Why Do Cats Eat Grass?

Why Do Cats Eat Grass?
Article courtesy of Pet Alive

While it may be alarming to see your cat nibbling on the front lawn or a houseplant, it shouldn’t be a cause for concern unless the grass or plant was recently treated with pesticide, fertilizer, or another poisonous chemical. Both dogs and cats from time to time may take an interest in grass or similar substances, each for different purposes that can actually benefit their bodies.

Grass ingestion appears to have some redeeming qualities for dogs and cats which can sometimes lead to vomiting. Some veterinary experts suspect that ingestion could have been a catalyst for self-induced vomiting to relieve stomach upset. Whether or not it was intentional, it may have detoxifying properties for this very purpose.

Cats often ingest plants and grass to relieve stomach upset and to assist common bodily functions. Cats are avid groomers and seem to spend hours preening and licking themselves. Unfortunately, this usually means that they end up swallowing a lot of loose fur, which accumulates in their stomach to form matted lumps called furballs.

While furballs are usually vomited or emitted in feces as part of the body’s natural elimination process, a weak digestive system, modern diet, sedentary lifestyles, or inadequate nutrition can interfere with this process. To help stimulate this elimination, cats may use grass as a laxative or to self-induce furballs, as it acts as roughage to promote bowel movement or regurgitation. This not only helps promote overall health as bodily functioning is restored, but also relieves the discomfort associated with the blockage.

It may also be possible that the cat just likes the taste! However, it is important to discourage ingestion of grass or plants directly after a meal, as unintentional regurgitation of dinner may result.

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Feline Insulin Overdose Health Alert

Insulin Overdose - Feline Diabetes
Article courtesy of Pet Alive

Some of the important aspects of caring for your diabetic cat at home include understanding:

* Symptoms of diabetes in cats
* Timings and regularity of check ups
* Quality, amount and timing of meals
* Testing blood sugar levels at home and making a blood glucose curve
* Regularity of insulin injections and the manner in which to inject them
* Type of insulin to be used and the right syringe to inject it with
* The manner in which changes in diet and type of insulin should be made

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While all the above are important, knowing the peak action of the insulin that has been prescribed is equally significant. Ignorance on this aspect of home care can lead to hypoglycemic episodes. Hypoglycemia is the opposite of hyperglycemia. It is abnormally low level of sugar in the blood. While hyperglycemia is manageable, hypoglycemia may be difficult to control unless immediate action is taken. A slight oversight can result in the death of the cat.

Adequate control of diabetes in cats requires long-lasting insulin injections once or twice a day. Individual cats respond to insulin differently. Once the veterinarian has fixed a dose after studying the blood glucose curve, it should not be disturbed since a higher dose or a missed meal can be dangerous.

Knowing the lowest level of blood sugar in your pet is necessary because you may be tempted to increase the dose on the basis of pre-injection glucose level. On the other hand even if the pre-injection level of blood sugar is high it can still drop to abnormally low level after the injection. Adjusting insulin dosage without knowing all the data and information about the type of insulin and its correlation to diet is something that you should never do.

Symptoms of low blood sugar include listlessness, confusion, convulsions and coma. If hypoglycemia develops there is no room for complacence. If the cat is able to eat then it should be fed its normal food immediately. If feeding is not possible the next best thing is to rub corn syrup on the gums. Attempts should be made for the cat to swallow it. Forcing fingers, foods and fluids into the mouth of a convulsing or comatose cat is not the right thing to do. Such actions can harm your cat to a large extent.

Cats that are otherwise healthy can be treated for hypoglycemia with oral medications like Glipzide. Glipizide acts to lower blood glucose and has little or no side effects. Some of the side effects that may surface in some cats include vomiting, loss of appetite and liver damage. If the condition persist even after two months of glipzide or the cat develops acute acidity (ketoacidosis), the drug should be discontinued and the cat should be put back on insulin.

Cats that require excessively high doses of insulin (more than one to two units per pound per day) should be checked for some underlying disease that might be behind the need for an increased insulin dosage. Sometimes the insulin injection and poor absorption may be the reason why your cat needs higher doses of insulin.

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Ear Mites Symptoms in Cats

Ear Mites in Cats: A Study of Diagnosis and Symptoms
Article courtesy of Pet Alive

Ear mites can be a constant problem for any pet. The presence of ear mites can cause considerable anguish to the pet and the owner alike. Cat ear mites are contagious and can be passed on to other pets in the household. And, not just to other cats; they can spread to dogs and other animals too.

The way your cat reacts to ear mites can vary. Some cats do not react or exhibit external symptoms even when they are infected with a large number of mites. But, some cats may show extreme symptoms at the presence of a small number of ear mites. It is suspected that different breeds of cats show different levels of sensitivity towards this condition.

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Ear Mites Symptoms in Cats

The first symptom that surfaces among cats when they have ear mites is the presence of excessive wax in the ears. Mites often stimulate wax producing glands in the ear and this in turn can lead to inflammation and further complications. Other symptoms that are often exhibited when your cat is infected with ear mites include excessive itching and scratching. Too much scratching can rupture tiny blood vessels in the outer ear and cause the ear to swell. This is defined as a condition called hematoma.

Cats with ear mites also seem to develop immunity towards this condition unlike dogs with ear mites. This is believed to be the case since older cats seem to suffer less than kittens and younger cats. It is not uncommon to see kittens showing restlessness and other external symptoms even when they are infested with a small number of ear mites; whereas some adult cats may not exhibit any signs of discomfort despite having a plethora of mites in the ears.

Other than itching and scratching, the build up of dark wax and unpleasant odor can also be tell-tale signs of the presence of cat ear mites. To confirm the presence of ear mites in your cat you need to perform a simple physical examination of the ear, or the wax taken from the ear. The large mites can sometimes be observed by the naked eye.

If the physical examination does not confirm that your cats has mites and symptoms like itching, scratching and excessive wax continue, a visit to the veterinarian becomes mandatory. A medical examination is generally warranted and involves the use of a magnifying otoscope to detect the presence of ear mites.

One you have determined that the mites are present, your cat will need medical treatment. Mites are not likely to vanish on their own and must be killed or removed. Timely treatment of the condition is a must to prevent further complications like bacterial or yeast infections that can lead to seizures, deafness or a rupture of the ear drum.

When you have a cat with ear mites, your options are similar to those available when you have a dog with ear mites. Owners must choose between conventional remedies and home remedies for dog ear mites before embarking on a treatment plan.

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Ear Mites Common Cures for Cats

Article courtesy of Pet Alive

Of all the organs in a cat’s body, the skin and the ears are the most vulnerable. While skin conditions are more visible, an infection in the ear requires keen observation and can be detected only if you are observant while grooming your pet cat or dog.

Ear mites live by tunneling into the ear canal of cats. The automatic response of the cat’s body is to produce more wax to combat the invasion by cat ear mites. Severe infections give rise to an offensive smell. If not attended to in time, ear mites can lead to secondary infections in cats.

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Cat and dog ear mites cause intense itching compelling the pet to shake its head vigorously. This can cause abscesses or cuts. Treating ear mites at the first sign can save a lot of discomfort to the cat as well as inconvenience to the owners.

Severe infection of ear mites may require you to visit your veterinarian for a properly cleaning of the ear. This procedure is so thorough that it might even necessitate a general anesthesia in certain cases. Mild to moderate infections are treated with topical ointments, injections and oral medication.

Many topical ointments kill only adult mites and are ineffective in eradicating the mite eggs. The entire ear mite lifecycle of three weeks is spent off the host. That means that topical treatment must continue for the total span of mite lifecycle. Topical treatments that contain antibiotics to contain inflammations and secondary infections are preferred as they require less time to show results.

Injections for treating ear mites in cats are not approved by the FDA but are still used by veterinarians. Depending upon the severity of the infection, a course of two to four injections is normally used to eradicate mites.

Ear mites by themselves are not a very big problem if proper and timely attention is paid to their treatment. The problem starts when ear mites lead to secondary infection. Groom your cat regularly and pay special attention to its ears for signs of wax accumulation, thickening of the external ear (pinna) and a bad odor.

The worrying fact is that ear mites may never completely disappear from the body of your cat. In such a scenario, prevention is the best cure. Same very effective home remedies for ear mites [for dogs or cats] -- block the breathing pores of mites to suffocate and kill them, which can be of great help for cat ear mites, too. Periodic cleaning of the ears will save your cat from developing serious infections. In multi-pet homes, this is all the more necessary because ear mites are highly contagious and can transmit to other pets as well as humans.

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Feline Diabetes Health Alert

Do’s and Don’ts of Monitoring Feline Diabetes At Home
Article courtesy of Pet Alive

If your cat has been diagnosed with diabetes, one of the major items that should be on your agenda during discussions with the veterinarian is that of home care. Make sure that you discuss monitoring diet and blood sugar levels at home along with how to store, handle and administer insulin. Another thing that you should understand are the various symptoms of diabetes in cats especially signs of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.

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Diabetes in cats can be managed for long periods with dietary management and oral medication without resorting to insulin. It is, however, recommended that insulin be used first to control the sugar levels before an assessment is made about whether the condition can be managed only with home care and dietary modifications.

One of the primary methods of monitoring a diabetic cat involves the aid of a blood glucose meter. Invest in a good quality device and learn how to use it. Some cats may prove to be too difficult to manage while trying to obtain a blood sample but perseverance always pays. You also need to know from the veterinarian about the normal range of blood sugar levels and the levels that require veterinarian intervention.

A blood glucose curve is a diagram of blood glucose levels during the day. You can learn to read the variations of the levels and understand whether it is being caused by an overdose or an under-dose of insulin. Levels of glucose in urine too can be monitored but these are not too reliable. However, monitoring urine sugar levels is better than not monitoring at all in cases where drawing blood from the cat is not possible.

While your cat is on insulin, you should schedule and plan the mealtimes of your cat. Again, this depends upon the type of insulin the veterinarian has prescribed. Certain brands of insulin have prominent peak action times and the mealtimes have to be adjusted accordingly. If your cat is used to eat small quantities throughout the day, it is better to use slow-acting insulin rather than disturb the animal’s schedule. The end goal is to try to keep blood sugar levels in a comfortable range by timing insulin injection and diet intake.

Care has to be taken that the blood sugar level does not shoot up from low levels too fast. If the dose of insulin is to be increased by, say 0.5 units, then you must adhere to it rather than thinking that such a minor variation is not going to make any difference. Rapid increases can make the cat resistant to insulin.

Make sure that you are feeding a diet meant for diabetic cats. The diet should be low on carbohydrates and high on proteins. If at all carbohydrates are needed they should be the ones that have a low glycemic index.

If you are not monitoring blood sugar at home and also want to save on laboratory tests, it is advisable to keep a regular check on whether the cat is drinking, urinating and eating normally. If this is the case, then the insulin dosage should not be increased. However, this is fraught with dangers. If the blood sugar level crosses the ‘renal threshold’, diabetes in cats can lead to organ failure.

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Treating Diabetes in Cats

Article courtesy of Pet Alive

Diabetes in cats is treatable and normally has a good prognosis. Cats usually respond to insulin treatments and a low carbohydrate diet. If diabetes is detected early, treatment is usually successful in preventing nerve damage and in some cases, even remission. However, if left untreated it can lead to organ failure, blindness and even death.

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Diet

In many cases, diet alone is able to treat diabetes in cats. A low carbohydrate diet lowers the requirement of insulin in diabetic cats. In cats and dogs, carbohydrates are converted to blood glucose must faster than fats and proteins. A low carbohydrate diet thus reduces the risk of extreme blood sugar highs immediately after meals. Home cooked food is always the preferred option over commercial foods since canned food tends to have a higher proportion of carbohydrates. Try to get hold of a cat food calculator and determine the type and quantity of fats, proteins and carbohydrates that you can safely feed your cat.

Oral pills

The oral anti-diabetic drug, Glipizide, stimulates the release of insulin from pancreas and in some cases even curbs production of glucose. These drugs can be useful only if the pancreas is working. Moreover, these drugs are known to adversely affect pancreas, which can reduce the chances of remission in cats. It is better to switch to injectable insulin because in certain cases Glipizide can even damage the liver.

Insulin

Insulin usually metabolizes faster in cats than in humans. A particular type of insulin that lasts, say, for a day in humans will remain effective only for 12 hours in cats. As such a twice-daily dose is recommended for cats. Beef based or human synthetic insulin is most suited for cats. The choice of which insulin brand suits your cat the most and the appropriate dose can be determined with a little experimentation.

Effective treatment of diabetes is based on the severity of the disease. Intensive care is required in cases where the disease has progressed beyond the initial levels. Cats with ketoacidosis require fluid therapy to check dehydration and electrolyte imbalances and short-acting insulin rather than the preferred long-acting one.

Dosage

Both dosage and mealtimes have to be regulated. If the cat is on pronounced peak action insulin, the meal timings need to be scheduled and planned to match it. If your cat is used to eat freely throughout the day, make sure that slow-acting insulin is used so that blood sugar levels are maintained all through the day. As cats metabolize insulin very fast, slow-acting insulin is not generally recommended for cats.

Diabetes can be fairly managed and treated without any major danger to the cat’s life but like all diseases, prognosis of diabetes also depends on early treatment. Even initial symptoms of diabetes in cats, like excessive urination and/or thirst should be reported to a veterinarian so that a proper diagnosis is done. The condition might be curable simply by diet modification.

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