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Pet Health Library

Treatment

  • It is sometimes said that because cats are fussy eaters they are less easily poisoned than dogs. However, with their curiosity and fastidious grooming, intoxication is not that uncommon.

  • Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by infection with the organism called Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), a microscopic single-cell organism which is one of the most common parasites of animals.

  • The trachea (windpipe) is a flexible tube leading from the mouth to the lungs. It is supported by a collection of cartilage rings which keep the tubes open, allowing air to enter the lungs on inspiration.

  • This is a common tumour, only found in dogs. It has a patchy world-wide distribution including parts of the Caribbean, USA, Southern Europe, Asia and Africa.

  • Maintaining nutritional intake in sick cats is vitally important. Unlike healthy cats that are able to reduce their metabolic rate when not being fed, cats that are unwell are unable to turn their rate down and will therefore 'starve' much more quickly.

  • Tumours of the blood cells made in the marrow are rare. There is a continuum from dysplasias (abnormal growths) to cancers (myeloproliferative disease).

  • This is a tumour of the lymphatic vessels of the skin or subcutaneous tissue. Some lymphatic tumours are benign (lymphangioma) and some malignant (lymphangiosarcoma).

  • Tumours that occur on the haired eyelids are similar to those arising elsewhere in the skin. They include cysts, overgrowths (hyperplasias), benign (non-spreading) and occasionally malignant (spreading) cancers.

  • Cancers of the pancreas are of two main types, those arising from the part which produces enzymes to aid digestion (exocrine) and those arising from the groups of cells that produce hormones such as insulin (endocrine).

  • Tumours of the spleen are common in older dogs, but rare in cats.