® Expert information on medicine, behavior and health from a world leader in veterinary medicine INSIDE Short Takes 2 Appealing to the Heart of a Hunter Unwelcome petting can cause anxiety in cats, astudy says; recalls. Enrichment in physical and mental stimulation can When Litter Box Visits Increase 3 help avoid apathy, obesity and predatory aggression it's time to check for apossible bacterial urinary tract infection as soon as possible. -- oes your cat lie around and sleep all lege of Veterinary Medicine. Those Startling Reverse Sneezes 4 D day? It's true that cats sleep up to 18 In behaviorist terms, cats They aren't life threatening but hours a day, but it's not natural or nor­ need environmental enrich­ warrant avet visit if they persist. mal for them to be completely ment. Because many live Ask Elizabeth 8 inactive. Cats are hunters at indoors with little or no Vaccine-associated sarcoma has heart. To be at their best, they opportunity to roam out­ become amajor concern for owners. need opportunities to stalk, spy, side, it's up to us to fulfill chase, climb and pounce. their needs. In one way or IN THE NEWS '" "Lack of sUmulation another, enrichment feeds Vaccination Guidelines can lead to apathy, all of a cat's senses: sight, Stress Individual Risks obesity and, in the sound, touch, smell and Updated gui del ines from the worse-case scenario, taste. Here are some Am erican Association of Felin e predatory aggression Chase and retrieval ways to excite his curios­ Practitioners recommend a vacci na­ aimed at the owner," mimiC predation, ity and bring zest to his life. tion sch ed ule based on individua l says animal behaviorist cats' needs,Th ey say assess ments Katherine A. Houpt, VMD, Ph.D., profes­ PlayTime should include discussions of risks sor emeritus at the Cornell University Col- "I tell cat owners to set aside a little time and benefits, health, lifestyle and the (continued on page 5) likelihood of exposure to disease, It's important to real ize that vaccination is a medica l procedu re and not a cookie-cutter every-cat­ Outwitting Animal-to-Owner Diseases is-the-same protocol, says Margie A, Scherk,DVM, of Vancouver, cha ir Many don't show symptoms, but they can be prevented with of the panel that developed the good hygiene, routine worming and prompt treatment ofillness guideli nes,"Vaccination is an impor­ tant part of preventive healthcare. ats can harbor a variety of zoonotic "When an animal has an active staph in­ However, just as with any other C diseases - those that can be trans­ fection. the organism can get on the hands of medical procedu re, vaccination is mitted to people. Some of the diseases people who touch the infected area," says der­ not an innocuous procedure and are rare, while others are quite common. matologist William H. Miller, VMD, Medical unfortunately can infrequently have Although we are aware of many of these Director of the Companion Animal Hospital unpleasa nt or even devastating diseases, more continue to be discovered, at the Cornell University College ofVeteri­ life-threatening resu lt s," thanks to improvements in technology nary Medicine. "The organism can be trans­ The 2013 guide li nes, at http/ljfm, and to the dedicated work of researchers ferred to a human if the person doesn't wash sagepub,com/conte ntllS/9!78S.fu ll , in both the human medical and his or her hands. If there is an immunocom­ pdf+htm, include a client brochure veterinary fields. promised individual or child in the house, and options for reduci ng the Only recently, for example, has the we recommend that they stay away from the risk of injection-site sarco ma, For veterinary community recognized that animal while the infection is active." more information, plea se see Ask Staphylococcus (staph) bacteria can be Antibiotics are typically used to treat Elizabeth on Page 8, .:. transferred from animals to their owners. staph infections, but some strains are resistant (co ntinued on page 6) CatWatch SHORT TAKES Unwelcome Petting (an EDITOR IN CHIEF Bruce G. Kornreich, DVM, Ph.D., Cause Stress, aStudy Says Dipl ACVIM This w ill come as a shock to EDITOR Betty Liddick owners w ho enjoy petting their cats, Some cats like being petted and ART DIRECTOR Mary Francis McGavic purr in delight; others only tolerate it. In fact, according to a study by ADVISORY BOARD James A. Flanders, DV ,Dipl an international team of animal ACIf), Associate Professor, behaviorist s, when owners impose Clinical Seienc s themselves on cats to pet them, the When owners impose petting, resealcher<. say that som Marc S. Kraus, DVM, Dipl ACVIM, cats experience stress and release Senior Lee urer, Chnlcal SCiences (a s may lelease hormones related to anxiety. hormones lin ked to anxiety. Margaret C. McEntee, DVM, Dipl ACVIM, DACVR, The researchers set out to study Professor of Oncology how ca ts cope w hen li ving w ith humans Scientists from the University of Sao Paulo William H. Miller, Jr.,VMO, ACVO, and other cats in sing le households, They and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Professor, Clinical Science said that despite cats' history as living alone Vienna also participated in the study, published Ilona Rodan, DVM, Dipl ABVP in the Wild, the study found they can live in the journal PhySiology and Behavior. Wisconsin Cat Care Clinic. Madison, WI happily together in groups. Th e sc ientists measured stress hormones of cats living The Cost of Accidents alone, in pairs and in groups of three or four in what they described as stable homes. In analyzing the 1.1 million claims it Cornell University recei ved in 2012, Veterinary Pet In surance _ _ College of They found to their surp ri se: Veterinary Medicine identified allerg ie s, ear infections, vomiting Th e number of cats in a household and bladder infections as among the most For information on you r eat 's health, • was not necessarily a problem. visi t the Cornell University College of common ailments. Veterinary Medicine, Cornell Feline • Cats younger than 2 years old who When it determined the top 10 cat Health Center website at were the so le feline in the home and dog medical conditions related to www.vet.comell,edu/fhc/ were more stressed than younger accidents, soft tissue injuries topped the list. ones living in larger groups, Bruising usually resulted from falling, running • Cats who avoided being petted and jumping, w ith the typica l office visit were less stressed than those who costing $169. The other common conditions reluctantly all owed themselves to associated with acc idents by ranking be handled, CmWorch' (ISSN 1095-9092) 2. Cruciate (knee) ligament injuries _ is published mon hl y "It seems that those cats on whom without surgery for $39 per year by Selvoir Me d i~ Grm,p, the owner imposes him or herself are 3. Cuts or bite wounds -=1 Ue. 800 Con nect leu the ones we need to be most concerned 4. Scratch or wound on the eye BeIYOir Ave" Norwalk, CT 06854­ 1631 Robert englander, about," says researcher Daniel Mills, BVSc, 5. CruciJte ligament injury with surgery Chairman and CEO; TImothy H, Co le, PhD., at the University of Lincoln in 6. Mouth trauma or fra ctured tooth Executive Vice President, Edi torial Director: Phi lip L Penny, Chief Lincoln shire, Eng land, 7. Sprain or joint injury Operating Omce!; Greg King, Execu ive "Many people keep groups of cats in 8. Abrasions or superficial injury Vice Pres,dem, Markeling Director; Ron Goldberg, Chief Flnandal Officer; Tom their home, and although they might seem 9. Foreign object ingestion Canfield, Vice President, Grculallon. happy together, some people have argued 10. Torn or injured nail <0201 2 Belvoir Media Group, LL that, because this is an unnatural set-up, it Postmaster: Send address correct ions is not good for their welfare, Our research Accidents accounted for 10 percent of 10 Ca tWatch, P.O. Box 8535, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8535 . shows this is not necess arily the case, It all claims in 2012 and totaled $37 million seems even if they are not best friends, For Customer Service paid to policyholders. Although many or Subscription information, visit cats may be able to organize themselves to pet accidents can't be prevented, owners www ca twatch newsletter.com/cs avoid each other without getting stressed," or call to ll free 800-829-8893. can take steps to decrease the risk, VPI The results underscore the importance Ex press written permission is says. Among them: being aware of your required to re produce, in any of owners giving individual cats control over manner, the contents of this issue, their environment, Dr. Mills says, suggesting pet's surroundings to avoid environmental either in full or in part. For more dangers, such as poisonous plants, and information, write to PermisSions, that they give the cats the choice of sharing CatWatch, 800 Conne tiCU t Ave " or having their own areas to eat, drink supervisin g your pet's physical activity and Norwalk, Connecticut 06854-1 631. and eliminate. in teraction with other anima ls. •:. 1 CatWatch JA NUARY 2014 HEALTH When Visits to the Litter Box Increase It's time to check for a possible bacterial urinary tract infection, with the need for diagnosis and treatment especially urgent ats and people suffer many of the malodorous urine and inappropriate Csame illnesses, a common one be­ urination. One way to determine if your An increased incidence of bacterial urinary ing urinary tract infections (UTIs).