Fleas, Fleas — What can I do?

Go to BeyondFleas.com!

They cover everything you could possible want to know including:

  • Identifying if your cat or dog actually has fleas
  • How to use each of the over the counter or prescription medications
  • How to control and exterminate fleas inside and outside your home — using professionals or as a DIYer
  • Life cycle of the flea
  • How to treat flea bites
  • Natural remedies for controlling fleas
  • “Bombing” (fumigating) your home for insects and spiders

So stop scratching — and visit BeyondFleas.com!

Feline Veterinary Practioners

The web site of the American Association of Feline Practitioners is primarily for veterinarians. If you use their “find a practitioner” it will only show you member veterinarians, not all veterinarians that care for cats.

If you go to their Practice Guidelines page, you will find a few really large .pdf files detailing their suggestions to all veterinarians on many subjects including feline pain management, zoonoses and assisting aging cats. This group and the European Society of Feline Medicine which is linked with the Feline Advisory Bureau(UK), publish the bimonthly Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. While a large part of the site focuses on technical matters, the Feline Advisory Bureau web site also has practical information about catteries, boarding facilities, and useful information for those who are owned by their cats. :-)

Free Cat Health Brochures and Information

I can cruise the net with the best of them :-) Anecdotal stories are often interesting. However, when it comes to caring for our precious family members — that includes my sons as well as our cats :-) I prefer to get my medical advice and information from those whose jobs involve staying at the forefront of medical knowledge.

Cornell University Veterinary School’s Feline Health Center has quite a few free online brochures related to various health and behavioral concerns. You can read them as an article or download as a .pdf file. Where appropriate they cross reference their own videos. From the link above, you can also access a glossary of feline medical terms, articles from their newsletter CatWatch.

At this writing there are 8 articles about general health issues ranging from what to do if your cat is “going outside the box” to dealing with aggression. There are four brochures about feline infectious diseases including zoonotic (transferable to humans) disease. And there are six about specific feline health diseases.

The American Veterinary Medical Association has lots of feline health brochures in English and Spanish; printable .pdf files and online readable files. Veterinary clinics can order mix and match packages of 50 brochures to give to clients. They also have a huge number of .pdf files concerned with disaster preparedness, mostly for veterinary practices and state organizations, however there are a few that are of use to pet owners such as Saving the Family (including pets!).

Go and see for yourself!

More Great Feline Health Videos

I had previously written about some videos that showed cats having asthma attacks. I have found some more useful videos that I thought important to share with you.

These How To Health Videos are from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Feline Health Center web site. These videos are:

  • Caring for your Diabetic Cat
  • Giving Your Cat a Pill or Capsule
  • Giving Your Cat Liquid Medication
  • Trimming Your Cat’s Claws
  • Taking Your Cat’s Temperature
  • Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth