Wise Observer

This means that you have to think about the cats’ living conditions, feeding, grooming, and clean-up.

Regarding your cat’s living conditions, this will be largely influenced by your own lifestyle. If you live in an apartment in a city, then your cat should live solely indoors. If you live in a farm, then your cat may live solely outdoors or live both indoors and outdoors. When your cat lives solely outdoors, it must be provided with some form of shelter, such as a barn. What you should not do is to keep a cat inside a cage. This will drive your cat crazy. Cats treasure the freedom to move freely.

When it comes to the food of your cat, you may give free-choice feedings or scheduled feedings. If the cat is given free choice, it will feed every few hours. This is usually for cats who lead active lives. But if the cat is facing an obesity problem, then scheduled feedings should be best. You must also remember that cats are genuine carnivores. They are natural hunters.

They will not survive on a diet of grains and vegetables. In fact, they don’t need these types of food. They only need meat. Their bodies require a great amount of protein than any other mammal. You may opt to give your cat the canned cat food or the dry food. The canned food tastes a lot better but the dry food is advisable for the cat’s teeth. You may alternate the use of both types. What you should avoid is giving your cat cow’s milk. Cow’s milk has proteins that are too large for the cat to digest. This milk will make your cat suffer from diarrhea, vomiting and intestinal upset. At all times, there should be fresh clean water available to your cat.

Cats usually take care of their own grooming so the owner need not worry about this aspect. Cats like to clean themselves using their rough tongue. Although, the owner can help comb his cat when the breed has long hair. When the cat stops grooming itself, then that is the time that the owner should worry. The cat may not be feeling well.

Cats like to eliminate in relatively clean places. In fact, you will find outdoor cats digging the ground before releasing their waste. Afterwards, the cover the waste. For indoor cats, the owner should provide a litter box. This box should be changed and cleaned every week because when the cat finds that the box is not clean enough, it will find other places to take care of its waste. This is certainly bad and smelly news for the owner.

Peter Garant’s pet medicine site has an extensive collection of cat medicine articles.

Even with the best care, cats can become ill. Sometimes this means a simple “kitty cold,” at other times the disease might have a more lasting or even fatal result. The following are some of the more common causes of serious illness in cats.

An upper respiratory infection (URI) is the medical term for what many cat lovers call a “kitty cold.” Indeed, the symptoms match those of a human cold, sneezing and discharge from the nose. While they seem similar, the human and cat version of this infection are different, and one species cannot be infected by the other. However, URI is highly contagious among cats. If you have a multi-cat household and notice URI symptoms, isolate the cat immediately.

The best treatment for URI is time and loving care. Use a warm, moist cloth to keep your cat’s eyes and nose free of discharge. You might need to warm her food to enhance the smell to encourage your cat to eat.

URI symptoms, which include a decreased appetite, can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Watch your cat carefully; not eating or drinking can lead to dehydration. Also, if your cat becomes extremely lethargic, it may mean the URI has turned into something more serious.

The symptoms of URI may last a few days to several weeks. Cats with URI may also be lethargic and have a decreased appetite. Monitor the cat carefully; a growing lack of appetite and fever can lead to dehydration. Not eating can lead to liver problems. Lethargy can mean a minor URI has become a more serious problem, such as pneumonia. If you notice this occurring, or if the discharge becomes very thick and yellowish-green, contact your veterinarian. Severe URIs may need to be treated with antibiotics.

Chlamydia is a type of bacteria that has many variations. Usually, each variant is species specific; feline Chlamydia is not transmitted to humans. In cats, the bacteria usually infects the eye, causing conjunctivitis. Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics.

Symptoms of Feline Chlamydia

* Anorexia (loss of appetite; may occur as the disease progresses)

* Coughing

* Difficulty breathing

* Fever (may occur as the disease progresses)

* Pneumonia (in young kittens 2 to 4 weeks old, which could be fatal)

* Runny nose (rhinitis)

* Sneezing

* Watery eyes due to conjunctivitis (either one or both eyes)

Panleukopenia is a condition in which a cat’s white blood cell count drops dramatically. Since white blood cells are vital to the cat’s defense against disease, this condition leaves cats vulnerable to deadly infections. The virus is transmitted via body secretions. Feces are particularly common transmitters. It can be carried in water or on shoes.

Panleukopenia is often referred to as a number of different terms, such as

* Panleukopenia (often shortened to “Panleuk” in verbal discussion)

* FPV (Feline Panleukopenia Virus OR Feline Parvo Virus)

* FP (Feline Panleukopenia)

* Feline Distemper

* Feline Infectious Enteritis

* Feline Infectious Gastroenteritis

* Feline Agranulocytosis

* Cat Plague

* Cat fever

* Show fever

* Psuedomembranous Enteritis

* Maladie du jeune chat

* Feline Typhus

* Feline Tyfoid

* Colibacillosis

* Agranulocytosis

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) causes a variety of diseases, one of which is leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells. Infected cats often appear healthy in the early stages of the disease. The illness may take months or years to cause death. For a long time, FeLV was the most fatal disease among cats. Today, although vaccinations are available to protect cats from this disease, it continues to be a leading cause of death, as there is no treatment.

FeLV is usually transmitted through cat fighting with each other. Because large quantities of the FeLV are shed in puncture wounds and cat saliva associated with fighting result in the injection of PeLV into other cats. Other less frequent routes of viral spread include sharing food and water bowls, cats grooming each other, and transmission from mother to kittens before birth.

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The focus of many pet owners seems to be directed towards their
animals, which makes a great deal of sense in most cases.
However, when trying to correct unwanted behavior in your dog
you might want to point that finger inward sometimes and have a
little glimpse in the mirror. It is easy to become annoyed with
your pet when you feel as though you have tried everything and
nothing seems to work.

Maybe your Boston Terrier continues to chew on your shoes or
other objects while you are not at home. Perhaps the Maltese in
your life still has accidents in the house rather than letting
you know she needs to go outside. On the other hand, possibly
you have a Yorkshire Terrier that snips at strangers, even
guests in your home when they try to pet him. All of these and
many other undesirable behaviors that dogs may posses can leave
a pet owner feeling frustrated and at their wits end with their
furry little friend.

Have you ever considered though when faced with one of these
situations that the dog is trying to communicate something to
you? Is it possible that Sparky just feels neglected during
those long days alone at home while you are at work? Sometimes
we can have a big impact on our dogs if we look at our own
behavior and consider what the pooch may be trying to tell us
through their difficult behavior. Obviously dogs can not talk or
speak with us as a human can when they need to communicate their
feelings. That is not to say that canines are not vocal because
as many of us know they can express quite a lot at times through
their barking, growling or whining. However, to really pinpoint
what the issue is for your pet you may find that you are the one
that actually holds the answers.

Dogs have a very keen awareness for their surroundings and the
people in their environment. As most dog owners come to realize,
the bond between your dog and you can be extremely strong. There
are people who report that during a challenging illness or
devastating time in their life that their dog responded as
though they knew what was going on and they helped their owner
through the rough time. Sometimes by just sitting near their
owner or laying at their feet, other times dogs may whine and
pace back and forth, especially when other people are around
because they are trying to indicate that their owner needs help.

Experts have even confirmed that dogs do have an ability to
detect several human emotions and many of them will respond in
unique ways. For example; when there is a lot of anger or
arguing occurring within a household your dog may respond by
acting up in a number of ways, which is not a problem with the
dog but rather your pet is responding to the hostility and
unpleasantness it senses in the house. Everyone goes through
difficult periods in their life and it is obviously impossible
to avoid exposing your dog to any anger or hostile situations
throughout their life. The important thing to remember is that
your situation and how you handle it is not your dog’s choice or
within their area of responsibility.

Dogs deserve and hopefully get, the majority of times anyway, a
good, loving and stable home. They respond well to a structured
environment, complete with rules and routines. If you typically
get up each morning and walk your dog before you go to work and
then you suddenly stop doing it all together, your dog will
respond in some way, possibly a negative one. It is not the
dog’s fault that you changed your behavior and they have no
other way of communicating other than to chew up stuff or have
an accident in the house as their way of saying, “hey what is
going on.” In some cases dogs can even become depressed, this
happens most frequently in situations where the dog was once
loved and well cared for and then suddenly became ignored and
forgotten about. It is really sad to see a dog that is in this
form of doggy-depression because again, they did not ask to come
to live with you, you chose them.

There are obviously other concerns you must deal with when you
are going through a difficult time, like loosing your job or
going through a divorce, and you should always take care of the
important aspects related to these situations. It is
understandable that a dog can suddenly become a lower priority
in your life however, if you are unhappy with their behavior
because they are acting out in response to their environment;
take that into consideration before disciplining your pet or
giving up on them all together.

Dogs may secretly harbor the desire to have all humans attend
some sort of training school before they decide to become a pet
owner, however, since that is not very likely to happen,
remember to think about your own behavior when examining your
dog’s. That precious pooch can sometimes be just what you need
to get through a difficult time and maintaining their routine
for their benefit can in many ways benefit you also.