Beauty and Demodex are only skin deep

A litter of kittens was recently born in the basement of one of the local paper mills in  town .  I am not quite clear how the pregnant mom got inside the building , probably a kind-hearted soul that  brought her in from the Wisconsin winter. One of the kittens from the litter,  now a 12 week old kitten called Mittens, a fluffy black and white girl, was adopted by a New London family with two adult indoor cats, Cyrus and Grizz.   Here is where the story begins.  Cyrus and Grizz are pampered indoor family pets.  They live in a safe, healthy, controlled environment until now.  Enter Mittens….  an itchy stray kitten…

“Mittens” came in for her first wellness visit this week.

 Mittens, although cute, had a checkered past.  Born to a mom of questionable health, Mittens had acquired a highly contagious, although microscopic, skin parasite from her mama.   This parasite is called Demodex Gatoi.  (see picture for graphic depiction).  This skin parasite is smaller than the tip of a needle.   Demodex Gatoi is considered a fairly recent bug, having been first discovered and documented in 1981 in Finland.   Since then it has gradually become more prevalent in other countries, and is now considered a common cause of feline skin disease in the Southern United States, and I have seen several cases in my practice .   It  is not easily found on the skin or fur, because it lives and burrows deep into the keratin layer of the epidermis,  causing  itchy skin, and leading to severe inflammation and ulcerations.  And it is very contagious to other cats.

Luckily for Mittens, the owners brought a fresh stool sample in for analysis at their first appointment.  Now a stool sample is usually evaluated for parasites that live in the gastrointestinal tract, right?  So how did the skin mite end up in the stool, you ask???  (this is the cool part).  Remember that Mittens had been itchy.  Itchy cats chew at their skin.  Chewed hair  (including the mite that is hanging around under the skin) gets swallowed when cats chew their skin.  A skin mite that is swallowed has entered the  GI tract, and is waiting for the eyes of my skilled technician Kim to identify it (as she did  in Mitten's case) in a stool analysis.  

The spotlight is on Mittens and Demodex Gatoi  , but this story is really about the importance of a stool sample examination.  Preventative testing like a fecal analysis can be an invaluable diagnostic test, one that we strongly recommend for all cats on an annual basis.     Without  the foresight and concern of Mitten’s owner this contagious parasite  would have gone undiagnosed and Mittens, Grizz and Cyrus’s health would have been put at risk.    The take away lesson is that  important health information can be found in that smelly, not-to-fun to collect stool sample.  Bring one along on your cat's next wellness visit.  

If you are interested, here is more information about this fascinating feline specific skin parasite:  FELINE DEMODEX INFORMATION

As always, thanks for listening.

Dr. Maureen Flatley

Fox Valley Cat Clinic

www.foxvalleycatclinic.com

The legend of the Christmas Tabby

Tabby cats hold a special place in my heart. My very first cat, Geraldine, was a tabby.  Since then,
I have shared my life with many special tabbies:  P.J., Pipsqueak,  Squeaker, and currently a crazy cat named Peabody.

 When a friend shared this tabby  Christmas Story with me, it warmed my heart.  And as a Christmas gift to all of you devoted cat lovers, I share it now with you.  I hope it adds PEACE and JOY to your Holiday Season.

legend of the tabby cat

Author Unknown

And so it came to pass that a husband and wife journeyed to a small town called Bethlehem, as the king had decreed that all the people stand to be counted in the small towns and teeming cities from whence they came. The journey was long and hard for both, but especially for the young wife, who was very near to bringing her firstborn son into the world.

When they at last reached the crowded and noisy town, the expectant father searched hurriedly for a place for them to rest and where the child could safely be born. But at every door, he was told there was no available room. Finally, an old inkeeper, though having no space left in his inn, took pity on them and offered them shelter in the small stable used by his animals.

It was there that the child was born, surrounded by beasts of the field. As the night's cold grew, the baby fretted and cried while his parents pondered how to make him comfortable. His father tried stuffing straw into the open places in the walls, and his mother tried warming him with her meager wrappings. But still, the baby cried on.

All the while, a tiny kitten watched from the corner. "Of course the little baby is cold," she thought. "It has no fur to keep it warm! I will give it mine, and I will lullaby-purr it to sleep."

A little jump brought the kitten into the manger where the baby lay. There, she quietly gave her humble gift of warmth and love, gently stretching out her thin, fragile little body over the baby's, careful to cover all but the infant's face. The crying was soon replaced by soft purrs and coos, and slowly, the infant smiled.

As Mary, the new mother, witnessed this gift to her child, she touched the little cat's forehead.

"Thank you, Little Tabby, for your gift of love and warmth. As a sign of my grateful blessing, you and all your descendents will forevermore carry my initial on your forehead."

And to this day, tabby cats are known by the remarkable "M" on their foreheads, and by their extraordinary gifts of love, so gently given.

HAPPY HOLIDAY from all of us at Fox Valley Cat Clinic to all of you!

I thank you all  for your patronage in 2013

Dr. Maureen Flatley

Iams Pet Food Recall

Iams is calling it a "limited" recall. My experience is this is how most recalls start.  I will be watching closely to see if this recall expands over the next few weeks or months.

My recommendations to you  is to stop feeding an exclusively Iams diet to your cat until we are given more information. 

Here is a link for the lot numbers that are being recalled. Iams Recall Information.

 Remember that stores ARE NOT obligated to remove ALL Iams products from their shelves, even though there is a chance this recall could be EXPANDED over time. 

Please share this information as MANY people feed Iams products.  This has the potential for being a very large recall.....

Feed safe -rotate your cat's food choices.  Want to read more on how to feed your cat safely in the world of pet food recalls?  How to feed your cat with safety in mind

Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic

Emergency or Evacuation -how to keep your cat SAFE!

With the sudden and violent storm last night, and with a large percentage of the Fox Valley being without power (including the Fox Valley Cat Clinic), I thought I would share some thoughts about planning ahead for an emergency -be it a tree falling on your roof, a flood affecting your neighborhood, a tornado hitting in your city, or a long term power outage across the Valley ….

• Planning ahead, before a crisis hits, is the KEY. Know where you can go and how you will get there. Make sure your cats are welcome or that you have an alternative location in which to house them.
• If you have to evacuate your home, always take your cats with you. Even if you believe you’ll only be gone for a short time, don’t ever leave your cats behind.
• Prepare an evacuation kit ahead of time.  To help you with this, refer to the AVMA booklet "Saving the Whole Family" on   when an emergency hits.
  
• Prepare a first aid kit, and travel with it if you travel with your cat. Again, refer to
•  "Saving the Whole Family".    Remember that in many parts of northern Wisconsin, veterinary care is difficult to find, especially on a weekend.
• Be sure your cat has Identification. This identification should include rabies and license tags. Forms of ID for cats include tags (with your name, address, and telephone number engraved) and microchips. Ideally, your cat will have both an identification tag and a microchip.  Many emergency shelters will accept pets, but only with documented proof of vaccinations, and an appropriately sized carrier.
• Include your cat’s medical records and other important documents (licenses, etc.) in your evacuation kit.  If your cat is on medication, consider including several days worth of medication in your kit.
• Be sure you have a carrier available to transport and, if necessary, large enough to house each of your cats comfortably.

These are just a few of the more important suggestions provided in the AVMA booklet

  "Saving the Whole Family" .  Remember that if your power is out, medical records including rabies certificates may not be available from your veterinary clinic because they may be affected by the same emergency that may be city wide, or county wide or even larger. 

Please share this information with you pet loving friends.  Together, we can make the world safer for pets!

Dr. Maureen Flatley

Fox Valley Cat Clinic

Menasha, WI

The View From My Side of the Table

Understanding CAT BODY LANGUAGE is essential in my line of work.  As you can imagine,  if I
read a cat wrong, someone could get hurt.   I need to know when your cat is relaxed enough for me to begin my examination, or take an radiograph, or draw a blood sample.  Here are some of my secrets.

  If your cat is rubbing on my leg while I am chatting with you , it is an all-clear signal "you may pick me up now."

 If your cat is walking around the room with their tail pointing toward the ceiling, I am being told, "I am comfortable, and it is OK to handle me now."

If your cat is purring, it does not necessarily mean they are happy.  Cats will purr when happy, scared or in pain, but a purring cat will rarely act aggressively.

Growling comes in many different flavors.  Some cats are giving me a warning, some cats are out of their comfort zone and just scared, and some cats mean "DO NOT reach for me".   Usually I can
differentiate these guys by their body language.

Facial rubbing and head butting is my favorite exam room behavior -it means that I am recognized and accepted as a friend.

The "flop on their side and expose the  belly" cat is also a favorite of mine.  However, I don't want to touch the belly as most cats see this as a breech of trust.  I scratch under the chin and behind the ears -a more generally accepted form of attention.

Flattened ears should never be ignored. These cats are SCARED, and need quiet calming from their owners.  Once the ears are upright, I will slowly proceed with quiet and gentle handling.

Yawning can be a sign of  stress.  Rarely are cats tired in the exam room, but I see a lot of yawning -this indicates that they are nervous and under stress. 

Feliway, a spray product that mimics facial pheremones, and that helps many cats relax -can be used
at home as a way to decrease the stress associated with going to the vet.  Feliway is now available in a wipe.  Used inside the carrier about 10 minutes before you are ready to cage your cat, the Feliway Wipe with act in a natural way to allow your cat to become calm before travel.   I use Feliway on my exam towels.  Some of my patients will only relax when covered with a towel.  We spray these exam towels with Feliway before the appointment.  Feliway makes a BIG difference in some of my patients stress levels.

Learning to read the body language of your cat will help you to understand what they are saying to you.  Cats CAN talk, just not with words, but with actions! 

Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic

Jack Sprat's Cat

Murphy's law states that if you have more than one cat (and don't we all?) then one cat will be thin and one cat will be fat.  But, how should you deal with this dilemma at feeding time?   The myth that one food is appropriate for both of these cats as in "multicat" food defies logic.  If it were that simple,  40% of my patients would NOT be overweight.   But, here are some innovative ideas that might help you to  help your cats!

Convert your feeding style from a shared free choice food bowl to feeding 2 or 3 times a day in MEALS.  Once the meal is done, the food goes away.    This discourages the cat that likes to overeat when there is nothing else to do.  It also allows you to feed the cats in separate rooms with a door between the fat cat and the skinny cat.  With this plan, you can feed each cat an appropriate food for their size.  This  will also allow skinny cat to eat at leisure and fat cat to cool his heels after the meal is gone. 

If you are concerned that skinny cat needs food out all the time to graze on, then try placing skinny cats food in an elevated location -like the top of the refrigerator- where fat cat can not physically access. 

Or, you can "build" a feeding box that has a skinny cat silhouette as a door, so fat cat can not enter.  This allows skinny cat to go in and out of the feeding box to graze whenever he wants.
 DIY Cat Feeding Box

It is sometimes hard to motivate a fat cat  to exercise.  Try playing "catch the kibble" at mealtime.  Toss one piece of food (from the meal portion) at a time down a hallway or stairway.  This is a fun game for fat cat as well as skinny cat, and will burn calories too.

There are some really COOL interactive feeding toys available for purchase.  This will challenge your cat, give them more of a hunting experience, and slow their eating down -all of which are beneficial  to both skinny cat and fat cat.

Select a low-carbohydrate food for weight loss, as a high protein food will increase energy expenditure.  (i.e.-carbs make cats sleepy, protein makes them more energetic).  See my previous blog on the importance of feeding high protein foods to cats:  Be Savy about your Cats Nutrition

If you are considering a weight loss program for your fat cat -please consult your veterinarian.  Fat cats are at risk for a liver condition called Hepatic Lipidosis, if they do not eat a certain number of calories per day.  The rule of thumb is a cat should never lose more than 1/2 lb per month, while dieting.  More weight loss would increase the risk of Hepatic Lipidosis in your cat.  How do you measure?   A scale and a written  record of bi weekly weight checks are very important.  Sharing this information with your cats veterinarian with allow them to be a partner in your cats weight loss program. 

As always, thanks for sharing this information with your cat loving friends.  Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic

5 Reasons to Flip the Lip

If there was one thing that you could do- only once a month- that could prevent your cat from suffering constant pain, would you do it?  That is a silly question, right?  OK, here's the challenge.  It involves flipping up the lips, and taking a look at what is hiding behind the lips.  What I hope you see are shiny white amazingly healthy teeth and pink gums. But....

Here are 5 reasons why you should be FLIPPING the LIP :


DENTAL disease is COMMON in cats of any age.  A cat as young as 6 months old can suffer from red swollen painful gums.  This condition is called gingivitis and is reversible if caught early in its progression to periodontal disease.  Do you notice a smell from your cats mouth? -this is often the first sign that infection is starting below the gum line.  Mouth smell (or hallitosis) usually equals infection in a cat.  And infection equals pain.

You don't KNOW if there is a problem  unless you look!  Teeth crack, teeth fall out, teeth abscess, gums bleed, gums swell, gums become inflammed.  ALL of this happens behind the lips, where you can not easily see.  Your cat does not brush or floss daily.  So, very slowly plaque and tartar and infection will begin to develop... it is just a matter of time....Your cat should get an annual physical exam, but what about the other 11 months of the year?  Flip the Lip.

YOUR cat is NEVER too old to benefit from dental care.        Most cats by the time they are six years old would benefit from a teeth cleaning, which requires anesthesia. But as a cat ages, dental health becomes even more important.  Infection in the mouth can be transported thru the blood stream to major organs, like the kidneys or the  heart. As your cat ages, it is vital to prevent this from happening, by keeping their mouth disease free.

CATS don't stop eating if they have a tooth ache.  Even with tooth pain, your cat will still be hungry and will eat.  They may only chew on one side of their mouth.  They may swallow their food whole.  But, don't use eating as a sign that your cat is pain-free.  You need to be a dental detective!

CATS don't show pain with a tooth ache.    It is a fact that a painful cat does not cry or vocalize at all.  A painful cat may become less interactive, may hide, or may stop playing, or may appear perfectly normal to you.  So, this makes it very challenging to tell if your cat's mouth hurts.  Assume they WON'T tell you it hurts -you need to flip the lip and look for changes, redness or smell. 

Your cat deserves the very best care.  And as an owner, you are on the front line, so flip the lip at least monthly, for your cat's sake. They will LOVE you for it (if you follow a lip flip with a treat!)

As always. please feel free to share this information with your cat loving friends.
Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic
Menasha, Wisconsin

Hunter dodges Nerf Bullet

No one knows why some cats eat foreign material. Things like silk plants, crayons, kids plastic toys, and ribbons don't taste good but of course they are fun to play with and chew on, and without an opposable thumb, things get swallowed.     My own cat, Pipsqueak, used to chew on, and occasionally ingest the spiral part of phone cords (this was before cell phones were invented).  I have a client who now keeps her hair scrunchies under lock and key (after hair scrunchie surgical removal last year).    In my career as a veterinarian, I have surgically removed many interesting items -or  "Foreign Bodies." from the GI tract of dogs and cats.     The list includes a barbie doll head, a cassette tape, a plastic dinosaur, sparkle balls, a sewing needle, and several phone cord spirals.

Recently, I saw a patient with a history of eating  NERF BULLETS.   The kids in the house thought this was great fun when the cat would chase and chew on the soft spongy bullets.  They would occasionally find a nerf bullet in the litter box, and never thought much of this, until last week, when Hunter was vomiting, had a painful belly,  and was not interested in his food.

The good news for Hunter and his family is that he did not need surgery (this time).  His body was again able to pass the bullet.  The really  important lesson is this:  just because a foreign body passes one time, does not mean that it will EVERY TIME. If you see foreign material passing in your cats stool, remove the offending item from your house. ( I've been assured that the nerf bullets  and gun are now being kept at grandma's house.) 

We may not understand why certain cats chose to swallow things that are not food.  We DO KNOW that if you have a cat that fits this description, expect them to be a  REPEAT OFFENDER!  Any cat toy small enough to be swallowed should be removed from the home.  Any toy with chewable parts (like eyeballs, or tails) or ribbons that dangle should be avoided. A good rule of thumb is that any toy smaller than a quarter is a FOREIGN BODY WAITING TO HAPPEN for a cat.  Most cat toys are safe, but not all.  And many things that our cats play with are not really cat toys to being with. 

 Hoping that all your cats are able to "dodge" the foreign body bullet, like Hunter did!
Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic