Cats

Lilies and cats are not a good combination Do you know why?

Lilies are not good plants to be around cats, as these are extremely toxic for our feline friends. Although not all lilies constitute a life-threatening danger to cats, it isn’t always easy to be sure about the ones that are safe.

Many pet owners have never heard of this issue and this is incredibly important, especially for cat owners. Lilies are gorgeous household plants that are very popular during this time of the year and commonly given as gifts around Easter and Mother’s Day.

Unfortunately, cats are extremely sensitive to the toxic effects of lilies, especially of the Lilium and Hemerocallis genera (the “true lilies”), and ingesting any portion of the plant, even in very small amounts, can be fatal. Easter lilies, Day lilies, Tiger lilies, Japanese Show lilies, Asiatic lilies (including hybrids) and Stargazer lilies are some examples of the poisonous plants.

Cats may be poisoned because they nibble on their household plants, but with this type of lilies it isn’t even necessary for a cat to be curious about the plant and eat it. All it takes is for the cat to brush pass the flower and then lick the pollen off his or her fur, as even the pollen contains toxins. Cats can also get sick if they drink the water from these plants, if they are in a vase.

Affected cats will show nausea, salivation, depression, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, disorientation, tremors, seizures, and potentially fatal kidney injury.

Although it is very important for the public to be aware of this so cat owners can avoid the dangerous plants, identifying which ones are poisonous is not an easy task. Many different flowers are called lilies and to make things more confusing there are many hybrids of these plants.

The Lily of the Valley, for example, is not a true lily as it belongs to the genus Convallaria but although it doesn’t cause any damage to our cat’s kidneys it is still very poisonous for them.

Prompt treatment is key for the survival of a cat suffering from this type of poisoning. The toxins on these plants are rapidly absorbed once they have been ingested, and start causing damage very quickly.

If you notice any of the previously mentioned signs on your cat or if you suspect your cat may have been poisoned by one of these plants, do not wait! Take your pet straight to the vet. The sooner your pet is taken to the vet for treatment the higher are the chances for a positive outcome.

Image: “Black cat” by malfet_, was built upon and is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Cats, Dogs

Spring reminders for pet owners

Spring is a very much awaited time of the year, after months of cold and winter. Pets and humans alike thoroughly enjoy the sun’s return, and nature around us slowly but surely gains those lovely colours once again.

During this time of the year, the first thing owners need to be on the lookout is for the seasonal increase in parasitic activity. Fleas, ticks and worms start to proliferate as these are the months with the most favourable environmental conditions for them, which means this is just the time to ensure our pets are up-to-date with their flea/tick treatments and worming plans.

Warm weather also means the beginning of spring gardening season, and if you are a pet owner as well as a gardening enthusiast, it is really worth taking the time to do some research and ensure you have a pet safe garden. There are several plants and bulbs that can be poisonous for our furry companions such as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilies, crocus, snowdrops, and rhododendrons, among others.

Their level of toxicity ranges from mild to severe and common clinical signs include nausea, drooling, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, increased heart rate, difficulties breathing, tremors, seizures and in some cases these plants can be deadly. It is very important to take your pet to the vet as soon as possible if you ever notice these signs.

Lilies cause stomach upset in dogs but are particularly dangerous for cats, especially Lilium or Hemerocallis species (true lilies). Every single part of the plant is poisonous, including its pollen, and even the water if they are in a vase. Ingesting even a small amount can lead to kidney damage and this can happen to cats just by brushing past a flower and then licking off the pollen from their coat.

Plants with poisonous bulbs (such as tulips or daffodils) can mean problems for dog owners. It’s not uncommon for dogs to dig bulbs from the garden or to eat them while they have not been planted. Poinsettia is often mentioned as a dangerous plant as well, but although this plant is poisonous, it causes only mild clinical signs.

Younger pets are particularly at risk as they are more playful and inquisitive, often chewing and nibbling whatever they can find in their environment. They are also more susceptible to poisoning due to their small size, as they’re more severely affected by smaller amounts of any poisonous substance. Plant poisoning is also common in indoor cats, so it is also a good idea to keep this is mind in you have any indoor flowers or bouquets.

Useful tips for a pet safe spring include always checking if a particular plant or chemical (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, slug and snails bait, and fertilisers) can be toxic for your pet and either ensure your furry companions are kept away from these, or if possible, to avoid them entirely.

Image: “Cuteness” by ohmil, was built upon and is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Cats

Terrific Tailless Kitties!

Today we bring you, from the ancient lands of the Isle of Man, a just as old breed of cats that have a very particular characteristic: no tails!

The Manx breed and their distinctive posterior characteristic most likely originated from a mutation that spread throughout the island due to its incomplete dominant characteristics. When the Vikings settled on the island, their lush, long haired cats introduced the longhair coat to the previously short coated Manx population.

All Manx cats have at least one gene for the full tail, which means that two fully tailless cats can produce kittens with complete tails. And because it’s an incomplete dominant gene, there are cats with varying lengths of tail (there might even be a whole spectrum of lengths from the same litter!).

Besides their unique tails, these cats are adorably round, fluffy and robust. They are described as very intelligent, active, playful animals with a surprisingly heavy constitution. Added to it, a strong loyalty and dedication to their families make all the fine ingredients for a working cat.

In the Cat Fancier’s Associations own words “A house with a Manx will never be boring!” and we are very inclined to agree with them.
 

Image: “Ichi & Mustapha” by ismael villafranco was built upon and is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Horses

High Ringbone

Owners of work horses know the name ´ringbone` well. High ringbone is the common name given to a progressive condition called osteoarthritis of the proximal interphalangeal joint – woah that is a big name! Good news is, it’s just a real long way of saying it’s a disease of the pastern joint.

Bad news is, it can cause severe lameness and might eliminate a horse from competing or from strenuous work life if not well managed. This condition can happen for several reasons, for instance overuse, a singular trauma episode or even just due to normal use.

The disease process of the osteoarthritis involves the loss of cartilage and the formation of new bone around the joint, a process that is very painful. In severe cases, it can even make a visible enlargement that encircles the joint which earned it the name “Ringbone”.

Unfortunately, this disease can be progressive and what starts out as a subtle lameness can become much more pronounced with time as there is greater and greater destruction of the normal joint. The loss of cartilage means that bones will be grinding against each other in each and every movement of that limb and if it sounds painful to you, you got it right, it really is. Added to that, there is creation of bone in tissues and spaces where bone should not be plus inflammation.

All of this will contribute to progressive loss of function and lameness due to severe pain. It’s sounding pretty gloomy but there are many therapeutic options available and the condition can be managed. Of course, much of the prognosis is tied up with whatever cause osteoarthritis to start in the first place but talk to your vet about all your options and they’ll help you make the right choice for your riding buddy.

Image: “Oregon’s Wild Horse Corral Facility” by BLMOregon was built upon is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Uncategorized

Clumsy but capable! Cerebellar Hypoplasia in cats


Cats and kittens come in many shapes, sizes and abilities! One particular set of our feline friends are cats that have a congenital dysfunction in the area of the brain responsible for balance and walking.

These kitties have a cerebellum that was not properly developed during pregnancy. Most of the time this happens because of an infection with Feline panleukopenia virus, the same virus that causes distemper in cats. If the queen gets infected with this virus during pregnancy, it will interfere with the normal development of the cerebellum in her kittens. Not all kittens are affected the same way, so what might happen is that a litter can have babies that are severely affected and kitties that don’t seem to have any issues.

The cerebellum is the area of the brain that helps animals walk and move correctly. Knowing this, it means that cats with this disease have issues getting around and doing more precise movements. You might see your kitty tremble a lot, have difficulty reaching the bowl to eat and look really clumsy walking but don’t worry because it doesn’t hurt!

The good news about cerebellar hypoplasia is that these purring partners can have great quality of life and a normal lifespan. This disease is not progressive, painful or contagious and with time, they can even learn to compensate for these issues.

Living with a cat with cerebellar hypoplasia might require some special attention, depending on the severity of the problem. They have a normal lifespan but are more prone to accidents, like not handling stairs well, falling from high places, requiring special litter boxes or hitting sharp corners on furniture.

We leave you with some top tips on how to make life for your lovely, clumsy cat a little easier: Carpeted floors help them get better traction, try putting soft bumpers on your furniture so they don’t get hurt when they fall or have a litter box with high sides so they have the extra support.

Keep an eye out for ways you can improve the life of your feline friend with cerebellar hypoplasia and they will surely save many purrs for you.

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Dogs

Canine pancreatitis – When your dog’s pancreatic enzimes run wild!


Pancreatitis is a common disease in middle-aged to old dogs that can be very painful and even life-threatening.

The pancreas is very important for dogs and humans alike. This is the organ directly responsible for the production of insulin, which plays a key role in the way the body handles sugar, and for the production of digestive enzimes that will help with food digestion. This organ is located within the abdomen, behind the stomach and the first portion of the small intestine.

Pancreatitis refers to inflammation of the pancreas and although it is still unclear exactly what triggers this condition, the process involved and some predisposing factors are known.

The pancreas produces digestive enzimes meant to become activated once they reach the small intestine so they can contribute to breaking down and digesting food. The body has natural safeguards that keep these enzimes from being activated anywhere other than the gut but it is possible for these mechanisms to fail. When this happens, pancreatic enzimes become prematurely activated and can start digesting the pancreas from within, causing inflammation and affecting other organs.

Pancreatitis can be acute or chronic and dogs with chronic pancreatitis display low grade, intermittent clinical signs. Clinical signs commonly related to pancreatitis include depression, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. It is typical for dogs in pain to raise their hindlimbs and extend their forelimbs assuming a “prayer” position. This position helps them alleviate pain.

Several risk factors have been recognised and associated with pancreatitis in dogs such as obesity, dietary mishaps normally associated with fatty foods, concurrent diseases such as endocrine conditions, and certain drugs. Canine pancreatitis is really just one more reason to help your dog reach and maintain a healthy weight.

An association between certain breeds and canine pancreatitis has also been observed. Yorkshire Terriers, Miniature Schnauzers, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, English Cocker Spaniels, Boxers and Collies are described as more likely to develop this condition.

If your dog is showing suspicious signs or if you could use some advice to help your pet lose weight consult with your veterinary surgeon.

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Cats

The Feline Immunodeficiency Virus or “Feline AIDS”

The Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is type of retrovirus (a lentivirus) that affects cats all over the world. It causes an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome which means it interferes with our cats’ immune system, lowering its defences, and causing them to be more vulnerable to opportunistic infections and other diseases.

The way this condition develops and its impact on the cat’s body is quite similar to the human acquired immunodeficiency virus (HIV). For this reason, this condition is often referred to (“feline AIDS”) and it serves as model for the study of infections with human immunodeficiency virus.  It is very important to highlight that despite the similarities between FIV and HIV, FIV only affects cats and cannot be transmitted to us humans.

After infection, the virus can be found in the affected cat’s blood and saliva. This virus is transmitted among cats mostly through bites and fight wounds. As a result, adult entire male cats that have access to the outdoors tend to be most commonly affected. The virus can also be transmitted from infected queens to their kittens.

The Feline Immunodeficiency Virus doesn’t cause very serious clinical signs initially. From the point of entry the virus goes to the nearby lymph nodes and starts reproducing, eventually spreading to other lymph nodes throughout the body. This leads to a generalised enlargement of their lymph nodes often accompanied by fever.

Some cats will deteriorate progressively after being infected, some cats may just present recurrent illness, needing veterinary care more often than non-infected cats, and for many cats the disease progresses to an asymptomatic phase, during which they don’t display any signs of disease. This stage can last for several years.

Eventually, infected cats suffer a decrease in their immune surveillance and they will become more predisposed to other conditions, as well as secondary infections resulting from bacterial, fungal, protozoal, or parasitic infections.

Clinical signs of infected cats include loss of appetite, fever, poor coat condition, diarrhoea, inflamed gums (gingivitis) or mouth (stomatitis), skin problems, respiratory problems, conjunctivitis, immune-mediated diseases, neurologic conditions, and tumours. The most common tumour in these cats is lymphoma and they are 5 times more likely to develop them.

With proper care most cats infected with FIV are able to live many years and even die from other causes, in no way related to their FIV infection.

All cats should be tested for FIV. It is recommended to keep an infected cat indoors to prevent spreading this virus to other cats. This also protects FIV-infected cats from any secondary disease which can be very beneficial, given their impaired immune system. Any new cat being brought into your household should be quarantined and tested before being introduced to the other house cats.

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Horses

Anaemia in Horses

Anaemia is one of the most important haematological signs in mammals and horses are no exception.

It’s not a disease but a signal that something might be really wrong with your animal. Anaemia manifests as a consequence of many diseases and problems that cause one or several of these:

  • Loss of blood
  • Destruction of red blood cells
  • Lesser red blood cell production

We can classify anaemia as regenerative or as non-regenerative. The difference between these two situations is that regenerative anaemia happens because of blood loss or destruction of red blood cells and there will be a response from the bone marrow to correct this while a non-regenerative anaemia is a product of an insufficient production from the marrow to respond to loss of red blood cells.

This is usually spotted when it becomes a big enough problem to impair tolerance to exercise, depression or reduced ingestion of food. Other signs that may indicate anaemia are high respiratory rate and heartbeat, yellow tinted sclera or mucous membranes, weight loss, increased urination or pale mucous membranes, among others depending on primary cause.

Of course, many of the problems that can cause anaemia may take a long time to develop and horses may be able to create mechanisms to compensate for the lowered capacity to transport oxygen.

This leads to a sort of subclinical yet chronic anaemia that only flares up during exercise and leads to reduced performance and a very high heartbeat.

As we’ve mentioned, anaemia is secondary to a whole host of other issues and they include everything from trauma that causes haemorrhage, iron deficiency, kidney disease, bacterial toxins like Clostridium, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia to parasites, cancer or various viral diseases.

The underlying cause of anaemia can be a very severe condition, as stated above, so if you think your horse might be suffering from it do not hesitate to contact your vet!

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Cats

Cat Colonies: Fascinating Social Environment

Most of us are aware that our rambunctious doggies just love to interact, with other dogs, with us, with other animals, with puddles… and cats, on the other hand, are a bit more reserved with their social lives.

Well, behaviour scientists say that the solitary cat, at least as far as our domestic felines go, is not quite their natural state. Cats will organise in groups called colonies quite often as long as food conditions allow them to, in fact, the only way for cats to choose to live solitary lives is if their environment has food so dispersed it cannot sustain more than one cat in a given location.

So! Cats are awesome colony buddies and of course, we want to know how those are organised. Colonies are generally centred around female cats and their kittens because we have found that, turns out, cats prefer contact with relatives over non-relatives and do recognise non-colony cats. Of course, unrelated cats without colonies may integrate a new colony but this is a very gradual process because colony cats may react with aggression if non-members approach their resources.

All of this proves that cats, even among relatives, have other cats they prefer to interact with and cats they may have a harder time cooperating (A bit like a family holiday gathering). This means that social structure in colonies is a complex issue and savvy cat owners know that its sometimes a bit hard to introduce a new cat to a household with other cats.

To make sure everything purrs along smoothly, make sure that you don’t just abruptly shove everyone in together. Let them realise there are new colony mates through smell and sight before letting them contact each other. A top tip as well is adopting more than one related cat at time for owners who wish to have multi-cat households. This ensures a greater chance for positive behaviours and cohesiveness of the group.

Our purring partners are pretty fascinating creatures with very well developed social behaviours and organisation, much more than what we give them credit for!

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Dogs

Whiskers – Not just for cats!

While whiskers on kittens may be a few of our favourite things, did you know that dogs also have whiskers?

Whiskers are called vibrissae, special hairs with tactile capacities found on several places of the body. So, what’s the difference between these vibrissae and normal fur or human hair? Generally speaking, normal hair or fur is much thinner and isn’t connected to any special motility (the exception being the smooth muscle that makes hair stand on end) or sensory organs.

Vibrissae, on the other hand, have several muscles associated to them that allow for an interesting range of motion and also nerves connected to them so they can actually feel when they are touched or moved. Most mammals have these amazingly talented hairs though we seem to be one of the few exceptions and they can be found on the face and above the eyebrows in dogs.

Their function and their histological components are still under investigation but we think that they serve as an extra sensory component to the facial structures like eyes and skin. For instance, touching an eyebrow vibrissae on a dog will make them blink and they will move away their whiskers before they are touched. Another proposed function is navigation, though dogs have much smaller vibrissae than cats or rats it’s still possible they use tactile hairs to ‘poke around’ their environment and avoid obstacles.

Care should be given to not trim these! They are not normal hair, they serve important tactile and navigation purposes so keep these fancy whiskers away from the shears, especially in dogs that might have visual difficulties.

All in all, vibrissae are definitely not just the domain of our feline friends and there’s a whole fascinating way these animals interact with the world we can only try to guess at.

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