It is spring time, the season when new kittens are born. This is the season when an individual or group of kittens sometimes appear out of nowhere and appear to be abandoned or orphaned. What do you do when you encounter such a kitten? Do you scoop it up and rescue it, or does it need to be rescued? These can be difficult questions.

Probably the first thing to do is to watch and evaluate the situation. If the kitten is near a road or in harms way you want to move it to safety, but if it is not in any risk give it time. Mom cat may be near and may return for her kitten.  If the mother does not appear within a period of time it would be okay to offer cat food and water. Little kitten may need a bite to eat, or Mom cat may appear if food and water are at hand.  If little kitten is eating and seems to be comfortable one might even wait overnight for Mom cat to appear.

 If Mom cat simply does not appear then the need to step in becomes more urgent. It is best to approach little kitten with a towel to wrap around and hold. Remember, a kitten possibly has no experience with people and may be terrified of this situation.  Quiet voices, a gentle approach, slow movements and some tasty food may win the day.

If you have other cats do not introduce a new kitten immediately to your group. It is best to have a new cat acclimate to changes slowly, have a feline leukemia blood test, and be scanned for an identification microchip. Watch for any flyers put up by neighbors looking for a lost kitten. Check within the neighborhood for anyone looking for a kitten, and spread the word that you may have someone’s lost kitten. If no owners step forward the next step is to turn the kitten over to the local animal control agency. This is the proper channel to pursue. Anyone missing a cat should, likewise, be checking the animal control agency to look for a lost cat. If a kitten is not claimed within a set period of time then it is generally available for adoption.  

Joe Simon, DVM
                                                                                                 

Our Cat Veterinarian Talks About Heartworm in Cats

At Kentwood Cat Clinic and Cat Clinic North, we want to make cat owners aware that, although once thought to be a disease that only affected dogs, heartworm is now striking the cat population. While cats are more resistant to heartworms than dogs, they can become extremely ill from even a very small number of heartworms. A heartworm is a potentially fatal parasite that is transferred from infected animals to healthy animals by mosquito bites. Once implanted, the heartworm travels to the lungs and heart, where it can grow to several inches and cause great damage. The timeframe from initial implantation to adult heartworm usually lasts about eight months. They can live in your cat for two to three years.

There are no cat vaccinations for heartworm, but there are several products available to help prevent heartworm. These can be started around three months of age and are administered monthly. They go by the brand names of Heartgard, Revolution and Interceptor. Talk to our veterinarian before starting your cat on any type of medication.

Heartworm Treatments to Prolong Cat Health

Symptoms that your cat may have heartworms include coughing, difficulty breathing, wheezing, failure to eat, lethargy, vomiting, and weight loss. If you notice any of these symptoms in your cat, make an appointment to see our Kentwood cat veterinarian as soon as possible. Dr. Sadek is one of only two Board Certified Feline Specialists in Michigan and has the experience and skills to diagnose and treat this potentially fatal disease.

Treatment can be tricky. A dead worm may cause blockage or a pulmonary embolism which might require cat surgery. If no life-threatening symptoms are immediately apparent our veterinarian may prescribe taking Prednisone to improve breathing and bringing your cat in for regular cat care checkups. In some cases we may administer a drug to kill the worm, although this poses severe risks and will require careful monitoring at our cat clinic.

What questions do you have about heartworm in cats? Ask our cat specialists because we treat your cats like the valued family members they are.

This winter has been the mildest weather in 30 years. Temperatures have not dipped into prolonged bitterly low digits and snow accumulation has been frugal. My utility bills have been kind with the mild weather.  Interestingly, I have seen patients with fleas every month of the winter, and continue to see our six legged friends.

Prolonged bitter cold winter temperatures serve the function of helping to kill off overwintering flea cocoons, beating back the flea population to almost but not quite extinct in our northern climate.  Those that do overwinter emerge in the spring to reproduce and restart the population. It is fall before most areas have flea populations that are large enough that our clients notice them. We in the veterinary community notice much sooner, but we know what to look for and are looking. 

The mild winter has allowed more cocoons to survive and even activate in the middle of winter. We have continued to find live fleas and flea dirt on patients every month throughout the winter. This is not on every patient and not on many patients, but on a few patients. These few are an indication of what the larger flea population is experiencing and their potential to grow a larger population sooner this year.

If you have experienced fleas in years past it would be wise to start flea preventative measures now. Advantage Multi and Revolution are topically applied products that kill fleas before they bite and lay eggs. They also prevent heartworm in cats. Advantage is a third product with excellent flea kill properties but does not prevent heartworm. Other flea control products are on the market but in our experience are unsatisfactory.

Stay on top of the fleas before they are on top of you!

Joe Simon, DVM

 My daughter’s cat recently came in from an outdoor excursion looking very ragged.     Examination revealed that Felix had been mugged by a neighborhood cat and sustained a puncture wound through the skin. Antibiotic therapy was started and Felix recovered quickly, or, so it seems.
     Felix is free of bacterial infection, but what about a viral infection such as feline leukemia (FeLV) or feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Infection by these agents is more subtle at first and harder to detect. Clinical signs may not appear for weeks to months to years, and by that time, it is too late to stop the virus.
     Detection of these virus infections is by a blood test specific for those virus agents only.  There is a lag time before the test can detect infection, 2 to 4 weeks for FeLV and 8 weeks for FIV. Prevention of Felv is by vaccinating the cat before exposure. There is a vaccine for FIV but this is generally not used for certain reasons that can be discussed later. Another form of prevention is to prevent Felix form encountering the other outdoor cats and avoid bite injuries.

     Fortunately, Felix has been vaccinated for FeLV, but not for FIV. We will need to test him after the 8 week period to determine if he has been infected. Meanwhile, he will be fed a good diet and watched for any signs of illness. Hopefully this is not the start of a long medical illness.

Joe Simon, DVM

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Now that we have reached mid-Feb, the daylight hours are getting longer and that means one thing—all the little girl cats in town are getting poised to go into heat!

Unspayed female kitties come into heat every 2-3 weeks, and this will continue until they are either spayed or get pregnant.  Each cycle lasts several days.  While they are cycling, they tend to get extremely loving, may arch their bottoms into the air more than usual, and become amazing escape artists.  The urge to find a boyfriend can be so overwhelming that they might even chew through screens, jump out windows, or quietly slip out the door when no one is looking.  Yowling, which usually results in sleep deprivation for the humans in the house, is also a common occurrence!

To add insult to injury, some girl kitties will advertise they are in heat by “spraying” their urine.  Since most of the cats we take care of here at the cat clinics are inside kitties, this is occurring in the house.    The flip side of this is the boy kitties answering the girls—usually by spraying urine around the outside perimeter of the house/property. 

The cure of course is simple—spay and neuter these little kitties!  As a bonus, spaying before the heat cycles begin greatly reduces the risk of breast cancer in our girl kitty population.  

Ah, kitty romance--I think I prefer chocolate and roses!

Dr. Maria Berger