It bears repeating that when you obtain a new pet it needs to be kept separate from your other pets for a three week time period. I saw dogs from two homes this morning in which that warning had not been heeded. Both families had new pups from the Humane Society Of South Mississippi. In [...]
Do you have an outdoor cat who keeps getting into fights with other cats? Has he been hit by a car? If he’s an unneutered male, is he a wandering tomcat? If female, is she having litter after litter? There is a way to fix all of these problems. It’s not always easy, but it’s [...]
Cathy Freeman of Biloxi writes about her cat, Clarrie, with a burning question close to my heart. “I have a cat who is very dear to me. She has never been outside of our home. In three weeks we will be moving to a house on a quiet street. How should I go about introducing [...]
Virologists, experts in the study of viruses, recommend that cats who are tested for Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) have two consecutive tests that agree with each other. Furthermore, those two tests should be approximately two months apart. Please heed your pet’s doctor’s advice when he recommends repeat testing for FeLV [...]
Little Bit is such a cute little stray dog. Little Bit gives us the opportunity to explain some special considerations about taking in strays. First, your mother is not going to believe you if you tell her she followed you home, so just stick to the truth…you couldn’t resist her. Second, if you have other [...]
I ran into Tracie at the Subway. Upon recognizing me she said, “Oh! Dr. Randolph! I’m glad I ran into you. I took in a new stray recently and I did the stupidest thing…I put him in with my other cats before I had him Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus tested. “I knew [...]
Smokey came from a humane shelter a little over a year ago and never got the medical care he needed. His family was under the mistaken impression that he was “finished.” As a participant in a humane society program, he could have come to us to find out exactly what he needed. For free. We [...]
The story of little Susie is one repeated altogether too often in the United States. It is a sad tale of a puppy who got excellent care as a new baby, finished the puppy series of vaccinations, had her spay surgery, and never saw a doctor again. You can substitute kitten for puppy and neuter [...]
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question for today. More and more cat owners elect to keep their cats indoors, which MyPetsDoctor.com heartily advocates. In fact, we practice what we preach, and our Martha is never allowed to be outdoors. The key word here is “allowed.” Which doesn’t mean that she won’t [...]
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is in the same family, Retroviridae, as Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). Therefore, they share certain characteristics, such as the ability to suppress a cat’s immune system and to initiate and allow the growth and spread of cancer. The virus was discovered in 1986. FIV is known as the virus of unfriendly [...]
Feline Leukemia Virus. Few words are scarier to a cat lover than those. And, with good reason, even though a positive Feline Leukemia Virus test is not always a death sentence. Let’s look at both the disease and testing in detail. Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus, meaning that it uses an enzyme called [...]
I never get tired of standing on this particular soapbox. Cats need to be indoors. Even thirty years ago, when there really was what we used to call “country” and the nearest paved road was twenty miles away, male cats roamed ten or more miles to impregnate female cats and to fight with other males, [...]
Today’s post is a cautionary tale of two cat diseases. Feline Leukemia Virus is known as “the disease of friendly cats” because it is transmitted from one cat to another through licking each other, sharing food and water bowls and litterboxes. Saliva, urine and stool all carry large amounts of virus and it easily passes from [...]
Demodex cati is the mite responsible for Demodicosis in cats, and is a “cousin” mite to Demodex canis, the causative agent of Demodicosis (red mange) in dogs. Demodicosis is an uncommon condition of cats and is more likely to occur in patients with other disease processes such as immunosuppression from Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline Leukemia [...]
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