Cat Health Problems

Note: the article is huge and has been split into many sections for technical reasons with links at the base of each section to the next.

Cat health problems is a very large subject. Use Use Ctrl+F to search for text on this page. It saves time searching. Depress the keys together. A search box appears bottom left or top right of screen. Type in the word and it will be highlighted.

cat health
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Above: This photo (montage) has been used with permission for teaching/educational purposes at PoC and the pictures were provided by Cuyahoga Falls Veterinary Clinic (new window).

See a vet to check. How do I know if my cat has a respiratory infection? Click here. How do I know if my cat has FeLV? Click here. How do I know if my cat has a urinary tract infection? Click here

Contents – Cat Health Problems

The Most Common Illnesses or pet insurance company sets out their list of the most common cat illnesses.

Feline Viruses — An overview page setting them out with links to more.
URI — Upper Respiratory Infection – colds, flu etc. including Feline Herpes Virus
FLUTD — Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease – wide spectrum of lower urinary tract diseases.
Feline IBD — Probably caused more often than not by unnatural commercial cat food – raw diet cures it, perhaps.
Diabetes — Feline diabetes is on the rise and could be due to the increase in dry cat food.
Distemper — This is a very serious disease that makes your cat very ill and can be fatal. If the cat is pregnant, it can be transmitted to the fetus. It can cause damage to the cerebellum of the brain resulting in Feline Cerebellar Hypoplasia (uncoordinated cat).
FIP — Feline Infectious Peritonitis – Another serious illness with high fatality rate.
FIV — Feline Immunodeficiency Virus – causes immune deficiency and kills like HIV. How do cats get it?
FLV — Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) – A devastating feline infectious disease. See also on a separate page: Adoptable FeLV Cats. Please spread the word.
Hyperthyroidism — In older cats, average age of 13 years, causes increased metabolism.
Hypothyroidism — The under production of thyroid hormone
Miscellaneous — A short discussion on a range of health issues with links.
Newborn Kitten Care – written by an experienced cat rescuer, cat caretaker of long standing and author.
Cancer
Things we are involved in doing
Skin – Hair – Parasites – Allergies
Head – Brain – Upper Respiratory – Heart
Body Fluids etc.
Pancreas – Kidney – Liver
Other potential/actual problems
Injury
Miscellaneous
Reference material

 Cancer

People believe that cat health is an important factor in choosing a cat breed. Some breeds are inherently more healthy than others.

cat health poll results
Cat health poll results

Things we do or are involved In

Skin – Hair – Parasites – Allergies – more cat health problems

Head – Brain – Upper Respiratory – Heart – more cat health problems

Body Fluids etc. – more cat health problems

  • Hypercalcaemia in cats – treatment of a Ragdoll
  • Blood In Cat Stool – five reasons listed.
  • Cat Anemia – a visitor askes about their cat and I answer by researching the causes.
  • Cat Constipation – Here is a comprehensive look at a quite commonly encountered problem. It covers home treatments. We all need to know the consistency of our cat’s feces….!
  • Cat Vomiting Blood (opens a new window)
  • Cat Vomiting – A discussion on the various causes of cat vomiting and what we might do. This is pretty comprehensive I think.
  • Feline Chronic Dehydration – This condition can be due to prolonged vomiting and/or prolonged diarrhea.
  • Feline IBD – caused by horrible modern cat food?
  • Feline Mastitis – inflammation of the cat’s breasts
  • Treating Cat Diarrhea – We can treat to a certain degree. The limits are spelled out here plus more.

Pancreas – Kidney – Liver – more cat health problems

Other Potential/Actual Cat Health Problems – more cat health problems

Injury – more cat health problems

Miscellaneous Cat Health Problems

Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.

32 thoughts on “Cat Health Problems”

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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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