Where is Dr Kate?

Dr Kate is at the annual conference of the International Society of Feline Medicine (that's the ISFM) in the beautiful city of Vienna keeping up to date with the latest information and trends in cat medicine from all over the world!
It is wonderful to concentrate on just cats and to hear the experience of vets from a wide variety of situations.
Today we heard all about cats' endocrine (or gland) diseases, so common in our older cats.
The common ones are hyperthyroidism and diabetes, but others such as acromegaly, a growth hormone disorder, and diseases of the adrenal gland are being diagnosed more often too.
There is much controversy over the treatment of hyperthyroidism in the veterinary world, but if some research work I heard about today is confirmed with further trials the arguments might be a thing of the past.
Simply controlling the iodine content of the diet in a specific way may treat feline hyperthyroidism!
This will be good news for many of you and I hope that the research work is completed and the special diet makes it onto the Australian market at a reasonable price very soon.
I'll bring you more breaking news as it happens here in Vienna.

Litter box guru

Nick boxed-in

I've just come across a fantastic site called Litterbox Guru written by an American vet. If your cat is missing or even avoiding the box or has started urine marking the walls this is an excellent place to start working out the cause.
Comb through my previous posts  for more suggestions.
When you've thought about possible causes for this unsociable behaviour come and see us to rule out medical problems. We'll help you sort out why your cat is unwell or unhappy.