vetmed
let’s hear
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 | breeding, vetmed | 2 Comments
Last friday we went to the university of veterinary medicine to have the hearing of our l-litter checked. The procedure is called brain-stem audiometry and takes just a tiny tiny narkosis an can be done on babies as young as ours. There are little needles (electrodes) placed under the skin of the head and a computer registers the conduction of certain acoustic signals inside the head.
White cats do inherit a higher risk of being deaf. It’s a defect and should not be bred from. Also cats who produce many deaf kittens aren’t meant to be contributing to the gene pool of any breed. So you can imagine I wasn’t completely calm while watching the procedure.
But you may also imagine how happy I felt when we found out all ears are hearing perfectly!
vet day
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | vetmed | No Comments
Kiki, Kenosha and Kooka Boo were neutered today. I also requested a professional teeth cleaning (vial ultrasound) for Kiki as most cats do have a tiny bit of tartar and since she was anesthetized already… it made sense to me.
3 hours after the whole event: Kiki lies in bed with a very suffering expression in her face (she did get pain killers!) and is done with the world for today. The babies? They already ate a bit and are chasing each other up the scratching tree, down the scratching tree, doing somersaults over toys… well, it does make a difference how much you take out of a cat’s belly and how quickly the medication is metabolised.
say “cheese”
Saturday, April 11th, 2009 | vetmed | No Comments
I’m honestly considering teaching my kittens to have their teeth cleaned.
You might think it’s weird but since I do already “de-worm” them (which is a bit strange because I never had diagnosed any worms in my cats) with pills so they learn how to swallow them, I feed them in a way they get to know new food without getting picky about it… so why not also taking another step towards oral hygiene. It is, after all a major problem in cats. Changing food can help sometimes but isn’t really the ultimative solution.
Only leaves the question what their new owners would think of that.
litterbox habits
Monday, March 23rd, 2009 | vetmed | No Comments
via doolittler
There are three reasons cats tend to exhibit what we euphemistically call, “elimination disorders.” The first is medical (as in a urinary tract infection or “Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease”/”Feline Idiopathic Cystitis”). The second involves communication (as in, your kitty’s stressed over something and/or announcing his/her presence in the territory). The third? Well, let’s just call it “bathroom”-related.
Not to forget about their sexuality.
Worth reading
Friday, January 30th, 2009 | vetmed | No Comments
My current favourite book (may the >3kg weighty tomes in the shelves forgive me) about cats, their behaviour and development:
Table of contents:
- Introduction (Why the cat)
- Development of young cats
- Social life
- Predatory behaviour
- Cats and people
- Postscript (Questions about cats)