Cats are prone to illness and injury just like dogs and people are. Community cats are exposed to more viral and bacterial illnesses and have a higher chance of being injured. Paying attention to cat health is an important part of caring for a community cat colony or barn cats.
Feral and community cats face a lot of danger living their lives outside. Bot fly larvae in cats might be uncommon, but they are one of those dangers that often require a vet’s intervention. It also can be fatal in certain cases. But we’ll get to that in a moment. Read on to learn about bot flies and how they …
If you’ve been caring for cat colonies, barn cats, or fostering kittens, you’ve probably gotten some experience with ringworm by now. Ringworm and cats are often linked together in very negative ways. There are many causes of ringworm and cats are only one of them. Cats are often blamed for it in people, horses, and other pets. Ringworm sounds super …
There’s a lot of misconceptions and confusion about cat food in general, but especially regarding wet cat food. Dry food is good for their teeth, people say. Wet food has meat by-products, which are hooves and beaks and feathers, people say. A raw diet is best, some say. All store-brand food is crap, people say. Dry food is better for …
As June is almost here, as well as scorching temperatures, it’s time to consider how to keep cats cool in hot weather. This is easy for those of us with pet cats as most of us will just keep them inside with the air conditioner. Problem solved. Except, what about walking your cat or the poor outdoor cats? Barn cats, …
There are many types of internal parasites that cats can get and not all of them are worms. Protozoa parasites and cats infected by them are also common. Have you heard of coccidia? Giardia? Toxoplasmosis? These common parasites are all single-celled protozoan parasites that infect cats and other animals. You won’t be able to see these parasites as you can …
With the current outbreak of a new coronavirus that originated in China, there has been a lot of concern worldwide over viruses passing from animals to humans and vise versa. The feline coronavirus that you have heard about is NOT the same coronavirus infecting millions of people worldwide. As of April 28, 2020, there were two cats and a bunch …
Worms and cats go hand-in-hand, especially when they have access to the outdoors or live in feral cat colonies. Regular deworming should be routine for those of us who care for community cat colonies as almost all outdoor cats have worms or other parasites. Worms and other parasites are a common occurrence for pets and free-roaming cats. If you take …
I get asked a lot about lysine supplements for upper respiratory infections in cats. Lysine and cats seem to come up quite often when discussing a sick cat, in a community cat colony or a home! Many cat caretakers, shelters, sanctuaries, and vets have recommended lysine supplementation in cats who have Feline Herpes Virus (FHV), a type of feline upper …
Kitty colds, URIs, calicivirus, and more. Those are often the names given to feline upper respiratory infections. So what is an upper respiratory infection in cats? Upper respiratory infections in cats are an infection of a cat’s sinus area, mouth or throat. These are basically ‘cat colds’ as their symptoms are similar to the everyday human cold. And just like …
