Tag Archives: cats

Does My Cat Really Need an Annual Veterinary Exam?

A cat on an exam table
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), of which AMC is a member, maintains guidelines for the life stages of cats in conjunction with the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP). These purr-fectly tailored guidelines help veterinary professionals make recommendations for wellness care for cats of different life stages. The guidelines address four feline age groups: kittens (birth to 1 year of age), young adult (1-6 years of age), mature (7-10 years of age) and senior cats (> 10 years of age). In today’s blogpost, I’ll discuss the nuances of veterinary care for each of these age groups and the one thing all cat owners should do to ensure the health and vitality of their feline friends.

Preventing Cat Fights: New Guidelines on Intercat Tension

Two cats fighting
The American Association of Feline Practitioners just released its new Guidelines on Intercat Tension. That might not seem breaking news to most pet owners, but if you are a reader with more than one cat, you may be acutely aware of the tension between your cats, or you may be missing the subtle signs of intercat tension in your home. Not only were these guidelines created by a highly qualified task force, but they have also been endorsed by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and the International Society of Feline Medicine. This set of guidelines has fabulous information for veterinarians and cat families alike.

Strollers for Cats: A Do or a Don’t?

A cat in a stroller
A few years back, one of my dog-owning clients asked me about getting a stroller for her dog. She wanted to walk to the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center for her dog’s appointments, but her dog tired easily and she thought a stroller would make the walk to AMC easier for both her and her dog. My first reaction was “that’s dumb, a dog stroller” but after thinking about it a bit, I realized the dog stroller had many uses to improve a dog’s quality of life and wrote about it in a previous blogpost. Never did I think of putting a cat in a stroller. Now, a new research study is investigating if strolling with your cat is a good idea. I’ll discuss the study in today's blogpost.

AMC Veterinarians Save a Black Kitten Just in Time for National Black Cat Appreciation Day

A black kitten with an IV
August 17th is National Black Cat Appreciation Day. This is a much-needed holiday as black cats have been unfairly maligned since the Middle Ages. In a Papal Bull issued in 1232, Pope Gregory IX damned black cats as the incarnation of Satan. Several centuries later, another Pope, Innocent VIII, linked cats, the devil and witches by writing, “The cat is the devil’s favorite animal and idol of all witches.” At the time of the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts, witches were thought to transform into black cats who could roam the countryside and cause mischief.  These superstitions have led to “black cat bias,” a term applied to the negative feelings people have about black cats, compared to cats with other coat colors. Black cat bias may also lead to longer shelter stays for black cats relinquished to an animal shelter. Today’s blogpost will focus on one of these unfortunate black cats, a five-week-old, flea-infested black kitten, brought to AMC by a Good Samaritan. This little waif was covered with so many fleas, she had become anemic. The photo accompanying the blogpost shows her in her ICU incubator with an IV catheter in her arm for her blood transfusion.