Cats are notoriously stubborn when it comes to taking medication. Trying to get a feisty feline to swallow a pill is no easy task, but with a little bit of practice and patience, you can get the job done without traumatizing your cat or risking injury to you or your cat. As veterinarians, we've seen the look of concern that often crosses cat owners' faces at the mention of administering medication. We understand your concerns and are here to make things a bit easier. In this blog post, we're sharing tips on how to pill a cat using the table method or the floor method.

Cats are glorious creatures—motion optimized, aesthetically pleasing, low maintenance, warm, fuzzy, furry, cute, and they purr. Could you ask for a more perfect pet? As feline-favoring veterinarians, cats have only one major design flaw—they were designed with a poorly functioning elimination system. Specifically, their kidneys are weak, they don't drink enough water, and the cat's urinary tract frequently suffers from disease. The kidney issue is a discussion for another day.

It’s not always easy to tell when a cat is ill or injured. You might think that you’d be able to tell right away if your feline friend were in pain. Unfortunately, even the most attentive and loving pet parents often don’t know there is a problem until it becomes quite severe.

When we think of quiet and graceful house cats, it’s easy to forget that they were once fierce predators in the wild. Since cats rank among the smallest compared to their fellow feline species such as the cheetah, leopard, lion, and tiger, larger predators often targeted them, especially if they showed signs of age or weakness. Over time, this led to cats evolving to hide signs of illness or injury that might make them an even easier target. Today, domesticated cats continue to be stoic animals that rarely show symptoms of medical issues.

Part of being a responsible cat owner is knowing how to recognize when something isn’t right. While the thought of your beloved companion getting sick is a frightening one, no cat is immune to illness. Even if you are a perfect pet parent and do everything right when caring for your cat, they could suffer from a wide range of health problems.

While November is known by many as American Diabetes Month®, bringing awareness to the risk factors and management of diabetes in humans, it’s also Pet Diabetes Month. One in every 230 cats and one in every 300 dogs are affected by diabetes, making awareness of the signs and symptoms of this illness in dogs and cats critical for every pet owner to know.

Though they are more common in dogs, ear infections can plague cats, too. And when they do, they are used caused by an underlying issue that needs to be addressed by a veterinarian.

This article was written in response to the June 10th, 2021 report of the 34 pets (33 dogs and one cat) entering the United States through O’Hare Airport from Azerbaijan, as one of the dogs in the group tested positive for rabies in Pennsylvania. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a multi-state public health investigation after at least 12 people were exposed to the rabid dog imported from overseas. The location of the other imported pets has not been released.