parasites

Tick on cat

Time to check our cats’ skin as climate change is blamed for growth in tick diseases

Leave a Comment / Cat Health, cat parasites, indoor outdoor cats, parasites, Zoonotic Diseases / By

This is an underreported but a serious matter which I think should concern cat owners. The problem is that the ectoparasite, the tick, carries zoonotic diseases which they transfer to cats and dogs when they feed on the host animal. And these are serious diseases. The best known is Lyme disease. About a dozen different …

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Ear mite

Home treatment for cat ear mites

Leave a Comment / Cat Anatomy, Cat Health, cat parasites, drugs, ear mites, ears, home treatment, home treatment, Human to cat relationship, parasites / By

Treating your cat’s ear mites is possible at home provided (a) you do it in conjunction with veterinary advice to first positively identify ear mites as the cause of the health problem and (b) your vet has examined the cat and determined that the ear drums are intact and (c) you clean your cat’s ears …

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Parasitic worm

Can an indoor cat get worms?

Leave a Comment / Cat Health, cat parasites, full-time indoor cats, Human to cat relationship, indoor cats, indoor outdoor cats, parasites, parasitic worms / By

Yes, is the answer to the question. Please read on. This is a complete page. The question asks whether a full-time indoor cat can become infested with parasitic worms which are called endoparasites. And the answer must be that they can but the chances of them becoming infested must be significantly lower than if they …

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Woman licks her cat as she wants to behavior like a true cat mom

Is it okay to lick my cat?

Leave a Comment / caregiver's wellbeing, Cat Anatomy, Cat Behavior, dander, Fel d1, Human to cat relationship, licking, mothering, saliva, skin / By

Is the question relevant to our lives? People ask it nonetheless. But frankly it is almost irrelevant. However, exceedingly rarely some cat owners do lick their cat and an avowed and self-declared crazy cat lady does it all the time because she wants to behave like a true mother cat caring for her newborn kittens. …

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Bengal cat smelly poo due to a sensitive stomach

Do Bengal cats have sensitive stomachs?

Leave a Comment / Bengal cat, Cat Anatomy, Cat Breeds, Cat Food, cat food ingredients, Cat Health, cat parasites, health issues, parasites, parasitic worms, raw cat food, raw cat food and premix, stomach / By

The answer has to be an unequivocal YES judging by the information on the Internet and you can extend the sensitivity to include the gastrointestinal tract. Sadly, there is a lot on the Internet about Bengal cat diarrhoea and smelly poo. A lot of ‘experts’ have thrown their hat into the ring in providing their …

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Flushing cat litter down the loo can spread Toxocara eggs to others and block sewers.

Flushing cat litter down the loo can transmit Toxocara eggs to others and block sewers

2 Comments / cat litter, cat litter box, cat parasites, parasites, parasitic worms, poop, Training / By

Water company comment on this In the UK, Collette Parker, Anglian Water customer engagement manager, said: This kind of animal waste should never be flushed down the loo. Although rare, dog and cat poo can carry Toxocara, which is one of the very few bacteria [they mean parasite] that we are unable to eliminate in …

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Babesiosis on the rise in the United States

Experts sound alarm over babesiosis a tick-borne disease that kills people and infects cats

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The tick, an unpleasant ectoparasite, is back in the news. We all know about Lyme disease carried by ticks but this is different. It’s a disease called babesiosis and it can be fatal to people in 20% of sufferers. And it’s on the increase in America where the incidence of the disease has more than …

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Roundworm the most common in domestic cats

Infographic on roundworm transmission, cure and prevention

parasitic worms / By

“Roundworms (Toxascaris leonina and Toxocara cati) are the most common intestinal parasite of cats, with an estimated prevalence of 25% to 75%, and often higher in kittens” – Cornell. That says it all. Very common disease in young cats particularly on my understanding and endoparasites can be fatal in young, vulnerable kittens. Indoor/outdoor cats, particularly …

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Toxoplasma parasite engages in 'identity theft' of immune cell to travel around the host's body

Wily toxoplasma parasite hijacks immune cells to travel around the host

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I have had to interpret a very complicated study on the Toxoplasma gondii protozoan parasite published on the Cell Host & Microbe website. But it is an interesting study if you take the time to try and interpreted as a lay person i.e., non-scientific person because this parasitic disease is very important in the world …

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Cat ear mites

Picture of cat ear mites (and details of ear mite anatomy and life cycle)

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This is a really excellent photograph, taken by a camera attached to a microscope, of a group of ear mites and some earwax. You can see their spider-like bodies. They look disgusting. In terms of the discomfort that they cause to cats they are disgusting. The photograph, in my view, is in the public domain …

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Toxoplasma gondii

Domestic cats overly criticised for their role as hosts of Toxoplasma gondii

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The life-cycle of Toxoplasma gondii is complicated. People tend to oversimplify it. They see the domestic cat infecting humans with this protozoan parasite which is about the extent of general knowledge. It isn’t that simple; far from it. This article sets out to redress the balance and to mention an interesting study on a very …

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Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.
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