Monday, 28 February 2011

Dry FIP

Ivanhoe - Somali cat who died of FIP - Photo Finn Frode

FIP stands for Feline Infectious Peritonitis. There are two forms, wet and dry FIP. Both are "invariably fatal"1. A Victim of FIP.

I have already written about feline infectious peritonitis on this page: Feline FIP, where you can read about the disease generally including its cause, which is believed to be a mutation of the benign coronavirus.

Click on the following link to read about how certain breeds of cats are more susceptible than others: Prevalence of feline infectious peritonitis in specific cat breeds.

Dry FIP is also called, "disseminated form". Signs of the illness are not specific. They include:
  • loss of weight and appetite
  • listlessness
  • depression
  • cat obviously very ill
This illness is difficult to diagnose.  The disease affects the eyes, brain, liver, kidney and pancreas. Sixty percent of cases involve the eye or brain or both.

The diagnosis may require surgical exploration. During this procedure the vet may see "sticky mucous or strands of fibrous protein" on the surface of the liver spleen or intestines. About five percent of cats with dry FIP are also infected with the feline leukemia virus. Organ biopsy is the only certain diagnostic test.

Other tests for diagnosis include
  • blood count
  • liver function tests
  • "abnormal serum protein pattern"
  • analysis of chest fluid
  • tests to detect the coronavirus antibodies
Once a cat has signs of secondary disease (the stage from benign to virulent) the cat will die after up to one year of a decent quality of life.

Medication may improve the quality of life and it may be prolonged with chemotherapy. Vitamin C can be helpful1. Aspirin cat reduce inflammation - only administer with vets supervision - Feline Pain Relief.

Prevention is clearly better than cure. This is a deadly disease at the secondary stage. Multicat households, breeders, boarding catteries and shelters are more at risk. See for example: FIP In Breeding Cattery Cats.

Excellent facility and cat management is required including:
  • parasite control
  • prompt treatment of health problems
  • regular grooming
  • excellent nutrition
  • use of effective disinfectant (diluted bleach 1:32)
  • spacious quarters for cats
  • exercise for cats
  • new cats can be isolated for 2 weeks and tested for FIP

Dry FIP -- Note:

1. Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook updated current edition page 87.

Michael Avatar


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Sunday, 27 February 2011

Reading and responding to the cat nose lick

As good cat caretakers we should be able to read cat body language. We usually do at a basic without realising it.

There is one little bit of cat body language that happens a lot and which almost goes unnoticed; the nose lick.

What does it mean and why is it useful to us?

The domestic cat will lick his or her nose as a displacement activity. It is the same as us biting our nails or scratching our head. We do this when we are unsure about what to do next. Visualise yourself biting your nails or fiddling with something. We all have our little ways of easing the moment when we are unsure and thinking. Worry beads are the Arab equivalent.

If we are interacting with our domestic cat and he licks his nose, we can read that as meaning our cat is unsure about what it happening. Our action has made him a little bit unsettled.

We can ignore this and press on or proceed more gently and back off. We have the opportunity to react to this. We should react to this as it is our duty as good cat caretakers to make life as secure and relaxing as possible for our cat. Our cat will reward us with his best behavior.

An anxious cat is more likely to become defensive and be twitchy. This can lead to defensive aggressive behavior and problems such as litter box issues etc.

Look for that nose lick and you'll be able to understand your cat's feelings and emotions a little better.



Feline Matricalm for Cat Aggression


Michael Avatar

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Saturday, 26 February 2011

Cat Acid Reflux Cure

A visitor to the main site had a problem with her Siamese cat that may have been caused by acid reflux. The cat was vomiting routinely when waking up. The problem may not have been acid reflux but it looked that way. Acid reflux is technically called: gastroesophageal reflux. Click on this link to see the post. In this post I referred to the failure of the sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach as a possible cause of the gastroesophageal reflux. There are other causes.

Some other causes are frequent vomiting (there will, of course, be an underlying cause for that), hiatal hernia, cancer of the esophagus, foreign body in the esophagus.

I am going to refer to PetPlace.com for a cat acid reflex cure. The "cure" is to treat the underlying cause of the acid reflux. Other than that the treatment is to treat the symptoms, which includes:
  • drugs to inhibit the production of stomach acid. This is the classic treatment for people with this condition. There can be side effects such as diarrhea.
  • "gastric coating agents". Liquids that protect the lining of the esophagus. These are also commonly used by people with acid reflux. This page on the Peteducation.com site discusses anti-acids (note: links can sometimes become broken).
  • changes in diet. This may help but cats prefer acid based diet.
  • if there is a foreign body in the esophagus it is removed.
  • surgery if needed.
  • antibiotics may be required where there is "secondary pneumonia".
Clearly a good veterinarian is required to diagnose the underlying problem. Treating that and "curing" that, if it is possible, is preferable to continually treating symptoms.

Michael Avatar

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Thursday, 24 February 2011

Burmilla Collage

From PoC Pics

Here's a little montage or collage, call it what you like of a Burmilla cat. I think his or her name is Lilith.

Clipper Cats

The name of this cat breed is based on the fast sailing ships of the 19th Century.  The word "clipper" derives from the word "clip" meaning fast. It is believed that these ships arrived in New Zealand bringing on board ships cats that were polydactyl cats. I say, New Zealand because this cat breed is registered exclusively in a New Zealand cat registry or association. I am yet to find out which one. It is not the New Zealand Cat Fancy Inc.

Polydactyl cats, as you might know, are cats with a greater number of toes than normal due to a genetic mutation. The mutation does not affect the health of the cat (some mutations do, incidentally).

Polydactyl Paw - Wikipedia Commons file (modified). Author: Averette

It is also believed that sailors chose polydactyl cats on the basis that the extra toes and broad paws made them better on deck! In other words the extra toes stabilised them when walking along decks looking for mice and rats. That, however was only part of their attraction to sailors.

It was also thought that they were lucky and were good climbers and hunters. I think every one of these ideas is false bar one! The extra toes do seem to give the cat greater dexterity and this leads to the cat using its toes and claws in a polydactyl cat-like way meaning almost like the finger of a hand. This picture of Tootsie a polydactyl Maine Coon bears that out.

Tootsie, polydactyl Maine Coon. Photo: by valleygirl_tka

This theory that polydactyl cats were often chosen as ships cats is supported in practice by the fact (is it fact?) that there are or were a higher percentage of polydactyl cats at ports. I am thinking of the east coast of America and places such as Nova Scotia and Halifax in Canada.

I am not sure that any of this is true but it sounds plausible. I don't know of studies that bear this out, however.

Some of the descendants of these original clipper cats are registered cats but are they purebred cats? It appears that anyone with a polydactyl cat can apply for registration, "on the open register as a Clippercat, if it fulfills very specific guidelines" (src: Catzinc.com). This implies that random bred cats can be registered. This seems to be the same as the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) classification of "Household Pets" or moggies. There are some fabulous moggie show cats.

The number of toes on a Clipper cat varies and this is recorded on registration. It also appears that there is a limit on the number of toes allowed under the breed standard (src: Catzinc.com). I don't understand that because it it not relevant to health and it only affects appearance in a minor way. The "structure of the feet" is also restricted to the breed standard guidelines. I can understand that as some polydacytl feet look misshapen. Personally though I like these huge, lumpy polydactyl feet.

As to breeding, this cat is only bred to New Zealand long and shorthaired cats of a type laid down in the breed standard and not to other breeds accepted for championship status in the NZ cat fancy, as I understand it (as at Feb 20011 - things change sometimes).

I have not shown any photographs of Clipper cats because I don't have permission but they look like your random bred cat or mixed breed cat with paws that are larger than normal and with those extra toes! All colors and patterns are acceptable it seems.
 
Cattery breeding Polydactyl Clipper Cats: MISTLETOES CATTERY

Michael Avatar

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