doesn’t want. It could be due to toxicity, stomach irritation, or something as simple as unbearable taste. On the other hand, sometimes cats vomit chronically from systemic causes ranging from allergies to kidney disease.

Let’s explore how we would go about determining the reasons behind why your cat is vomiting. Our first goal is to figure out if it’s a gastrointestinal issue or a systemic issue. First we ask you a lot of questions. How often is Fluffy vomiting? Is it usually after eating or for seemingly no reason at all? What comes up — food or liquid? Is there hair in it? Hairballs aren’t the same as vomiting and may be able to be addressed as a separate issue. Is this a new trend or has it been going on for a long time? Does Fluffy have any other symptoms like lethargy, diarrhea, loss of appetite, or skin rashes?

Sometimes just asking these questions is enough to point us in the right direction. Depending on the answer we get, we may recommend labwork to check kidney, liver, and thyroid values. If the results point to kidney, liver, or thyroid disease, this may well be the systemic cause of vomiting. We might also recommend X-rays to look for foreign bodies, a GI cause for vomiting; X-rays also give us a lot of information about your cat’s internal organs and might indicate the problem.

What else can cause vomiting? Food allergies, irritable bowel disease, or pancreatitis to name a few. If we suspect food allergies we might suggest a food trial which consists of feeding your kitty a prescription novel protein or hypoallergenic diet. It can take several weeks to see results with a food trial, but many kitties with food allergies have a lot of luck with these diets. Irritable bowel and pancreatitis can be diagnosed with a combination of lab work and symptoms.

Treating the underlying cause, be it systemic or GI related, often improves the vomiting issues. So what does all this boil down to?  Vomiting is not just something cats do. It might indicate a serious underlying problem. If your kitty is exhibiting any unusual symptoms like vomiting, schedule an appointment today for us to begin investigating the problem.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

Don’t we all love Halloween? It is so much fun, but we need to be careful for our cats.

Some candy can be toxic to cats. How can something so wonderful be dangerous? Chocolate, especially the darker types, is toxic to cats. Chocolate has caffeine and theobromine. When ingested, these two ingredients can lead to various medical complications and may even prove fatal for your cat.

The artificial sweetener xylitol, which is used in gums and several candies, is also toxic to cats. The ingestion of xylitol primarily affects insulin release throughout the body. Xylitol causes the release of insulin from the pancreas into circulation leading to a rapid decrease of blood glucose levels. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can occur within 30 to 60 minutes of xylitol ingestion. This hypoglycemia can lead to liver toxicity, liver damage, and ultimately liver failure. Xylitol is perfectly safe for people, but because of different metabolisms, it can be fatal for dogs and cats.

So be careful to not let candy be lying around or fall out of your trick or treat bag. Click here for a link to the ASPCA hotline.

Some cats love to play with and then eat dangling decorations.  Just make sure the decorations are out of reach. Vomiting is the most common symptom of the ingestion of foreign bodies.  We want to be sure you do not spend the holiday in the emergency room. Although we are more likely to think of this during the winter holidays, there are those of us who go all out for Halloween too. Come by our office if you’d like to see our feline friendly decorations.

If you have outdoor cats, you may want to consider limiting their outdoor time during this period. This is especially true for black cats. Unfortunately, not everyone loves cats as much as we do.

You may want to consider a Feliway plug-in during the holidays. Lots of strange people coming to your door may frighten your cat and put them in seclusion.  Feliway is a synthetic pheromone that can help calm kitties nerves. There are other anti-anxiety options including over the counter products such as anxitane.  There are also a couple of prescription diets that can reduce anxiety. Royal Canin has a diet called Calm, and Hill’s has c/d stress.

Finally, if you dress your cat up for Halloween, please send us your photos to [email protected]. We would love to put them on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

You may want to ask your cat about their costume, though. Not all of them are very excited about dressing up.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

My Cat Has MRSA. That sounds terrifying. How did this happen? Am I going to get sick? What about my children?

First, MRSA stands for Meticillin-resistant (previously methicillin) Staphylococcus aureu. This type of bacteria was first seen in 1951. Methicillin is actually no longer manufactured, but the name remains. The resistance came about because of over-use of antibiotics when they were not needed. Meticillin is in the penicillin family of drugs and they work by destroying the bacterium protective cell wall. Unfortunately, these drugs no longer work on this resistant form of staphbacteria. Other antibiotics do work and the infections can be eradicated though it can take time.

Humans can give MRSA to animals, but thankfully it is rarely the other way around. Staph is commonly found on human skin. About 20% of people carry MRSA in their nasal cavities. Most healthy people do not have any issue with it, and may not even know about it, unless they have a cut or undergo surgery. Things can become challenging if an infection takes hold. Good hygiene habits are the simplest way to avoiding the bacteria. Because this bacteria is resistant to certain types of antibiotics, if it does take hold it can sometimes be difficult to fully eradicate.

Here at NOVA Cat Clinic, we have started seeing more cases of MRSA in our feline patients. We always try to culture wounds or skin infections before using any antibiotics so we can make sure we use the right ones. Since we are doing more cultures, we are finding this organism more frequently and have been able to treat it effectively with the proper antibiotics and supportive therapy like our therapeutic laser.

We currently have a cat that was left here because of this condition. The owner has small children and would not have been able to separate kitty while she were being treated. We have been treating her and we are planning on re-culturing soon to be sure the infection is cleared. Once the infection is gone we plan to find her a new home. She is a sweet and loving cat and she would make someone a wonderful companion.

Please call us at 703-525-1955 or email us at [email protected] if you would like to know more.

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

Labwork (blood testing, urinalysis) is a very important component in our overall assessment of your cat’s health. These results can help us diagnose medical conditions, monitor a patient’s response to treatment or progression of disease, and check for systemic side effects from medications. Many of our clients have asked why their cats need to have their bloodwork rechecked so often.

Although every case is different, here is some general information about commonly performed laboratory testing:

• Chemistry: The serum chemistry panel typically includes kidney and liver values, blood glucose, and electrolytes.
• CBC: A complete blood count gives us information about a patient’s white and red blood cells.
• T4: Thyroid level
• Urinalysis: This test includes the urine specific gravity (concentration) and pH as well as protein, crystals, bacteria, red blood cells, and white blood cells.

Diagnosing systemic disease: For our senior patients (cats over 7 years old), we typically recommend a “Senior Wellness Panel” (chemistry, CBC, T4, +/- urinalysis) every six months. This allows us to screen for many of the common diseases of older cats such as kidney disease, diabetes, and hyperthyroidism. We recommend testing every six months because changes in these values can occur in a matter of months, and we can often diagnose a problem before the patient has any clinical signs of disease at home. For younger cats, this testing is also a great way to establish a baseline of the cat’s results when he or she is healthy.

Pre-anesthetic screening: Although we make every effort to ensure that anesthesia is as safe as possible, it is important for us to ensure that your cat does not have any abnormalities that would increase the risk of anesthesia for a dental procedure, spay or neuter, grooming, or other procedure. If we do have concerns about these results, we may make adjustments to our anesthetic protocol, or we may recommend that the procedure be postponed.

Monitoring for drug side effects: Medications can be metabolized/processed by the body in several different ways, including via the liver and kidneys. For most patients whose conditions are stable, we recommend monitoring bloodwork every six months for changes in liver, kidney, and white blood cell values. Often, we can halt the progression of these changes or even reverse them by adjusting the dose or changing to a different medication. We want to ensure that your cat is on an appropriate dose of medication that controls their medical condition and has minimal side effects.

These are general guidelines that apply to most of our patients, but your cat’s veterinarian will make specific recommendations taking into account your cat’s age, medical condition, and temperament. Our primary goal is your cat’s health and well-being. If you have any questions about the blood testing schedule we have recommended for your cat, please ask!

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

Q. I recently adopted a kitten from the shelter and they said it had a minor URI? What does that mean, and do I need to come see you for it?

A. Ah yes…  the dreaded upper respiratory infection (URI) that each kitten seems to come with whether it is from a shelter or a rescue. And it’s normal!

It is not fault or lack of care to the cat at the shelter or rescue group. What you need to remember is that all babies have a less-than-stellar immune system. Just like human children, they tend to get sick quicker and sometimes often.

Many of the kittens that shelters or rescues receive come with very little to no background of the husbandry where they were found, such as if the mother cat was healthy, etc… The groups simply accept the babies for who they are and triage them accordingly. They do their best with making sure they are FeLV/FIV negative, start their vaccine series, de-flea them and even routinely deworm them.

So why is your kitten sick? Simply because they have a compromised immune system.

Kittens are under a lot of stress when they are separated from mom. While foster humans are great, they cannot replace what mama cat does. A kitten that has been well taken care of by their mother looks vastly different than a foster bottle baby in body weight, size, coat health etc.

When kittens are born, they have their mother’s immune system running around in their bodies, but as they get older, they develop their own immune system and the former immune system from mom eventually wears away. Some kittens have immune systems that simply cannot handle common infections that kittens get, and they need some extra help with supportive care and antibiotics. Some other kittens simply sneeze for a few weeks and the URI is gone on its own. URI symptoms can range from a bout of the sniffles to goopy eyes, runny nose, sneezing and difficulty breathing.

Now let’s get back to your new kitten. Does she need a visit to the vet because of this URI from the shelter? Yes!

Make an appointment. We want to make sure your new kitten’s lungs sound clear, that she doesn’t have conjunctivitis with the URI (many of them do develop it), and that we can catch any secondary infections quickly. Plus we can determine if it is safe for you to bring this kitten home to a multiple cat household. Just because your cats are current on vaccines does not necessarily mean your adult cats won’t catch what your kitten has (no vaccine is 100 percent, and your kitten may have something the vaccine does not even cover).

As soon as you adopt your new kitten, give us a call to set up an appointment or make an appointment with your regular veterinarian.

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Editor’s Note: The Scratching Post is a column that’s sponsored and written by the staff at NOVA Cat Clinic.

Reduce inflammation. Decrease pain. Heal wounds. Unblock a blocked cat. Improve movement. Cure MRSA. Is there one tool that can do all of these things and more?  Yes — a therapy laser!

Our therapy laser is one of the best additions we made to our practice last year.  The improvements we’ve made to our patients’ lives through the laser have been so substantial; I’d like to tell you a little more about it.

We have a Cutting Edge MLS Therapy Laser. It’s a Class IV laser, which means it puts out similar power to surgical and cutting lasers, but ours does neither of those things. Ours is also a cold laser, meaning you can leave it in one position against the skin and it will not get hot.

MLS stands for Multi-wave Lock System — the FDA-approved technology that uses two unique wavelengths of light. These different wavelengths work together to give improved results over traditional laser therapy. The light energy (called photons) from the laser penetrates about an inch under the skin into cells and stimulates cellular activity. This extra activity helps the cells to repair themselves. We’ve used our laser to treat such a variety of conditions.

On a regular basis, we use it after dental cleanings that involve extractions. It helps reduce inflammation and speed up the healing time of the gums. We have gotten excellent results by using the laser to treat arthritis as well. Kitties that haven’t jumped on the bed in months have been known to jump to tables and bookcases after just a few treatments.

We’ve also actually been able to unblock male cats whose bladders are blocked with a single therapy laser treatment. Wound healing is much faster with a few treatments, and our most exciting success stories are that we have cured two cases of MRSA.

Sometimes the fact that we have a laser seems a bit like science fiction, especially when seeing people and cats all wearing goggles. But the reality is that our therapy laser has really increased our standard of care and has provided such a benefit for our patients and clients.

We offer therapy laser appointments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons with Ellen, our Licensed Veterinary Technician. If you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment to see if your feline friend could benefit from Laser Therapy, give us a call.

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.