The Cat Clinic

Full service feline only veterinary hospital

Cat Care

Planes, Trains and Pet Sitter

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Planes, Trains and a Pet Sitter

Pet Sitter for our Beach Vacation
Beach Vacation

 

Finding a Pet Sitter

My husband and I love to travel. We love vacations by the beach…. in February.  As a New Englander this always involves travel. One of the most stressful parts of planning a trip is what to do with the cats, the dog and the fish.  We usually try to get a pet sitter. We always have multiple cats, sometimes multiple dogs and sometimes other critters. It just seemed less stressful for someone to come in to the house and let everyone stay in their preferred environment. But who should that person be? A professional? A neighbor? A friend? A colleague?

Pet Sitter of Our Dreams

We were lucky many years ago to come across a veterinary technician that worked with my husband who fit the bill for our pet sitter. She was young, unattached and willing to stay away from her parents’ house for a vacation of her own. She was also extremely reliable and very concerned for our pet’s well-being. I knew nothing would happen under her watch.

This gave us a sense of security. We always scheduled our pet sitter before making plans of our own. But how long would this last? Luckily for us it lasted many years until one day she found the man of her dreams. Great for her! But I am thinking that she will no longer want to leave her home of wedding bliss to stay with my pets!

Boarding VS Pet Sitter

Now the dilemma begins again. We found several professional pet sitters that came highly recommended. We also had the option of boarding our pets.

Pet sitter vs Happy Cat getting love in a Boarding Condo
Happy Cat getting love in a Boarding Condo

Luckily, the Cat Clinic of Plymouth offers boarding for cats only. The facility is great! Clean, quiet and offers multiple options for boarding areas. There are large multi-level condos available with cubicles to hide in. They either face the sunny windows with birds flying to and fro or they face the kitchen area for those social cats that want pats every time an employee walks by.  There is also a horizontal condo with two sides that the cat can access for those elderly or less nimble cats that want to stretch their legs but don’t want to jump. And suitable for our multi-cat situation there are entire rooms that can be rented allowing a family of cats to stay together. Some of these even have ocean views!

This seemed like the best option for us. The only issue was… the dog! (Yes the cat vet owns a dog.) I mean she is a tiny dog, but I think the staff would figure it out meaning little Luna would have to stay at another boarding facility all by herself. So either the family is divided or we come up with another option. And the fish! Is there a fish boarding facility?

Cat Only Boarding

So if your family is made up of just human travelers and cats, we have the answer for you at the Cat Clinic of Plymouth. Let us take your cats on vacation for some pampering while you enjoy your travels. Come check out our cat only boarding facility at the Cat Clinic of Plymouth.

 

Post Script: A veterinary technician of mine fell into circumstances where she was available and willing to be our pet sitter. A big sigh of relief, at least for now.

By Cassandra Kelley DVM, veterinarian and owner Cat Clinic of Plymouth

Tulip – one feral cat’s story

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Introducing Tulip

feral cat
Feral Cat – Tulip

The first time I laid eyes on our feral cat Tulip she was in a Have-A-Heart Trap that smelled like tuna

fish and urine.She was wet and cold, shivering in the far reaches of the cage in order to give as much distance from her captors. Despite all that, she was beautiful! Her black and white coat and round little facial features made her appear sweet and kind. Tulip was indeed a feral cat.

What is a Feral Cat

A feral cat is a cat that was born outside and receives no socialization with humans. They are fearful of humans and would rather flee from the human than attack. Feral cats would only lash out if trapped with no means of escape. Feral cats can have certain levels based on how many generations the population has been on their own, human social interaction as a feeding station, and individual personality. Feral cats will usually live in a colony that may also include domesticated cat that has lost their owners in some manner. They are not wild in the sense that most of them require food from human sources even if that means picking from a dumpster.

In fact, that was Tulip’s story.  She and her babies were living behind a dumpster at the condominium complex where my mother was living. Some of my mom’s neighbors started helping the little family out by bringing cat food and placing it under the dumpster for them. Unfortunately, there were some complaints from the non-feline fan club around the condos. The condo association then announced that the feeding needed to stop and in fact the pests were to be exterminated at some future date.

Trapping, Neutering and Release of Feral Cats

You can’t imagine the horror of my mother and her neighbors. The thought of the destruction of this little family was too much to bear and they reached out to me and the Cat Clinic of Plymouth for help. We were able to find a kitty angel that spent most of her time volunteering to help trap feral cats. She would work to get them veterinary care and then either re-release them spayed, neutered and vaccinated or would find placement for them if they could be socialized. Obviously this little family could not be released at the same area. So that posed another dilemma. Where would this little family go?

The Cat Clinic of Plymouth volunteered to help with the veterinary care once they were captured with the caveat that the neighbors would find a place where they could go. Interestingly enough capturing these little cats was the easy part. They caught two males first. One was pretty well socialized and was adopted by one of our wonderful clients and transitioned to household living well. The other male was extremely feral. He was adopted by one of our wonderful veterinary technicians and was able to adjust to his new colony and indoor living but never socialized with humans.

They next caught the two baby cats who at this time were months old and therefore more difficult to socialize. At the time there were no options for this rag tag team so they remained at the clinic taking up my cage space for several months. They slowly became more and more socialized as a result of their forced loving from their veterinary technicians at the Cat Clinic of Plymouth. The boy cats were finally adopted to one of the neighbors after causing much commotion at the clinic. The staff would put them in an exam room overnight so they could play with a little more room than a double wide cat condominium. The boy cats were able to somehow manage to get the cover off of the heating duct and enter the duct system overnight. It took hours of removing ducts from the heating system to finally capture them!

Finally, Tulip was trapped. After her veterinary care, she adjusted to cage living but clearly was not socialized. With the help of Victor, our hospital cat, she began very slowly adjust to human companionship. After almost a year of cage living and no prospects, she began to show some progress. We could at least touch her with a brush without her striking out from the back of the cage obviously scared out of her mind!

Happy Endings

While this was developing, I lost my elderly dog. I figured that this was an opportunity for Tulip. There was an opening at my house. Maybe just maybe, she would transfer her crush from Victor to my male cat. Luckily that worked out. We moved her cage into my back bedroom and allowed everyone to visit. With only mild hostility from my female cat Olive, we slowly made the transition from cage to room to house.

I would still consider Tulip somewhat feral. After years of working with her she can socialize with us allowing us to brush her, pet her with one hand under certain conditions. She still cannot be picked up, medicated or treated for fleas without a great deal of planning and effort, in other words, capturing her when she comes for her meal and scruffing her on the floor while my husband attempts to treat her. Even so, she always forgives us. And she has no interest in going outside again ever.

To learn more about cat care and cat behavior, go to  Cat Clinic Blog

By Cassandra Kelley DVM, veterinarian and owner Cat Clinic of Plymouth

Breakdown of a visit to the Animal Hospital

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Veterinarian performs an exam on a cat at the animal hospital
Veterinarian performs an exam on a cat at the animal hospital

Entering the Animal Hospital

Ever wonder what all the people racing around your animal hospital are doing? What is the veterinarian looking for in my cat’s mouth? I can remember going to the animal hospital visit when I was small and trying to make sense of everything that was going on in this tiny office full of barking dogs and crying cats. Luckily, we have no barking dogs at the Cat Clinic of Plymouth so things are less hectic feeling.

Well, the first person that you meet might seem to have the most obvious job. The veterinary receptionist will great you and let the rest of the staff know you arrived. They confirm you and your cats information and find out any other information that the rest of the staff might need to know before the appointment begins including new medical history, medical concerns or how your cat seems today. That receptionist takes care of this while also answering sometimes complex veterinary questions via telephone, email and social media. They stay very busy!

Preparing for the Veterinary Exam

Once the receptionist informs the veterinary technician or their assistant, the veterinary technician will again familiarize themselves with your pet and prepare the room to make sure that it is clean and comfy. One in the exam room, the veterinary technician will take a history of basic husbandry questions plus changes in medical history since the last appointment as well as any new medical or behavioral concerns for the veterinarian. We will usually open the carrier and allow your cat to comfortably patrol the exam room of the animal hospital and get comfortable with the new space. Sometimes with a more nervous patient that gets defensive if over stimulated, we will allow them to relax in their own space within their carrier. (See How to get your cat to LOVE its carrier). Eventually, we will ask the patient to step out of their cat carrier. We avoid pulling or dumping them from their carrier if at all possible. If there is a top door or if the top half of the cat carrier can be removed we will use that option sometimes performing the entire exam in the safety of the bottom of the carrier if at all possible. If appropriate the veterinary technician will collect a basic health assessment including heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature and blood pressure.

At that point, the veterinary technician confers with the veterinarian allowing the veterinarian to reexamine the cat’s chart in light of any new information that the veterinary technician has discovered during the conversation with you or assessing your cat including prior examinations or treatment plans, prior blood results or radiographs or the new medical history that was provided.

The Preventative Care Exam

The veterinarian then enters the room and hopefully after some pleasantries with you and your feline fur baby, the exam begins. Every veterinarian has their own systematic approach to the exam so that no body system goes unexamined. My exam begins when the patient is exploring the exam room. I watch how they are getting around. Do they get around comfortably? Are there any signs of pain or lameness? I also take note of their attitude and body language. Sometimes I will spend some time on the floor with them before moving them to the exam table.

After some chin scratches and some treats for the patient if appropriate, I usually start with the cat’s head. At this point, I am looking for obvious abnormalities like dirty ears, cloudy eyes, oral disease and enlarged lymph nodes that may require further investigation. Continuing down the body, I stop to check the neck and chest again for enlargements especially of lymph nodes or thyroid glands all the while trying to get more specific information about the issues that were brought to the veterinary technician’s attention.  With my stethoscope safely plugged into my ears, I then listen for heart sounds. This is usually when my client wants to start a story. So between the cats growling, purring, breathing and the client talking, I listen to the heart for specific heart sounds, beat abnormalities and heart rate. I then turn my attention to the breath sounds of the cat, they should be relatively quiet and at a normal rate.

Once the stethoscope is off I palpate the abdomen of the cat looking for a normal sized liver, spleen and bladder. Once these are identified, I concentrate on the intestines feeling for masses, thickenings, amount and consistency of stool in the colon.  Finally, I run my hands over the entire body of the cat looking for lumps and bumps and health of the skin and coat.  At this point, I will investigate more intensely any areas of concern found on initial veterinary exam. This may include looking at the ear canal with an otoscope or looking at the eyes with a ophthalmoscope.

Preventative Care Plan

Hopefully there are no abnormalities and we can administer preventative vaccinations or draw blood for preventative lab work. If there is an abnormality after discussing with the client, the veterinarian and veterinary technician come up with a diagnostic or treatment plan that the technician can then explain to the owner. If everyone is in agreement, we proceed with the plan. The technicians and veterinarians work together to set up what is needed so that when the patient is ready, we efficiently work through the punch list attempting to decrease stress to the client and the cat.

Veterinary Medical Record Documentation

Once the appointment is concluded, the veterinary technician and veterinarian make sure that all of the exam findings and discussions are noted within the medical record as well as all of the treatments or diagnostics that have been suggested. The clients are walked back to the receptionist to make their next appointment and receive any necessary documents.

So while what I have described here is the protocol of the Cat Clinic of Plymouth and other animal hospitals may have slightly different takes, the basic idea is fairly universal. As always I encourage my clients to ask questions and raise concerns at any point of this process. We are here to be a health advocate for your special fur baby. As their health care proxy, you must be just as comfortable with your experience at the veterinary hospital.

To schedule an appointment for your cat, Contact Us

 

By Cassandra Kelley DVM, veterinarian and owner Cat Clinic of Plymouth

Hairballs

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Cat Veterinarian, Dr Kelley, Cat Clinic Plymouth, MA
Preventative Care Exam for cats

Hairballs, Hacks, Gags and Gas: Learn why you should schedule your cat’s annual preventative exam today!

When you’re a cat owner, you know all the benefits of living with a furry friend in your home.  Kisses, head butts and loud purrs. Did you expect hairballs on the carpet? Partially digested garbage strewn all over the floor?

Did you expect you cat to belong to the “Speed Eaters Anonymous Club,” where they eat so fast it comes right back up?

Like many cat owners, you may assume these digestive ailments just happen. You may assume they’re normal and chalk them up to coming with the territory of living with a pet. Perhaps they’ve become regular occurrences that you simply handle with mild frustration. Overall, no worries, you say!

The important thing to know is that many seemingly “normal” digestive problems are best to be checked out by a veterinarian. We know there’s a lot of information on the Internet you can read, but nothing replaces a face (yours) to face (ours) to face (your cat) visit with your veterinarian.

When you schedule your pet’s yearly preventative care exam, your veterinarian can discuss and answer all of your questions. During the veterinary exam, your veterinarian will perform a “hands-on” inspection of your cat’s abdomen by feeling each of the organs and evaluation the shape, size and position. They will listen through a stethoscope for any abnormal gut sounds. They may want to take a look at your pet’s poop to check for parasites and harmful bacteria. It’s all about digestion and it’s how to keep your cat healthy!

Schedule your cat’s annual preventative care exam today! Determine what’s normal and what’s not when it comes to your cat’s digestive tract.

Just think, after your visit, you may never have to clean up a hairball ever again.

How do I train my cat not to scratch my furniture?

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Cat scratching his scratching post
Cat scratching his scratching post

Cats normally scratch to remove the outer dying sheath of their nails, marking territory and stretching and strengthening their body for hunting and climbing. It is a normal part of being a feline! However if they are scratching you or your things, it can be frustrating to say the least.

Up to 42% of reported behavior problems have to do with undesirable scratching and may be one of the main reasons other than aggression that a cat is relinquished. With cat parent education and cat training, we can avoid undesirable behavior, protect you and your couch all the while allowing your cat to perform their normal behaviors and avoiding declawing (SEE Should I declaw my cat?)

The key to training a cat is to let them think that they came up with the idea all on their own and positively reward only this good behavior. First things first! Find out what and where they like to scratch and give it to them by buying or building something appropriate for them to scratch.

All too often at the Cat Clinic of Plymouth, our veterinarians are approached with this problem behavior. After some questioning, veterinarians learn that either there are no things for the cat to scratch, the appropriate scratching post is in the corner in a room the cat never goes in, the appropriate scratcher is the same one that was purchased for the 3 pound kitten who is now 16 pounds or the worst…. The appropriate scratcher was the old chair that no one cared was a scratching post that was replaced by new furniture that everyone cares is getting scratched. All scenarios that is very confusing for a feline.

Choosing the perfect scratcher

The perfect scratcher is the one your cat wants to scratch! Pay attention to what your cat is scratching. What is the material it is scratching, rug, cloth, wood? Is it vertical or horizontal scratching? How big is the item it is scratching? Most cats have a preference and that preference will determine what we build or buy. There should be more than one option in more than one area to keep your cat happy.

Placement

The best place to put your cat’s new scratcher is the place that they are scratching! Move the couch or chair over 6 inches and put the scratcher right there or at least in the same general vicinity. We can eventually start to move it to a more desirable location for you once we get the training out of the way.

Training to the new scratching posts

Once the new scratchers are in place, we need to reward positive behavior by getting the cat to scratch it. Enticing the cat with treats, cat nip and toys on the new scratcher should get them interested in exploring the new scratcher. If that is enough and you did a great job researching what and where your cat wants to scratch, then reward the scratching behavior. “Good kitty!”s are great to start but we really need to reward with something great. Food, play and other enjoyable forms of attention will go a long way.

Avoiding inappropriate scratching

Remember what I said about cat training? It goes a lot easier if they think they came up with the idea. So making your couch, your woodwork or your rug unattractive for scratching will help. We want your cat to think, “Why did I ever like scratching this?” Covering with plastic, double sided sticky tape for this purpose or tin foil will change the way the object feels. Putting tin foil or even better clear plastic rug liner where the cat stands to scratch is another way to make scratching less comfortable. Remember the clear plastic runners that used to protect those beautiful green shag rugs in offices of the seventies? They have the little nubbins underneath to hold them to the carpet. Well they still sell those things off the roll by square foot in many home improvement stores. Cut them to where your kitty stands to scratch the woodwork or chair nubbin side up….very uncomfortable on paw pads.

Resisting negative training

Scratching is fun! You know what else is fun? People hollering in high pitched voices, games of chase and water bottles. I know you think that these actions are applying the stick in the carrot and stick rule but, trust me, for most cats it does not. Most cats find this attention exciting and rewarding not the opposite!

While you’re training

Behavior change is hard for all of us whether we bite our nails or twirl our hair. It can take some time to make these changes stick. In the meantime, we can do some things to ease the transition. These include

  • Keeping the nails trimmed
  • Nail Caps that glue onto the nail to prevent damage when scratching
  • Facial pheromone diffusers or sprays
  • Environmental Enrichment (see Enriching Your Environment for Cat Happiness)

With time and consistency, you will have your furniture and wood work back in no time! Good Luck!

 

Why Does My Indoor Cat Need a Rabies Vaccine?

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Indoor Cat Vaccinated for Rabies
Indoor Cat Vaccinated for Rabies

What is rabies?

The state of Massachusetts requires that all cats are vaccinated against the rabies virus by a licensed veterinarian. Rabies is a virus of the central nervous system and is almost always fatal. It is spread through the saliva of the infected animal. All animals are susceptible to catching rabies usually through bite wounds although it is usually carnivorous animals test positive for rabies. Smaller rodents usually do not test positive most likely because they don’t live through the initial skirmish with the rabid animal. Bats are also known to carry rabies and are the highest cause of human rabies in the U.S.

Indoor Cats and Rabies

So if a cat never leaves the house, why does the state of Massachusetts require the vaccine? There are several reasons but here is the most frightening.  Imaging waking up and finding a dead bat with YOUR unvaccinated cat hovering over it. Did my cat kill that bat? Did the bat die from rabies? Did the bat bite my cat? Did the bat bite me?!?!? These are frantic calls that the Cat Clinic of Plymouth and I am sure many other animal hospitals all too frequently.

Usually, home owners are completely unaware that bats are getting into their home until one dies. This becomes a terrible dilemma as the recommendations from not only the state of Massachusetts but also the Center for Disease Control  are to euthanize any unvaccinated animal that has come in contact with either an animal testing positive for rabies or any known carrier unavailable for testing.  They’re asking you to euthanize your beloved feline fur baby. Why would anyone take that chance?

After Exposure

And if you decline to euthanize your cat and your cat becomes exposed, you are required to quarantine them from the rest of the household for 45 days! This is to protect you and the rest of your family from being exposed to rabies, a disease that kills 99.9% of its victims!

So I guess I understand why the state requires veterinarians to vaccinate ALL cats regardless of how they are housed. For a relatively inexpensive, safe and easy assurance against a deadly disease – and doesn’t sound like a fun death, I make sure all my pets are vaccinated against rabies.

Pleasant veterinary visits

Check out the blog on stress free veterinary visits.

NEXT – how safe are rabies vaccines?