Health & Care

Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia duodenalis, and Toxocara cati in cats: life cycles, diagnosis, treatment, and what is actually true about Toxoplasma and human pregnancy. Most maternal infections trace to undercooked meat and unwashed produce, not the household cat.

The dominant white gene (W) is linked to congenital hearing loss. White cats with blue eyes have a 60 to 80 percent chance of unilateral or bilateral deafness. BAER testing is the only objective diagnosis, and a deaf cat lives a near-normal life with a few home adjustments.

Feline infectious peritonitis was considered universally fatal from 1963 until the antiviral GS-441524 changed everything in 2019. The 84-day protocol now cures 80 to 95 percent of cats. Here is how diagnosis works, what the treatment phases look like, and where US legal access stands after the FDA opened the door to compounded GS-441524.

Necropsy series find chronic pancreatic inflammation in roughly two thirds of cats over five, yet pancreatitis is one of the least diagnosed conditions in the exam room. Acute versus chronic, the fPL test, triaditis, and why a cat with pancreatitis must keep eating.

Lymphoma accounts for roughly 30 percent of feline cancers. Gastrointestinal, mediastinal, renal, and nasal forms; oral squamous cell carcinoma; mammary tumors; and feline injection-site sarcoma. Prognosis, diagnostic workup, and why early detection changes the outcome.

HCM is the leading cause of sudden death in adult cats. The left ventricle wall thickens and the chamber it pumps from shrinks. Predisposed breeds, the warning signs that are easy to miss, how echocardiography confirms it, and what management actually changes.

Feline fatty liver disease: the only domestic species that slides into liver failure after 48 to 72 hours of anorexia. How it is diagnosed, why a feeding tube is the treatment, and what the prognosis depends on.

Cysts grow in both kidneys over years until they crowd out healthy tissue and trigger chronic kidney failure. The PKD1 mutation runs in Persians and the breeds derived from them. A genetic test available since 2004 has cut prevalence in responsible breeding lines from roughly 40 percent to under 5 percent.

An inherited disease that degenerates the retina until it causes blindness, typically between 1.5 and 4 years of age. Common in Abyssinian, Somali, Siamese, and Bengal cats. A genetic test available since 2007 makes the disease completely preventable in responsible breeding.

How to recognize feline heatstroke during a heat wave: open-mouth breathing in a cat is already an emergency, first aid with lukewarm water (never ice-cold), and why the vet visit is non-negotiable even when the cat looks recovered.

FIC explained in depth: how it differs from bacterial cystitis, MEMO multimodal management, Feliway, wet diet, and refractory cases.

Cats with seasonal allergies scratch their heads and necks raw, grow miliary crusts along the back, or develop eosinophilic plaques. US pollen seasons drive many flares. The diagnostic sequence matters: skip flea control and food trial and you risk years of mismanaged treatment.

Roughly 1 to 5 percent of US cats have asthma, often misdiagnosed as hairball issues or transient coughing. Diagnosis requires imaging and bronchoscopy; treatment with inhaled steroids has transformed outcomes.

Diabetes affects roughly 1 in 200 cats in the United States, with rates climbing alongside obesity. Modern treatment with insulin and proper diet now produces remission in 30 to 50 percent of newly diagnosed cats if caught early.

The most common endocrine disease in cats over 10 years old. The classic owner observation is 'eating more, losing weight, more vocal.' Diagnosis is a $40 blood test. Treatment ranges from a daily pill to a one-time radioiodine cure.

Affects one in three cats over ten years old and more than half of those over fifteen. Early symptoms, IRIS staging, treatment by stage, and real prognosis with data from major European and American studies.