Since June is Adopt a Cat Month, I am hoping many of our readers will be adding a feline to their family this month. To help new cat families better care for their new pet, I have cat-egorized prior feline blogs to help readers more easily find useful information.

Keeping Your Cat Healthy and Safe
Routine preventive health care visits to the veterinarian help keep your cat in tip top condition. Rabies is a disease easily preventable by vaccination and protecting your cat against rabies is good medicine. At your cat’s annual examination, ask your veterinarian about rabies vaccines. Exercise keeps your cat lean and fit and helps prevent diabetes, bladder problems and skin conditions.  

Curiosity can kill a cat – when their curiosity leads them to ingest a common household item such as string, lilies or human medications. Review this slideshow to learn how to protect your cat.  Every cat needs both a microchip and a collar with ID tags to ensure your favorite feline returns home if an accidental escape occurs. If the unforeseen escape does happen, here are some tips for finding a lost cat.

Uniquely Feline
Cats are unique creatures. Instinctively, they know to use a litter box, but chose the wrong box and your cat may choose the corner of your dining room as their bathroom. Keep in mind that when it comes to litter boxes, bigger is better and a lid doesn’t matter to your cat.

Hairballs are another uniquely feline feature, but hairballs can be an early indicator of illness, so should your cat have an increase in hairball production, see your veterinarian. Cats also have a unique blood type system, different from dogs and humans. Type B, an uncommon blood type in most domestic cats, is more prevalent in certain purebred cats. If you are a purebred cat aficionado, discuss blood typing with your veterinarian.

Medical Conditions of Cats
Kidney disease, heart disease and cancer top the list of serious medical conditions in cats. But first you have to recognize that your cat is ill, which is no easy task as cats are the masters of disguise. Here are some tips to help you recognize illness in your cat.

• Heart disease in cats affects the muscle’s ability to pump blood. If your cat develops a heart murmur, a visit to the veterinary cardiologist may be in order.
• Chronic kidney disease, also called chronic renal failure, affects many cats, but can be treated if detected early.
• Stomatitis is literally a pain in the mouth due to severe oral inflammation and treatment may require tooth extraction.
• Asthma robs cats of the ability to breathe easily, but a specially developed device allows easy administration of medications to alleviate clinical signs. 
• In New York City and other high rise cities, cats suffer from high rise syndrome when they fall from windows, balconies and fire escapes. Check now and be sure your screens are tightly in place.

Heartwarming Cat Stories
If now is not the time for you to add a feline family member, then how about reading some heartwarming cat stories from the archives of Fur the Love of Pets.  Two of my favorites are “Seeing Christmas for the First Time” and “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Need a Buddy.”