Cat Health Problems

FLV – FeLV

This is a very serious illness. The virus is a retrovirus, the same type that causes HIV in humans. Neither dogs nor humans can catch it. It is not highly contagious but cats living together can transmit the disease.

There is a long time between infection and symptoms (years sometimes – I discuss the symptoms and here. Infection results in a range of “syndromes”. These include leukemia, which is cancerous lymphocytes in the bloodstream and lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes).

The virus also results in immune deficiency leading to an inability to protect the body and bone marrow supression (white blood cell and platelet production is compromised), which has the same effect.

As treatment is poor the best action is prevention of this cat health problem. FLV can be detected by a sensitive test. New cats shouldn’t be introduced into a new household before the other cats are tested. There is a controversial vaccine. Read more about adoptable FeLV cats here.

Two diagnostic tests are available, the ELISA and IFA tests. I discuss these in some detail and provide information about a home test kit too.

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Hyperthyroidism

This is a disorder of the endocrine system. The organ concerned is the thyroid gland. It produces too much thyroxine and tri-oidothyronine in an uregulated manner. The reason is the presence of a tumor in the gland. 98% of the tumors are benign (non-cancerous).

This cat health problem arises on average at 13 years of age. No case has been diagnosed in a cat under 6 years of age. See: Elderly cat health problems.

The cat’s meatabolism increases. The cat suffers weight loss and increased appetite. The cat grooms less and looks messy. Other symptoms could be, hyperactivity, nervousness, panting, vomiting and diarrhea. Increased thirst and urination can be present. This condition can be confused with renal disease. Another disorder of the endocrine system is Cushing’s Disease in cats.

Update 8th December 2010: A concise page on the subject of feline hyperthyroidismIodine treatment for hyperthyroidismTransdermal methimazole treatment for hyperthyroidism.

32 thoughts on “Cat Health Problems”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Alright the information was useful…he seems to like the wilderness blue not as much as his old food….I did not try weenie him off as it is a high protein and grain less food and Iwas told when switching to a grain less for it is better to give them all of the food instead of a mixture.I will just leave him on this for now I donot want to upset his stomach with too many different foods…I think I will try to implement some wet food into his diet….I talked to a few people and people seem to be against the wet cat food along with a lot of pet stores but I haven’t gotten a straight answer as to why..do you have any o ideas on why people seem so against the wet food?

    Reply
    • John, I’m very surprised to hear that some of the people that you talked to were against wet cat food. I’m not surprised that a lot of the pet stores are against it because it is easier for a pet store to store dry cat food. I honestly believe that the people who are against wet cat food are incorrect and I say that from many years of thinking and working on the subject. Here are is a post about dry cat food which may help but in any case I wish you the best of luck. A book called “Your Cat” by Elisabeth Hodgkins is interesting and is about the health affects of dry kibble.

      https://pictures-of-cats.org/cat-food-recipe.html

      This is a link to many articles.

      Reply
      • I am really leaning towards wet cat food now and becoming increasingly worried about my cat…he’s an f7 savannah and I know he needs a high protein diet..so as you know I switched him to wilderness blue and he’s has since become constipated he’s defaced once or twice since last weekend his stomach feels quite bloated and I have also learned of lots of people’s pets be comming quite sick and surpassing toxicity limits…I have thrown out the food and just about everything is closed today idk what to do I thought I was on the right path with him now I am lost on what to feed my savannah and I’m becoming scared and worried for him

        Reply
      • On another note reading about savannah is that they need a higher protein and calorie counot where as wet food has 80% water…a raw diet seems to be ideal but the risks scare me away from that…would I be better to switch him to another grain free dry food and just leave him a bowl for him to nibble at as usual and just give him a couple spoones of canned food during the day maybe a couple of crickets or something? Also Ive heard that fish foods contain IEBD or something like that from pollution in the water that is thought to be linked with hyperthyroidism In whales and vats. There is also a chemical I heard that is used to seal canned wet food thats used to seal the can that is thought to do the same (more evidence supports the fish theory) upon finding this information again I find myself very confused and in the unknown abit what is best for my cat, and at that after hearing about the blue recalls and sick pets I’m unsure which companis to turn to

        Reply
  3. Hey I’ve searched this site for everything in the last 6 hours it’s time I make a post I have a cat his name is Simba he’s a savannah…he is almost 2 years old now and acts relatively normal I mean to his standard….he’s an interesting cat to say the least. Anyways I should get to the point he seems to bleed after his poop not too much a good dab tor two though and it is quite mucusy this has been going on since I got hI’m at 3 months old *(and yes I’ve taken him to the vet for this) he does not be El top often that I’ve noticed but still he usually has to squeeze out brown mucas after his poop..I l have heard it could be his diet being friskies. as he was around other animals and refused to take his food. I have just recently switched him well as of today to wilderness blue indoor..really I’d like to know if I’m looking in the right direction I’m worried about him

    Reply
    • Hi John, please read the whole comment before clicking on links. I have a page on blood in a cat’s stools:

      https://pictures-of-cats.org/blood-in-cat-stool.html

      You say he seems to bleed after pooping. It is not clear that there is blood in the stool. I wouldn’t mind knowing what the vet said.

      I don’t think this problem is related to the Savannah cat. It could happen to any cat. You don’t say whether he was on Friskies dry cat food but I presume he was because wilderness blue indoor is dry food.

      I’d take him off dry cat food altogether and put him on top quality wet. I have a page on the best wet cat foods in the USA:

      https://pictures-of-cats.org/best-canned-cat-food.html

      I feel fairly confident this is a dietary problem but I am not a vet. I presume too that he is well in himself and shows no other signs of being unwell. Good luck and I am sorry you could not find the answer after 6 hours searching 😉 .

      Reply
      • thanks…when I took him to the vet he basically told me nothing was wrong with him and that other than the stool he was cry healthy..yes he was on the friskies hard food…I’ve heard a lot of on and off contravention about the dry/wet food battleI had him on hard because when I got him I heard a lot of negativety towards the wet food but I mean I’m hearing just the same about dry…I just just got him the wilderness blue. could that be the solution? Should I continue switching him to the wilderness or do you think I should just go for wet food right away?

        Reply
        • I would switch but use dry for night-time grazing and high quality wet for the mainstream diet. Make sure it is good quality. The general feeling these days is that dry cat food contains too much carbohydrate and too little protein. It is not natural enough and being dry there is not enough water in it and the cat does not drink enough water to compensate.cats can become dehydrated slightly and possibly hypoglycaemic sometimes. You can’t notice these things but they may be occurring.

          The general feeling today is that a high-quality wet food and even well-prepared raw cat food is the best diet for a domestic cat with perhaps a few treats and some dry cat food also perhaps when required.

          The key to what is a good diet is to ask ourselves what a mouse is made up of. The mouse is made up of about 70% water, about 25% protein and the rest is plant material in the mouse’s stomach.

          Good luck. The change in diet should be done fairly steadily and gently and you may have to try different wet foods. Your cat may take time to adjust and all cats have preferences as to what sort of wet food they prefer. This means you have to try different types to find one he likes.

          Reply
  4. I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it up!
    I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back in the future.
    Cheers

    Reply

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