Last updated January 19, 2018
Chronic Kidney Disease, also known as Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) is a common condition in aging cats. It is the result of a gradual decrease in kidney function.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
With each new installment of Lorna Barrett’s Booktown mystery series featuring mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles and her cat Miss Marple, I look forward to visiting Stoneham, the small town in New Hampshire where the series is set. What’s not to love about a series set in a town filled with bookstores, and an adorable bookstore cat?
In Book Clubbed, Tricia and he sister Angelica are trying to find a killer who used a bookshelf as the murder weapon. While Tricia is trying to solve the murder, she not only discovers a disturbing secret from her own family history, but she must also deal with both her former husband and former boyfriend vying for her affections.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
I love walking. It’s the only form of exercise I’ve consistently stayed with for my whole life, and I walk a minimum of 3 miles a day. Walking is my time to be out in nature, get exercise, let my mind flow where it wants to go, and recharge my batteries. Because of this, I was super-excited when I first heard about ResQWalk, a new iOS app that enables animal lovers to raise money for rescues and shelters just by going for a walk. The app is now available for download in the Apple App Store.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Guest post by Elizabeth Colleran, DVM
The software we use in my practices will color code appointments by “reason for visit.” The one for euthanasia is, as one would expect, a very dark color. A few weeks ago, I came to work. As usual, I looked at the schedule before rounds to see any issues that needed to be covered before we convened. My heart sank. The first two appointments of the day were euthanasias.
While in many respects, I think of euthanasia as a privilege to perform when suffering is the alternative, nevertheless, Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
One of my favorite summer pleasures is spending time outside with a good book. Even though a beach vacation is not in the cards this year, I spend as much time as I can on my deck each summer, and I make sure I always have a good supply of summer reading on hand. And of course, much of my summer reading is made up of cat books. The following books are just a few selections that I highly recommend for your summer reading list.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Water is critical to keeping your cat healthy. Cats as a species don’t have a high thirst drive. While cats who eat only dry food will generally drink more water than cats who are fed a grain-free canned or raw diet, they still don’t get enough moisture to support all their bodily functions and essentially live in a constant state of low level dehydration, which can lead to bladder and kidney problems. ( For more on why dry food is not a good choice for cats, please read The Truth About Dry Cat Food.)
The easiest way to ensure that your cats get enough water is to feed a diet that’s high in moistureContinue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
It’s one of the sweetest behaviors guardians of multiple cats can witness: two adult cats grooming each other. Have you ever wondered why some cats do that, and others don’t?
The scientific term for this behavior is allogrooming or social grooming. A 1998 study conducted by researchers at the University of Southampton, UK, and the University of Leiden, Netherlands, analyzed grooming interactions among a group of 83 domestic cats. The study shed some interesting light on this behavior.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
FIV is is an often misunderstood condition. According to the Feline Health Center at Cornell University, the virus affects approximately 1.5 to 3 percent of healthy cats in the United States, with slightly higher rates in cats that are sick or at high risk for infection. FIV is a lentivirus, which means it moves very slowly, and it gradually affects a cat’s immune system. It is passed from cat to cat through blood transfusions and serious, penetrating bite wounds. FIV cannot be transmitted to humans.
One of the longstanding myths about FIV is that cats who are FIV positive can’t live long, healthy lives. Nothing could be more wrong. Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Each spring during kitten season, thousands of newborn kittens join the millions of cats already in shelters and foster homes across the country. The American Humane Association has designated June as Adopt-a-Cat Month® to help find more cats forever homes.
Even if you can’t adopt a cat, there are other ways you can help find homes for cats during Adopt-a-Cat month, and every month:Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Guest post by Elizabeth Colleran, DVM
Six weeks ago, a young female cat was dropped at the backdoor of our veterinary clinic. It happens, though not often. One of the assistants picked up the box she came in and put her in our isolation ward. We are always cautious about strays; two people are always required to be present if we are going to handle them.
She was alone for a bit while the assistant awaited the arrival of another staff member. When she arrived, they opened the box containing the stranger, who was in the process of delivering kittens. In time, six of them.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
