All posts by AMCteam

A mutation is a change in your genetic material, also known as DNA. Mutations can be inherited, like the truncated tail of a Manx cat, or they can be acquired during a pet’s lifetime. Exposure to radioactivity, drugs, heavy metals and chemicals such as nicotine can damage DNA and induce mutations. Some mutations are simply the product of random errors during DNA replication. Mutations have varying effects on health. Some mutations can be helpful—for example, the mutation underlying sickle cell anemia that helped people survive malaria. Many mutations are “silent,” causing no health concerns. A common mutation in cats causes polydactyly, or extra toes, which results in extra toe beans but poses no health concerns. However, some mutations can result in an illness, cancer or affect how a body metabolizes a drug. This blogpost will highlight how veterinarians use knowledge of mutations to better care for your pet.

The end of June is a bittersweet time at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. It marks the end of one intern year and the beginning of a new one. This cycle has repeated itself 62 times since the original intern class completed their internships in 1965. Last week, we celebrated our new interns with a white coat ceremony, marking their transition from student to full-fledged veterinarians. Each one of our interns received a white coat, symbolic of the responsibility, empathy, knowledge, skill and integrity demanded by our profession.

June is Adopt A Cat Month, and here at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, we’re celebrating our feline friends with an entire month of blogposts devoted just to cats. I’m hoping many kittens and cats will get “fur”ever homes this month. Earlier this month, I wrote about red eyes in cats, a common condition affecting our feline companions. For my final blogpost of the month, I’m returning to eyes—but this time exploring the evolution of feline eye color and what it tells us about our feline companions.

June is Adopt A Cat Month, and here at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, we’re celebrating our feline friends with an entire month of blogposts devoted just to cats. I’m hoping many kittens and adult cats will find their “fur”ever homes this month. While many new pet parents will welcome playful kittens, some will choose to adopt older cats—and today’s blogpost is for them. I’ll be discussing a set of behavior changes occurring in senior cats: feline cognitive dysfunction, a disorder similar to dementia in humans.

June is Adopt A Cat Month, and here at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, we’re celebrating our feline friends with an entire month of blogposts devoted just to cats. Last week, we explored Pandora Syndrome. This week, we’re turning our attention to a common and concerning issue in cats: red eyes. Red eyes can result from any number of medical issues, which I will detail below.