Community Cats Care Clinic

12/05/2024

10/12/2024

It’s so cute when cats steal pizza or dogs beg for table scraps but feeding your pet human food is a minefield of hazards. Aside from the fact that human food often causes gastrointestinal upset, vomiting and diarrhea, some human food is toxic (and even fatal) to cats and dogs.

According to the Cornell Feline Health Center, cats cannot tolerate certain foods and those foods may prove deadly to your feline friend. These foods include:

Grapes
Onions
Raisins
Avocados
Anything containing xylitol
Chocolate

These foods are as deadly to dogs as they are to cats. Healthy treats for dogs include apples, pumpkin, and carrots. Dogs may get small amounts of meat as long as it is cooked and not overly seasoned.

Before giving a lick of anything like yogurt or ice cream, check that it is not sweetened with xylitol, an artificial sweetener found in many human foods.

It really is best to stick to treats meant for dogs and cats in order to avoid accidental poisonings. For more information on the subject here are two websites that we like:

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/people-foods-avoid-feeding-your-pets

https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/common-cat-hazards-0

09/26/2024

Is the mom's life important?

Do you know what pyometra is? It is a life-threatening infection of the uterus.

How old does a cat have to be to develop pyometra? While the risk increases with age and older cats are most at risk, it can happen at any age. It's always a shock to see a kitten or very young cat with pyometra – but we've seen it all😔

Pyometra is completely preventable – just have the cat spayed. With no uterus she will never develop pyometra.

What if she's pregnant? Years ago, while helping a woman get her free roaming cats spayed, she told me "I can't have her spayed, she's pregnant". While I worked to be diplomatic I pointed out to her if by chance the cat had pyometra, and she was living outside, she was going to end up dying a painful death in the bushes. After some thought the woman agreed to let her be spayed, and I was present in the clinic during the spay. That cat had a womb full of decomposing kittens and pus – she would have died within days.

This week, Sara and Laurie gave up their time to help a group of five trapped cats. The clinic had an emergency and could not get these free roaming cats altered, and they asked these women if they could possibly hold them so the cats did not get released before being fixed. They not only held them awaiting surgery as well as for recovery afterwards, they changed their own personal plans and then ended having to drive to and from the clinic - a distance of 20 miles one way – a total of 5 or 6 times. That's 100+ miles and many hours for cats they personally had not trapped, in spite of numerous cats they were already helping. But it was all worth it to them in the end - because there was a mom cat and her five month old daughter in the mix, and that mom cat had pyometra... and her five month old daughter was pregnant.

Many people romanticize pregnancy in cats – but there's nothing romantic about it. An endless cycle of being in heat, pregnant, going through labor and delivery and two months of nursing babies only to have it repeated again and again – and with so many threats to the health of the mother cat, like pyometra. If you are serious about saving lives, make sure you're not wearing rose colored glasses. Is it possible the female cat is pregnant? Her life matters – and don't forget if she has developed pyometra she'll die along with the kittens. A painful death.

The best way to save lives is to make sure those cats are spayed. Spay and neuter them all!

09/01/2024

Most people don’t realize a cat can get pregnant at four months and can also get pregnant again two weeks after giving birth.

This is a great post byt Street Cats Club and SO TRUE!!!

08/13/2024

Edith is here today to be spayed today, but mostly she’s getting spoiled 😻

08/10/2024

Let's talk about feeding cows milk to felines, kittens in particular.🥛🐈

Is it something you did for the local strays growing up? Mom and dad brought home a new kitten so you put down a saucer of 2% for kitty like you saw in the cartoons? But kitty likes milk, right?🥣

But did you know that cats are lactose intolerant (in terms of milk that does not belong to their mother)? They nurse off their mother until about 8 weeks and after that, never need milk again in their lives. We often give cows milk as a treat but did you know it's doing more harm than good?

Because kittens cannot digest the lactose, giving cows milk or any milk with lactose, can cause vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy and in very young kittens, even death. That's right, milk can be deadly to kittens. Once that diarrhea begins, it can be nearly impossible to get ahead of the dehydration while trying to stabilize the gut.

We in rescue strive to educate people on the correct ways to care for kittens but the reality is, we can't reach everyone and many people choose not to listen. "None of my kittens eve died growing up, so you must be wrong!" But the reality is that the ONLY safe milk for kittens, especially those under 8 weeks, is Kitten Milk Replacer or their own mother's milk.

Below is a picture of our newest intake from Knotts Island. He looks healthy right now but once he arrived, we were informed he was being fed 1% cows milk. Now this little guy is older, so I am hopeful that it will not impact him as heavily as it might a neonate. I will just have to wait and be prepared for the possibility.

08/10/2024

FIV sounds bad, but Marmalade's FIV+ and as you can see he's pawsome, it's not a big deal... Purrlease don't overlook FIV+ cats in shelters 🧡

08/02/2024

Post-Surgical Complications: Seromas

One of the most common post-surgical complications in cats and dogs are seromas, a collection of fluid under the skin near the surgical site. This fluid is clear and uninfected, and is caused usually by excessive activity during the healing period. Sometimes they are caused by a reaction to the suture used.

A seroma looks like a small to medium sized bump near the surgery site. It is soft (filled with fluid) and not hot to the touch. The fluid pocket may be emptied or even surgically repaired by your vet, but most often the fluid is absorbed by the body with rest.

Seromas form between the body wall and the skin where there has been a separation during surgery. This separation causes a “dead space,” and the body doesn’t like to leave dead spaces unfilled. Activity further irritates this space causing more fluid to fill it.

Kittens and puppies are especially prone to seromas because they play, jump and run after their procedures. To prevent seromas from forming, keep your dog or cat quiet after abdominal surgery. Leash walk dogs to prevent running and cage rest kittens and puppies to keep them from jumping and exercising too hard.

Sometimes a pet needs medication to calm them and keep them quiet during the healing period. Talk with your veterinarian about this during your visit.

If your pet has a seroma it’s usually nothing to worry about, but if the area becomes red, warm to the touch, or the incision itself is leaking fluid, call the veterinarian who performed the surgery.

Pictured is a large lump under the skin incision of a cat after spay surgery. This is most likely a seroma, but because of its size should be looked at by a veterinarian to ensure it is not a hernia. The photo was taken from thecatsite.com.

07/31/2024

We will be offering a wellness clinic on Monday afternoon , August 12 This is for vaccines, parasite treatment, nail trimming, FeLV/FIVtesting, etc. Limited appointments are available. Please call 757-336-7006 to schedule an appointment.

07/31/2024

Adorable Wick is doing well after his neuter and tail amputation surgery. He will be available for adoption soon from Island Kitties Rescue.