Your official invitation!

You are invited to

Hall Veterinary Surgery’s

Cat Care 

Information Evening

Wednesday 21^st September 7pm

at Hall Pavilion

Gladstone Street, Hall ACT

Learn why your cats behave (or misbehave) the way they do, how to care for your older cat and why regular checkups are vital to cats’ health and comfort. Win heaps of prizes and join us for supper  

Entry is FREE

Please RSVP by 14^th September

on 62302223, at natalie@hallvet.com.au or talk to one of our Receptionists

(Carers only!)

In case you missed the great apple ambush...

Herpesvirus for cats

Yes - cats have their own herpesvirus, just as irritating as the human variety, and liable to flare up with stress just like it does in human sufferers. However cat herpesvirus mostly affects the eyes and respiratory system.
The great majority of cats suffer their first bout with herpesvirus when they are kittens. They get watery eyes, sneeze, snuffle, go off their food for a day or two and look very sad and fluey. Antibiotics to prevent secondary infections and good nursing pull nearly all of them through.
Although most infected cats then become carriers very few have any further trouble with the virus themselves.
A few poor cats go on to develop flu-like signs or various eye diseases whenever they are stressed.
Some just get watery eyes. Painful ulcers on the cornea, the window of the eye, and on the conjunctiva, make other cats very miserable. Occasionally a part of the cornea dies and turns black, or the eye perforates.
Any eye problem is an emergency. If your cat has watery or pussy eyes, is squeezing his eyelids closed, or the eye looks blue, red or black bring him straight in to the surgery.

Momo's war wound

Momo's had a bad week. His mum found him shivering under a bush on Thursday morning. When she coaxed him inside he didn't feel much like breakfast and curled up in front of the fire. He'd eaten dinner on Tuesday and gone out for a stroll around his domain feeling as fit as a fiddle. By the time his mum found him he had a fever and was very miserable.
When she took him on her lap for a cuddle he snuggled up until she rubbed his head - OW!  He sprang onto the floor and under the couch.
His mum realised something was very wrong and whisked him in to see us. We found a tiny wound on his head and extracted a claw. Poor old Momo had taken on an intruder in his garden. No wonder he had a headache - an abscess was forming under the wound.
We started treatment straight away. Blood tests and observation proved that it was a fresh wound so we clipped and cleaned it, started strong antibiotics (cats' mouths contain some very nasty bacteria that love the airless space under the skin) and gave him something for the headache.
Because Momo's owner had found him soon after the brawl and the wound was fresh we didn't have an abscess to lance. The earlier we can treat cats after a fight the less likely it is that a general anaesthetic and surgery will be necessary.
Cats are most active finding mates and defending their territory in late winter and spring. Poor old Momo had got caught up in the annual feline fight festival. His mum is going to keep him indoors after dinner and through the night to try and prevent another episode.

Cats, cats, cats!

Make a note in your diary - cat health and behaviour will be the focus at this year's Hall Vet Surgery information night on Wednesday 21st September.

This will be our third information night but the first to give cats the attention they deserve!

I'll keep you posted on time and place.

If you have any suggestions on what you would most like to hear about make a comment below.

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.