Feline Healthcare management and control.ppt

Today we will discuss the basics of routine feline healthcare to help you meet the needs of your feline companions, including:
Home care
Nutrition
Behavior
Veterinary care
Lifestyle & age related �needs
Be sure all windows and doors close and lock
Secure screens in all windows
Protect electrical cords from chewing
Healthier inside vs. outside
Toxic plants
Litter boxes = # of cats +1

1. Providing The Best
For Your Pet:
Topics In Feline
Healthcare
Kristi Lively, DVM, DABVP
Village Veterinary Clinic
Farragut, TN

2. Feline Healthcare
Today we will discuss the basics of routine
feline healthcare to help you meet the needs
of your feline companions, including:
–Home care
–Nutrition
–Behavior
–Veterinary care
–Lifestyle & age related
needs

3. Home Care
Many facets of appropriate care in the home:
•Housing
•Exercise
•Sensory input/
output
•Nutrition
•Behavior

4. Appropriate Housing
•Be sure all windows and doors close and
lock
•Secure screens in all windows
•Protect electrical cords from chewing
•Healthier inside vs. outside
•Toxic plants
•Litter boxes = # of cats +1

5. Common Toxic Plants
•Philodendron
•Easter Lilies, day
lilies, calla lilies
•Shamrock
•Christmas cactus
•Onions and chives
•Poinsettia
•Lantana
•Iris

6. Inside vs. Outside
Outdoor cats are more susceptible to:
•Vehicular trauma
•Bite wounds from other cats, and thus
viral diseases such as Feline Leukemia
Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus
•Parasites- fleas, ticks, toxoplasmosis
•Attack by larger animals
•Get lost or wander off
•Indoor cats live longer, healthier lives

7. Litter Boxes
•# of cats plus one
•Locate in a quiet, private
area
•Use a baby gate to keep
dogs out of the area
•Clean daily
•Be consistent with litter
brand/type

8. Exercise
•Often overlooked
with cats more so
than with dogs
•Laser lights
•Feather toys
•Rolling balls

9. Sensory Input/Output
•Cats are social animals
•Windows with
bird feeders
•Fish tanks
•Videos
•Play time daily

10. Nutrition
•High quality cat food
•Controlled, measured feeding
•Twice a day, 10 minutes
•Body condition score
•It is VERY difficult to get
weight off an obese cats,
easier to prevent!

11. Obesity
•Diet or light formulas available, but weight
loss in cats is very difficult
•They don’t exercise as easily as walking a
dog
•Obese cats are predisposed to developing
diabetes, arthritis, and
dermatitis if they cannot
groom themselves
•Easier to prevent than
to reverse

13. Nutrition Continued
Home dental care:
•Diets made to
aide in cleaning
of the teeth
•CET chews
(hexadene)
•Greenies

14. Feline Behavior
The most common cause for owner
surrender of cats
•House soiling
•Clawing/scratching
furniture

15. House Soiling
Urine spraying:
•Identify and treat this early for best
prognosis!
•Spay/Neuter all cats in the household
•Rule out medical reasons such as UTI,
cystitis
•Adequate # of litter boxes
•Limit sight contact with outdoor cats
•Reduce stressors (don’t yell at them for it)

16. Urine Spraying Continued
•Clean area with an ammonia free product
•Avoidance tactics for areas being soiled
such as tin foil, food bowls, boxes
•Having more than 3 cats increases your
risk for inappropriate elimination due to
territorial issues
•Anti-anxiety medications
•Confinement

17. Inappropriate Scratching
Behavior
•Natural for most cats to want to scratch
•Territorial activity

18. Treatment Options
Soft paws

19. Treatment Options Cont
Scratching post

20. Declaw Surgery:
•Best if done when young
•This is an invasive
surgery
•Proactive pain
management
•Consider laser surgery option
Treatment Options Cont

21. Declaw Surgery Cont
•Invasive procedure: removing the last
joint of the digit

22. Laser Surgery
•Better pain management
•No bandages required
•Most humane surgery technique

23. Veterinary Care
•Cats need to have annual or semi-annual
exams
•Vaccines related to lifestyle
•Heartworm prevention- not just for dogs
•Fecal exams
•Flea and tick control
•Routine urine and blood work screening
•Spay and neuter!

24. Vaccines
•Rabies
•Rhinotracheitis
•Calici virus
•Chlamydia
•Panleukopenia
•+/- FeLV
•+/- FIV ??

25. Heartworm Prevention
•Transmitted by mosquitoes
•Infection causes heart and lung disease
•Indoor and outdoor cats are all at risk
•Heartworm preventive should be given year round
•Can cause sudden
unexplained death
in a cat

26. Parasite Screening
•Fecal parasite exams are recommended by the CDC
twice per year
•Intestinal parasites in cats can be transmitted to people
•Monthly heartworm preventives can help control
intestinal parasites as well

27. Flea and Tick Control
•In East TN, we see many fleas and ticks
•Cat scratch fever
•Tick borne infections being identified in
cats
•Excellent topical products are available
(Frontline, Advantage)
rom your veterinarian

28. Spay and Neuter
•It is healthier for pets to be
spayed or neutered
•Cancer
•Behavior problems- urine
spraying
•Reproductive tract infections
•Overpopulation problem
•Do it because you care

29. Routine Screening
•Recommend annual urine evaluation, CBC,
and chemistry
•Blood pressure measurement
•Try to identify silent
disease processes
before they manifest
as problems.
•Provides a good
baseline for future

30. Common Conditions
In Senior Cats
•Kidney disease
•Hyperthyroidism
•Dental disease
•Arthritis
•Liver disease
•Cancer

31. Seniors
•As cats age, their needs change:
•Diet
•Exercise
•Proactive veterinary
care
•Pain management

32. Remember
•If your pet is an integral part of the family,
you will be more able to meet your pet’s
needs socially, emotionally and medically.
•A pet is for a life time. It is not a right, but
a privilege, and we must remember we
took responsibility for their well being
when we brought them into our home

33. How
•Proper home care
•Proper nutrition
•Behavior management
•Proactive veterinary care
•Remembering lifestyle and age related needs

34. Why?
•Talk to your veterinarian
•Talk with your family
•Teach responsible pet ownership to
children
•You will be
rewarded with
unconditional love

35. Rewarded For Years To Come
Unconditional love

36. For more information,
please contact CAIT
www.vet.utk.edu/cait
[email protected]
865-755-2276