See wild cats at night

Common palm civet photo by wildsingapore

You can see wild cats at night at the Taiping Zoo in Malaysia. The zoo seems enlightened to me. I don't recall there being a zoo or animal reserve in the UK that is open at night so people can see wild cats and other animals that are active at night. Since 2003, the Taiping Zoo in Malaysia operate a night safari for the public.

The enclosures are carefully constructed to simulate the natural environment as near as possible and food is hidden so the animals search as in the wild.

The lighting is bright enough to allow visitors to see wild cats at night (and the other nocturnal animals) yet subdued enough to appear as dusk or dawn to the cats.

Wild (encroaching on the zoo grounds) or captive cats can seen including the Asian Leopard cat (the wild half of the foundation Bengal cats), civet cats and the flat headed cat. The Leopard cat apparently breeds well at the zoo and there are a dozen of them.

I am sad that zoos are needed in a world becoming gradually devoid of many wild animals such as the Bengal tiger and cheetah but if it must be this way, it is good to see an enlightened approach to keeping captive animals.

See wild cats at night to cheetah habitat

See wild cats at night - Photo published under a creative commons license = Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. This cat is not one from the Taiping Zoo.

Feline dandruff

Photo copyright Michael Broad

Feline dandruff is not something you can easily look up in a reference book. There is though a rare condition, not associated with "normal" dandruff (the kind you and I suffer from), that is called "Walking Dandruff", that I mention at the end of this posting. Also there are probably conditions that may look like normal dandruff that are not and which will need veterinarian care. A lot of skin conditions are caused by parasitic mites, for example. Dandruff treatments will obviously have no impact if this is the case. I'm going to talk about ordinary dandruff in this post.

Cats have similar anatomies, at a fundamental level, to humans (a classic example is the transferable condition cat ringworm caused by a fungus - more about fungus below). Dandruff in humans is rather poorly served by the pharmaceutical companies. A lot of the treatments (shampoos) treat the symptoms. One, however, treats the underlying cause. This product, in the UK is called, Nizoral Shampoo.

{Note: the term dandruff is poorly defined. Real dandruff is a mild form of seborrhoeic dermatitis in my opinion, as mentioned below, but dry skin can probably look like a low level form of dandruff and dermatitis in cats can be caused under a wide range of circumstances}

It is a very effective anti-dandruff shampoo. It contains the active ingredient, ketoconazole, which is an antifungal (it gets rid of fungus and yeast growths on the skin surface). It does this by damaging the cell membrane of the fungus cell. This chemical also successfully treats the widely present yeast Pityrosporum ovale (now called Malassezia furfur). The fungus and yeast cause dandruff. I am going to make the suggestion that ordinary feline dandruff is a mild form of seborrhoeic dermatitis as is the case in humans. A stronger version of seborrhoeic dermatitis is a skin disorder affecting the skin on the face and scalp. The skin goes red and is itchy. I believe that it also affects areas that are close to the skin on the head such as inside the ear flap, ear canal and even the sinuses (approached through the nose). I believe that this yeast and/or fungus can be a cause of sinusitis in humans.

Anyway back to feline dandruff. What follows is my considered thought on the subject and mine alone. I am not a veterinarian. I am not recommending shampooing our cats with Nizoral shampoo. I can't as I am unqualified. But people do shampoo their cats. I am not one that does that as my cat would hate it but some cats like water (normally the wildcat hybrids such as the Bengal, Savannah and Chausie).

The website eHo.com recommends shampooing with a mild shampoo and/or a feline dandruff shampoo containing sulfur and salicylic acid. My personal view is that the pet dandruff shampoo may treat the symptoms but not the underlying cause. But if my cat was used to being shampooed I know what I'd do. I'd mix in a tiny amount of Nizoral shampoo to make sure there were no adverse reactions and proceed from there adding a bit more next time and so on and check if it helped to relieve the condition. The shampoo should be left on for about 3-5 minutes before being rinsed off.

Another perhaps easier remedy that makes the skin less dry is to add oils to the cat food. Here are some recommendations:

• EFA oil (Google this) - essential fatty acid
• omega 3 fatty acids (same as EFA oil? - don't know)
• add a small amount of olive oil to wet cat food
• fish oil tablets

Brushing definitely helps too. Sometimes feline dandruff is exacerbated or perhaps caused by a cat being unable to groom properly (overweight perhaps). I find brushing with a spiked (but round tipped) brush both keeps mats at bay and stimulates the skin to produce oils, which moisturizes the cat's skin reducing the dandruff. The underlying cause may still be there but the symptoms are alleviated.

Update March 2011: My cat has become geriatric and has lost her appetite to a certain extent. She has lost weight and lost her dandruff. Her coat is better generally. My gut feel is that a lack of grooming may be the cause of feline dandruff provided that it is genuinely dandruff. The lack of grooming is simply because the cat cannot reach the coat.

Another possibility is to brush and then wipe the cat's back with a warm wet cloth. This may replicate cat grooming to a certain extent and may help if the cat is unable to groom due to old age or weight problems

Walking dandruff is caused by a reddish colored parasitic mite living on the cat's skin. The dandruff is acute with lots of dry skin looking like a bad version of "normal" feline dandruff. It is worse on the back, sides and neck. It is quite rare. A vet should deal with it. The mite can infest humans too so it is contagious.

Feline dandruff - Sources:

• www.netdoctor.co.uk (how ketoconazole works)
• Wikipedia (for details about the yeast causing dandruff)
• www.thriftyfun.com (for information on adding oils to cat food)
• my own experiences
  

Photo: published under a creative commons license = Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs License .

Feline dandruff to cat health problems

Feline Kidney Stones

Healthy cats - photo by Ferran.

Feline kidney stones are rare, perhaps very rare in cats. In fact according to Drs Carlson and Giffin the authors of "Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook", it is almost unheard of.

Another book designed for "cat people", "The Veterinarian's Guide to Your Cat's Symptoms" by Drs Garvey, Hohenhaus, Houpt, Pinckney, Wallace and Elizabeth Randolph, doesn't make reference to them in the index and I couldn't find anything in the book (although I may have missed it).

And they are referred to in passing under the heading, "Obstructive Urinary Tract Disease" in the book, "Veterinary Notes for Cat Lovers" by Dr. Trevor Turner and Jean Turner VN. The authors refer to "in rare cases, true stony Uroliths......". Uroliths are crystalline material commonly called stones, by the way.

A more technical term for stones is "struvite stones" or "struvite crystals". Struvite is an ammonium magnesium phosphate mineral. Struvite is caused by a bacterial infection that hydrolyzes urea to ammonium. When something is hydrolyzed is undergoes the process of hydrolysis. Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction (I'm going to stop there.......!). The stones are magnesium/ammonium/phosphate based material and look like salt in terms of size.

I am going to presume that people searching for feline kidney stones are in fact searching for information about urinary tract stones generally and which are a part of the symptoms of Feline Urologic Syndrome (FUS). The presence of stones causes the cat to strain when urinating, urinate in the wrong place, urinate small amounts, go frequently, urinate bloody urine and lick themselves a lot. This is because they plug the passage of the urine. Other substances can also plug the urinary tract such as mucus and white blood cells.

Bladder stones in cats are, it seems less rare, and are related to FUS. There is a greater chance of stones forming in the bladder that is permanently infected (bacterial infection) and a bladder that is partially blocked. The symptoms are similar to FUS.

Obviously initial treatment for feline kidney stones (more accurately urinary tract stones as kidney stones are very rare) must be supervised by a veterinarian. Diet, it is suggested, can help to dissolve the crystalline stones post veterinarian treatment (diet is also central to prevention). Drs Carlson and Giffin say that Hills Prescription Diet s/d dissolves stones or parts of stones not dealt with a the vets surgery. This is a low magnesium cat food (also more acidic) and could be called urinary tract cat food as it helps to keep the urinary tract healthy. A cat should remain on the diet for 1-2 months and an improvement in health will be seen within 7 days.

Clearly the best course of action for feline kidney stones (or more commonly urinary tract stones) is to take preventative steps, which begs the question, "what causes feline kidney stones?" The causes are cat diet related and a person I have mentioned before on this website, Dr. Hodgkins (author of Your Cat) believes that the increase in incidence of FUS is due to the shift to dry cat food over the past 10-15 years (i.e. convenience foods for cats). Quality wet cat food is better. Better still, but rarely contemplated unless you're a cat breeder, perhaps, is natural raw cat food prepared specially but this takes skill as supplements are needed such as Taurine.

Drs Carlson and Giffin go down the more conventional route than Dr. Hodgkins in respect of preventative steps. They say that some underlying causes are a diet that is high in magnesium content, dirty litter trays (forcing some cats to retain their urine), lack of exercise (overweight cat) and reduced water intake. Reduced water intake means that the urine becomes static with an increased likelihood of bacterial infection. A reduced water intake may be due, in part, to the need to take in more water if the diet is exclusively dry food and some cats will not compensate sufficiently and drink more water. Wet cat food contains high levels of water in contrast.

Drs Carlson and Giffin agree with Dr Hodgkins that another cause appears to be dry cat food. My vet recommended supplementing my cat's diet with fish (I microwave it from frozen) and add water to it. Cats like to lick up the fishy water increasing water intake and flushing the urinary tract, keeping it more healthy. Interestingly an early vet that I saw (before my cat suffered from FUS) recommended Hills l/d dry food permanently. This I believe contributed to her getting FUS. She has been free of it since eating more wet food and fish and added water.

In conclusion, the risk of contracting FUS and feline kidney stones can be substantially reduced if our cat eats the right food, meaning (for most of us) quality wet food low in magnesium and acidic. I tend to compromise and feed low magnesium cat food (say Hills Science Diet Feline) and boiled or microwaved fish with water added plus the occasional tuna and water and other standard wet foods. I have tried to source prepared raw cat food without success. I also change her water bowl very regularly - 3 times daily (in fact she prefers to drink from a glass which is some distance from the food).

There may be other underlying causes and complications, which only a good veterinarian can resolve.

Feline Kidney Stones to cat health problems


Feline Kidney Stones - Sources: as mentioned in the text.
Feline Kidney Stones - Photo - published under creative commons license = Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

Feline leukemia symptoms

Kacey a FeLV cat photo by Purrs & Paws of A.R.A.S.

Feline leukemia symptoms are unspecific and masked by the symptoms of other diseases that have taken hold due to the presence of the FeLV virus.

Introduction

The search term "feline leukemia symptoms" can mean two things; either people are looking for the symptoms of the cancer, leukemia or rather the symptoms of the feline leukemia virus (FeLV). I presume it is the latter. The FeLV virus can cause, in a small number of cases the cancer Leukemia (see below - persistent viremia). Because the virus causes a range of other illnesses it can be called "Feline Leukemia Virus Disease Complex" and can be shortened to:

FELV

This virus causes more cat illness (diseases) than any other virus. After injury ("trauma") it is the second most common cause of death. It is then a very significant cause of illness that is also the main cause of feline cancer and exacerbates other diseases.

Transmission

Cat saliva infected with FeLV is the transmitting substance. Cat saliva is found in food bowls, water bowls, is transmitted by cat bites and one cat grooming another and by a mother to her kitten before birth as an embryo. Repeated exposure is needed to transmit the virus.

How prevalent is it?

Outdoor cats: 1-2% (not sure if this is USA or UK or elsewhere or a world average) have the virus in the blood. For multiple cat households: 20-30% of cats have the virus in the blood. I am shocked at this figure (src: Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook by Drs Carlson and Giffin -this is a fine book published in 1995 so I presume that these figures relate to a time before 1995, things may have changed). Half of infected cats have antibodies that neutralize the virus.

Feline leukemia Symptoms

Signs of illness are:

--first 2-16 weeks - vague Feline leukemia symptoms, nothing specific - fever, apathy, loss of appetite and weight - vomiting - constipation (treating constipation) - diarrhea (treating diarrhea).

--thereafter according to Drs Carlson and Giffin (see above) there are three possible outcomes:

1. The cat cures her/himself. The cat produces antibodies that kill off the disease. The virus remains in the blood for about 12 weeks. This is called "transient viremia". "Viremia" means a virus in the blood. These cats cannot transmit the disease. So in these cats the feline leukemia symptoms may be as described above.

2. The cat cannot defeat the virus and it remains in the blood for over 12 weeks ("persistent viremia"). The presence of the virus leaves the cat susceptible to other diseases by suppressing the cat's immune system. These other diseases kill the cat. Half die within six months and 80% die within 3.5 years. These are part of the group of adoptable FeLV cats (this link goes to another similar page written much earlier that focuses more the adoption of FeLV cats). My thought: the fact that the FeLV virus leads the door open for other fatal diseases would mean that Feline leukemia symptoms are masked by the other disease. This would "muddy the water" of a diagnosis. The FeLV virus would be an underlying cause to be isolated in the diagnostic process. The symptoms presented would be those of the new illness. There are 2 tests to detect the presence of FeLV in a cat.

A small number of cats in this group may develop cancer caused by the virus. There will, then, be symptoms of cancer. The most common is Lymphosarcoma, an abnormal mass of tissue present in the lymph nodes or bone marrow for example. Another cancer caused by this virus is Leukemia, cancer of the blood, a rapid uncontrolled growth of white blood cells. Once again the symptoms of leukemia are sometimes unspecific and can include: malaise (feeling ill), fatigue, weakness and weight loss.

3. The cat partially defeats the virus ("latent infection"). The virus remains in the cat's bone marrow and T-cell lymphocytes. The disease is therefore suppressed. These are adoptable FeLV cats as well. The disease can be activated at moments of stress or because of the presence of another illness. These illness will present their own symptoms but the underlying cause will be the FeLV virus.

The virus can also cause anemia and "spontaneous bleeding". Kittens born with the disease may suffer from fading kitten syndrome (a range of illness preventing the kitten from thriving).

Feline leukemia symptoms to Cat Health Problems

Sources:

1. Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook by Drs Carlson and Giffin
2. www.oncologychannel.com
3. www.petplace.com
4. Wikipedia for definitions

Drowned cat

In a recent news article it was reported that a drowned cat (black and white) was found at the same time a young Chinese couple, who were masters students, living in Newcastle Upon Tyne, were found brutally murdered and perhaps tortured. The drowned cat was found in a washing up bowl covered with a towel and washing up gloves under the bathroom sink.

Why would people intent on murder, kill a cat by drowning and place the cat in such a precise way under the bathroom sink? Why cover the cat and place the kitchen gloves on top as well. It is as if the person who killed the cat was simply putting things in order (i.e. the person who put the cat there was tidy). Or is there some sort of significance in the way the dead cat was left? Washing up or kitchen gloves are very unsymbolic. What mystical symbolism can be inferred from that? None in my opinion.

My gut feeling right now is that the drowned cat was not killed by the people who murdered the couple. Rather the cat died of natural causes, an infection or a road traffic accident or any other usual cause and the couple had placed the cat under water for the time being to preserve the cat until Monday and keep the cat from making an unpleasant smell in the flat. They had decided that the fridge was unacceptable and rightly so as there would have been food in it. The dead couple were found on Saturday morning. Perhaps the couple wanted to have the cat cremated and couldn't arrange that until Monday at the earliest.

The dead cat was left in a very neat and ordered setting as if the cat was another bathroom object to be put away and stored until needed. For what is worth, that is my theory. This poor drowned cat was not drowned at all but was dead when placed under water in a bowl.

Drowned cat to Home page