Expert Infannat/on on medidne, behavior andhealth from a world leader in veterinary medldne Your Cat's SOO·lb. Ancestor 2 When Acrobatic Prowess Fails Them Scifntists excavatf bone fragments of a sabel-toothed tigeI nom 3OO,1lOO yea" ago. Your cat's death-defying leaps and landings may result in a Cats Score High on Sociability 2 NfW reSfarch shows that they prefer sprain orfracture, so it's important to know the symptoms us over food, toY' and fYen (atnip. High Cholesterol in Cats 3 hen it comes to leaping. "Any cat or kitten will injure a /I won't (duse heart disease but (an W Janding and twisting in bone if the trau rna is severe enough," reft"t aserious underlying <ondition. mjd·air, cats earn accolades for says Rory Todhunter, BVSc, Ph.D., AskElizabeth 8 agility, flexibility and ac­ ACVS, professor ofsurgery at The potfntial (auses of bad breath robatic prowess. It's not Cornell University Col­ (dn extfnd beyond inflamed gums. unusual to witness your ......... lege of Veterinary cat leap effortlessly to the Medicine. "Kittens IN THE NEWS ... top of the refrigerator 1 tend to break bones at Long-Term Use of and, when ready, to land !, growth plales. while adult cats Antacids Research softly and easily on • tend to sprain the ligaments The Winn Feline Founda­ the kitchen floor. But around joints or fracture their tion awarded researchers at despite their grace forelimbs (radius and Rowdy play. pur>ued with ,""'" the be,t of and flexible physique, ulna) or hind limbs the University of Tennessee Int('fltlOns,. con mk hard falls 30d brolo.en bones. Coll ege of Ve terinary Medicine cats do not always (femur or tibia)." land safely on their $19,668 to study co ntinued feet and can be at risk for painful sprains, Intense Pain. Your cat could be in intense use of famotidine in cats . broken legs, and other fractured bones. pain due to breaking a leg andlor other Althoug h famot idine (colltiNlled 01/ PDiC6) (brand·nam e Pepcid) is not FDA-approved for veteri nary medicine, it's commonly pre­ scribed to prevent ulcers and The Odds of Deafness in White Cats treat.j)aslfit/£. esophagiti5-.l nd The chances ofa white cat being born deafis 22 percent, gastric or esophageal reflux. It's also used to hel p prevent but add blue eyes and it rises to 85percent stomach and duodenal ulcers in anima ls with kidney failure. f yo u own a white cat, you most likely Service at Cornell University College of Stud ies in other species I love his striking snowy coat and bright Veterinary Medicine. have shown that the antacid eyes. But you might also know that these may becom e ineffective if brilliant features have implications that go limited Awareness. Researchers have deeper than appearance. Congenital deaf­ found that 17 to 22 percent of white cats given daily Over time. ness ­ present from birth - is seen almost without blue eyes are born deaf. The per· So this University of exclUSively in white-coated cats. The deaf­ centage rises to 40 percent if the cat has Tenne ssee stud y, led by M. ness might affect one ear or both and will one blue eye, while 65 to 85 percent of all­ Katherine Tolbert, DVM, and almost always be evident within several white cats with both blue eyes are deaf. Adesola Odu nayo, DVM, will weeks of birth. About half of the owners of white try to determine if changing "I n particular, there is a very strong re­ cats Dr. Collins meets are aware of the the dosage can extend the lationship between deafness and white cats strong link between deafness and coat effectiveness of long-term with blue eyes," says Brian Coliins, DVM, and eye color. Awareness tends to be lower famotidine use in cats. * section chief of the Community Practice among those adopting pets from shelters (continued on page 4) CatWatch SHORT TAKES An Excavation Reveals EDITOR IN CHIEF Bruce G. Kornreich. DVM, Ph.D., Cats' SOO-Ib. Ancestor Dipl AC VIM A full-time 10-member team working at EDITOR an archaeological dig in Northwest Germany Betty Liddick has found a nearly co mplete skull of a saber­ More is known about the saber·toothed tiger ~ml1odon rn..1o hIS poSSible COUSin ~ I omother,um, ART DIRECTOR toothed cat that suggests that the animal pefha~ due W rnl){e drcheolog1cat ell>ploratlOr" Mary Fra.ncls McGavic existed 300,000 years ago. Sc ientists had Including Thp dj~over~ of thousands }( ""fllloooo bones.<I l the I tI Bred Td' Pits In LD'5 Ant.]' le\ ADVISORY BOARD believed the big cats - es timated to reach James A. Flanders, DVM, Dipl 500 pound s or more ­ were extinct about N:.VS. Associate Professor. ClInica l SCiences 500,000 yea rs ago. abilities and feeding habits, an inva luable The discovery shows the cats were not asset for understanding the European saber­ Margaret C. McEntee, DVM. Dipl ACVlM. DACVR. as rare as previously thought. says Jordi toothed cat, the university says. Professor of Oncology Serangeli, a scientist at the University of Some 50 sc ientists from 30 institutions William H. Miller, Jr., VM D, Dl pl TUbingen and exca vatio n leader at the ap­ around the world are researching the dis­ ACVD, Professor, Clinical SCi ences proximately 300,000 -year-old site. coveries from Schbningen. During the busy Pamela J. Perry, DVM. Ph D. An examination of the skull fragments at season, as many as 10 students join the Lecture r, Clinical Sciences, ACVB BehaVior ReSfdent the University of Leiden in the Netherlands re­ full -time team to co ntinue to wo rk toward vealed the animal to be representative of the improving our understanding of the li fe of Com ellUniversity European saber-toothed cat, Homotherium. prehis toric Homotherium. College of I) Veterinary Medicine "In total, there are three individuals of Ho­ motherium pre sent in these relatively young No News to Us For Information on your ca t's health, VIS it the Cornell UniverSi ty C~ l e g e of sediment layers: the University says about Cats are "m ore soc ial than typically given Vet ellnary Medicine, Corm:·;1 F ine the site near the small town of Sch bningen. credit: say researchers at Oregon State Uni­ Health Center website ill wwwver comeJr edu/fJ1 I Homothetl um differs from the more versity. They studied 50 cats from shelters widely known saber-toothed tiger, Smilodon, and home environments, recording interest which despite its name, was not closely levels in food, toys, scents, and people. related to tigers. More is known about the The preferred chOice for 50 percent of the smaller Smilodon, perhaps because of exten­ cats tested' Interaction with people. Only 37 sive digs in the Western Hemisphere. They percent chose food. "Increasingly, cat cogni­ CmwarcH GSSN 1095 C)(J 92) _ I ~ pubF"St1ed mopthly include "hundreds of thousands of Smilodon tion research is providing eVi dence of their fOJ ~3 L) per )'edf by bones" found at La 8rea Tar PitS in Los Ange ­ complex socio-cognitive and problem-solv­ ~ Bel VOi r r-/, C! dm GtO.lp, =l l lC 535 Con nertlcu{ leI, according to the University of Cali forn ia Ing abilities," the scientists say in their report Hc\voir Av~. N OIW2l1~ , CT 06854­ 1713, Robert £r.gldJider, Museum of Pa leontology. The Smilodon had published in the journal BehaviouraJ Processes. ct"Jalfmarl and CW, f!mothy H. CDle-, Executive Vice President, Ed l{or ~1 a bobtail, suggesting that it didn't chase "Nonetheless, it is still common belief that Oi!l! uOI. Philip L Pe-n ny. Chief prey but instea d ambushed them. cats are not especially sociable or trainable." Operating Omcer, Greq Kin g, [ xe cutlve Vic e Pr E'~ i dent, Marketing OlreCl()r, Ron Homotherium was a formidable fellow No difference was seen in the choices baldbetg, Ch•.pt FI . nClal Officer, Tom Canfield. vice Pr E'~ldt m, Clrculatlan - as large as an adult lion, with long claw s of owned or shelter cats, who were 1 to 20 102017 BelVOir Media Group, lLC and razor-sharp seven-inch curved canine years of age. (The scent was catnip; the toy, f'.:.l stm ast~r . Send addre~ s corrections to 0JtWatch, PO Box 8535, Big Sano), teeth, says the University of Tubingen, ex­ a mouse design with a shaker inside.) The TX 75755·8535 plaining that, "The saber-toothed ca t was a researchers conclude that additional studies For Customer Service dangerous predator that eve n posed a risk to could help determine whether using a "cat­ or Subs<rlptlon information, Visit www ca tw3!chnewslet fl.! tcom/cs the humans of its time." preferre d stimulus" would help motivate cats or call tol! free SOO·829·8B!)3. The scientists so far have restored 11 Ho­ to perform requested tasks. Express wm ten ptolmls",on IS requll ed to reproduce Ir any motherium bone fragments to recrea te an To underscore the point about feline mMw~ r, Ihe contents of {his Issue, €" .tMr In full or In pa rr f or mole almost complete neurocranium. This recre­ socia bility, the study found that in the final in(;xmcti on, write to Permls5loM,. ation offers the potential to improve our un­ sess ion of the tests, ca ts spent 65 percent of ( atWatch, 5)5 Connecticut Ave" Norwalk, Co"nenlcut 06854 -171 3. derstand ing of the ea t's visual and auditory their time with people.