Over the past five years, I have watched lick mats become one of the standard tools for treating anxiety and boredom in dogs and cats. That’s especially true for the branded version LickiMat®. They are a great help, and I’m not going to tell you not to use them. But I want you to be careful. What Is A Lick Mat? A lick mat is a textured flat surface made out of rubber, usually with suction cups to attach it to the floor. The pattern on the top is designed to trap food and make it hard to eat quickly. The aim is to get dogs and cats to spend their time in licking instead of other unwanted b ..read more

Despite the fact that cats suffer from arthritis at least as much as dogs, they have always been the losers when it comes to accessing a range of treatments. Reasons for this might be: A poorer recognition of the signs of arthritis in cats The smaller market and financial benefit to the drug companies The difficulty in giving medications to cats The increased risk due to the prevalence of kidney disease Now, in 2023 we are witnessing the appearance of a whole new class of treatment that might overcome many of these concerns. These are exciting times, but we also need to be cautious and reali ..read more

If you have an allergy to cats, or know someone who does, then you know how debilitating it can be. Cat allergens are everywhere, and up to now there’s been precious little you could do except avoid cats altogether. Which for many people has not been possible. So it was with great hope that here in Australia we awaited the arrival of Purina’s new food designed to reduce human allergies to cats & kittens. Imagine the possible benefits if it works: More people being able to enjoy the company of cats More cat rescue and less rehoming Better relationships for allergic partners of cat owners ..read more

I want to warn you about three emerging and important toxins of cats. I also want you to see the link between these products and how they may be just the tip of the iceberg in household poisonings. Minoxidil : A Baldness Treatment Minoxidil has become extremely popular due to its ability to stimulate hair regrowth on the scalp of people. It was originally marketed as Rogaine, but is now available as an over the counter generic in liquid, foam and shampoo forms. When cats lick even a tiny amount, it causes vomiting, drooling, low blood pressure, severe illness and often death. Because the produ ..read more

If we have to pick favourite diseases, mine is retinal detachment in cats. One day your cat goes suddenly blind, and the next they can see again. All thanks to a simple and low cost treatment. However, for this to happen, you need to know what to look for, and act quickly. How To Tell If Your Cat Has Poor Vision Here are the common signs of vision loss or blindness in cats: Bumping into things they should be able to see Dilated pupils (large black eyes) Sudden anxiety about moving around or going outside Crying or aimless wandering Blood in the eye or a cloudy eye The cat pictured above has ..read more

This is a warning to anyone still using GS- 441524 (commonly called “GS”) in Australia. I supported you when you started breaking the law. Later on I even put my reputation on the line and stood up for you in the national media against threats of prosecution. My attitude was “let them try; they wouldn’t dare.” For back then if it wasn’t for you, many cats with FIP would have died. You provided an essential link between desperate cat owners and an illegal, yet life-saving drug. You allowed vets to offer support to cat owners without having to procure the drug themselves and risk their careers ..read more

If you know your cat, there’s a sign of poor health that you can spot from across the room. But you have to get your eye in first. It’s called a staring coat. What Is A Staring Coat? A staring coat is when the tips of a cat’s hair start to stick together, probably due to a buildup of grease. The hair doesn’t form a smooth ‘shell’ any more but is separated into rows or tiny clumps. It gives the coat a spiky, clumping appearance. A staring coat happens very quickly when a cat stops grooming adequately. Every cat owner knows how much time their cat spends licking themselves, plus rolling and dus ..read more

One of the saddest things I see are cats with breathing difficulties. That’s because they’re almost always brought to the vet too late. In fact, by the time their owners notice, they often don’t survive the car trip. Here I’m going to give you a very simple trick to recognise when a cat is struggling to breathe. If you do it successfully, your cat will probably be OK. How To Tell If A Cat Has Breathing Problems Unlike dogs who are regularly exercised, cats can hide respiratory distress for a long time. But there’s one thing they can’t hide: the fact that they are breathing faster and faster. A ..read more

For such a common problem, there’s a lot we don’t know about hairballs in cats. It’s yet another example of our tendency to overlook the everyday and focus on the rare. This is to the cost of cats everywhere. When there’s a lack of hard evidence, we only have experience to go by. So I’ll use mine to help you answer the key questions put to me by cat owners. What Is A Hairball? User:1Veertje, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons A hairball, or more technically a trichobezoar, is a hard pellet of matted hair found in the gastrointestinal tract. They occur due to hair being swallowed during the no ..read more

I want to share with you a very sobering paper that should make us think harder anytime we feel a lump in a cat’s belly. Five cats were presented to a veterinary teaching hospital with abdominal masses that could be felt during a routine exam. They all had the classic signs of intestinal obstruction: vomiting, listlessness and not eating. The two eldest cats died. One, because her owner thought it was cancer and had her put down. The other, due to a delay in treatment, most likely due to a similarly fatalistic attitude. The diagnosis in these five cases was a hairball. A thoroughly treatable p ..read more