Does Your Senior Cat Have These Common Health Problems?

Cats are good at hiding their pain. As natural predators, they know the weak and ill become prey so their instincts are to cover up any signs of weakness. Because of this tendency, it can be tough to know when your cat isn’t feeling well.

Did you know you can get clues about how your pet is feeling just by looking at his/her tongue or feeling his/her pulse?

In Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), it is important to look for patterns in order to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. These patterns include the behavior of the pet and the types of conditions the pet is repeatedly experiencing. Regular examinations are the best way to determine any patterns your pet may be exhibiting.

A vital part of any integrative exam is the palpation of the pet’s pulse and the careful observation of the tongue.

Obesity is an accumulation of excessive energy stored by adipose (fatty) tissue sufficient enough to contribute to disease. It is the most common form of malnutrition in our companion animals and it is growing in frequency due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle coupled with highly-palatable, energy-dense food sources.

Obesity can significantly increase the risk of various diseases and can negatively impact both the quality of life as well as the life span of our pets.

Conditions associated with obesity include:

Taking your dog or cat to their vet appointment can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you don’t know what to expect. Here are some helpful questions we suggest you ask at your next appointment:

The internet is an amazing resource, one that has completely transformed our lives. It answers an infinite amount of questions for us, as the press of a button, anywhere we are at anytime.

The problem is, maybe we have too many answers, and from some unreliable sources to boot. If you were to Google “sick pet symptoms”, you would have 1.36 million results at your fingertips in 0.67 seconds. So where do you even begin?

While there is far more research performed for the benefit of humans than for pets, we know that much of the initial research into human disease and pharmaceuticals is performed using animals; therefore, we learn about them as a side effect.

In the veterinary field, many of the therapeutics we use to treat disease come from human medicine, at least initially. The treatment of cancer is no exception, and in fact, some cancer treatments derived from human medicine have worked well for animals. Others, however, have not.

Congratulations on the adoption of your new pet!  We are thrilled that you decided to adopt a pet from the shelter and save a life! 

When a dog or cat is adopted from the shelter, he/she is most likely current on vaccines, has been spayed or neutered and has been microchipped.  The shelters work hard to make adopting a pet as easy as possible.  However, it is still very important to follow up with your veterinarian soon after adoption.