A cat may itch for any number of reasons. Frequent, severe itching is usually one of the first signs of a more serious problem. Try to determine any possible cause of itching. Does your cat have fleas or mites? Is its skin severely scratched, inflamed or scaly? Are there any sores on your cat? Is there significant hair loss? These are all serious concerns and should involve a trip to your veterinarian.

Possible Causes of Cat’s Itch

There are many possible reasons for a cat’s itching. Itching is such a common symptom. Your cat may simply have dry skin, or it may have a serious bacterial or fungal infection. Allergies in cats are becoming more and more frequent; your cat may be allergic to its food or to other environmental triggers. The cat may have an infection of some sort, either in its whole body or in a localized spot. Watch to see where it itches ? is it in one area such as its leg, neck or head or all over?

Itching may be a sign of a reaction to a medication. Your vet will change the medication or prescribe another treatment to ease the itching. An immune system disorder may be to blame as well. Finally, severe itching and licking may be signs of an emotional problem; your cat could be experiencing anxiety, boredom or stress.

A Trip To The Vet

If your cat is exhibiting itching of a more frequent or serious nature than normal, you?ll want to make an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as possible. Try to determine how long the itching has occurred, and what, it any, other symptoms accompany the itching. Notice any unusual hair loss or excessive licking. Has your cat exhibited any odd behavior lately? These are all symptoms to pay attention to and report to your veterinarian. Also check for any odors, open sores, skin discoloration or bumps, skin inflammation, greasy or rough hair or blisters.

Vet Tests

Your vet may perform a number of tests in order to asses your cat?s needs. They may do a visual skin examination, a skin scraping, a hair culture or a fecal exam. Some vets will look at your cat?s hair under an ultraviolet light to check for ringworm. To rule out food allergies your vet may put your cat on a special food for a month or two. An antibiotic may be prescribed to rule out a bacterial infection. In some cases, a blood test or biopsy may be needed to rule out other more serious conditions.

In The Meantime

After your vet has examined your cat, they may prescribe an anti-inflammatory or steroidal cream to relieve the itching. Depending on treatment options, you may be able to at least soothe your cat?s itching while you are waiting for the lab work or treatment to take effect. You may have to get a plastic cone collar, called an Elizabethan collar, to prevent your cat from doing further damage. These collars cover the cats head to prevent it from being able to chew on itself.

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Protein

Consuming adequate and healthy amounts of protein is critical to ensure that proper nutritional values are met successfully in your cat?s diet. In reality, proteins are not essential. Proteins provide the necessary building blocks in nutrition. The importance of proteins in the diet is due to their chemical construction. Proteins are composed of amino acids. Amino acids are essential to all mammalian systems.

Amino Acids

Normal growth and development is not possible without the presence of the essential amino acids. There are a total of 22 amino acids, 12 can be naturally synthesized by the body, and 10 essential amino acids that must be consumed. Taurine is an essential amino acid required by cats. Dogs naturally synthesize taurine from other amino acids.

Protein Sources: Quality Proteins

Proteins are not all created equal. Evaluation of the source of protein is necessary to determine the actual quality of the proteins consumed. Protein in cat food is generally available with a percentage of protein. This percentage represents the amount of protein in the food, but this percentage does not represent the amount of protein that is digestible by your cat. One brand of cat food may have a higher overall percentage of protein, but this does not automatically make it better than the brand with a lower overall percentage of protein. Quality pet food contains higher digestibility rates than lower quality pet food. As a rule of thumb, meats typically provide higher quality proteins than grains.

The Cat Food Label: Important Considerations

The ingredients within cat food are listed in numerical descending order by weight. Therefore, the first listed ingredients are the most prominent. Knowing this, it is possible to choose a quality cat food. Exercise caution here, as pet food manufacturers are aware. It is common for the manufacturers to list corn/wheat products into several other ingredients. It is important to combine all grain ingredients into one percentage for reflection against meat percentages to truly obtain a true understanding of the quality of the product.

Cat Nutrition: Important Considerations

The specific amounts of proteins necessary in your cat?s diet change with age. There exist specially formulated foods and natural products made specifically with the goal of aiding your cat reach their optimum requirements for overall general health. There are some considerations to make before choosing a particular diet for your cat.

• Age: The age of your cat/kitten is an essential consideration when choosing foods. Kittens and adult cats have different protein requirements.
• Sex: Female cats have slightly different protein requirements than male cats, especially if the female cat is pregnant or lactating to feed recently born kittens.
• Health Level: Weak or sick cats require increased amounts of protein in their diets to aid in the healing process.
• Specific Diseases: If your cat has a specific disease, it is possible that they may require more or less protein in their diet.
• Veterinarian: As always, if in doubt, see your veterinarian about your cat?s dietary requirements.

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of West Nile Virus. The virus was first isolated in 1937 from a woman living in the West Nile District in Uganda, but wasn’t reported in the Western Hemisphere until 1999. Since then, it has received extensive media coverage, often making it sound worse than it really is.

The Facts

Now don’t get me wrong; West Nile Virus is capable of causing illness and in some cases death. But to give you an idea of the prevalence of the virus in the United States, here are some facts: In 2007, 3510 people were infected with WNV (that?s 1 in every 100,000 people). Only 3% of these cases were fatal. That means last year people in the U.S. had a 0.00003% chance of dying from West Nile Virus. You have a greater chance of being struck by lightning (0.0001%).

The Basics of West Nile Virus: Transmission

West Nile Virus is a flavivirus, transmitted by over 30 species of mosquito. Humans can get the virus from blood transfusions, organ transplants, through the placenta, breast milk, and most commonly mosquito bites. However, just because a human is infected with the virus doesn?t mean they?ll present any symptoms or feel ill. If symptoms do occur, they usually do so from 3 to 14 days after first becoming infected.

Symptoms

The majority of those presenting symptoms will feel much like they have the flu, with fatigue, vomiting, fever, muscle aches, and loss of appetite. In less than 1% of cases, more severe symptoms are present, including high fever, stiffness in the neck, tremors, convulsion, disorientation, severe headache, or coma. There is no treatment for West Nile Virus since it is a virus and is so uncommon (makes vaccine development difficult).

WNV in Pets

Most animals are even more unlikely to become ill from West Nile Virus. Those animals most at risk include horses and birds. Old, young, or otherwise immunocompromised cats and dogs are also more likely to become ill from WNV, but cases are rare. In fact, since 1999 there has been only one dog and one cat case of death from WNV.

Pets who have become ill from WNV exhibit such symptoms as decreased appetite, depression, disorientation, tremors, unusual head posture, circling, and convulsions. However, there is no need to euthanize a pet infected with WNV as the virus is currently incapable of animal-to-animal transmission (including humans).

Preventing WNV in Me and My Pets

The bottom line in prevention of West Nile Virus is prevention of mosquitoes and mosquito bites. You can decrease the amount of mosquitoes in your area by eliminating sources of standing water in which mosquitoes breed (tires, bird baths, cans, ceramic pots, etc), cleaning gutters at least once a year to prevent clogging, turning over things like wheel barrows that may collect rainwater, and properly chlorinating swimming pools and hot tubs.

You can also lower you and your pet?s risks of getting bitten by staying indoors in the early morning and evening when mosquitoes are most active. Mosquito repellents can be used to keep mosquitoes away, but be careful which kinds you use. Use only mild repellants (no DEET) on animals and check with your veterinarian before using if you?re not sure of a repellent?s safety.

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http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/basics/wlightning.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount07_detailed.htm
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/westnile/education/2746.htm
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/westnile/pets.html
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Pet allergies can be grouped into four types: food, flea, atopic (inhalant) and contact. These four allergy types are explained below.

Food Allergies

About ten percent of all pet allergies can be traced back to food. Some pets may not exhibit food allergies immediately, but may take some time to display symptoms. A true food allergy will result in the typical allergy symptoms of frequent itching and chewing and skin inflammation and irritation. The most common pet food allergies are also common ingredients in pet food. Dogs are frequently allergic to dairy, wheat, soy, corn, eggs and beef. Cats are most often allergic to fish, beef and dairy.

If your vet suspects a food allergy, they will prescribe a special diet for a month or two to see if that helps. You will not be allowed to feed your pet anything but the special food during this period. If the allergy clears up, your pet?s diet will need to be adjusted.

Flea Allergies

Flea allergies are by far the most common pet allergies and the easiest to treat. Most pets get a regular flea medicine and collar to prevent ever having fleas. Pets aren?t actually allergic to the fleas themselves, but to the flea saliva that is present when fleas bite. This can result in severe itching, scratching and chewing that may leave your pet red and raw. Sometimes pets can itch so severely they cause open sores and infections. You?ll want to catch your pets itching before it gets to this point to prevent unnecessary suffering. Sometimes you pet will lose hair in patches as well

Your vet may prescribe an anti-inflammatory to ease the itching and a flea repelling medication to rid the pet of fleas. A regular flea bath or medication will prevent your pet from ever having fleas. This is one allergen that can be routinely avoided. You?ll also want to wash your pets bedding with a special soap.

Atopic (Inhalent) Allergies

Pets can become allergic to inhaled substances just like humans can. Pollen, mold spores, tobacco smoke and dust may all trigger an atopic allergy in pets. Allergens can be present both indoors and outdoors. Atopic allergies may spread all over the body, but most often manifest on the ears, groin, feet and armpits. Your pet may chew at these itchy areas, resulting in the loss of hair and possible formation of ?hot spots,? or irritated, infected skin.

Pets with inhalant allergies may be affected seasonally, just as humans are. Air conditioning, air filters and regular house cleaning may help during peak pollen season.

Contact Allergies

Contact allergies are not very common in pets. This type of allergy occurs when pet?s skin is exposed to a material they are allergic to. Some pets may be allergic to a flea collar or a specific material used as bedding. In this case, the skin in contact with the allergen is what becomes irritated or discolored. Frequent itching may result in hair loss.

You?ll want to identify the allergen by removing suspected items one by one. Through trial and error you can determine what is causing the allergy and limit pet?s exposure.

Treating Pet Allergies

There?s no way to cure pet allergies. Just as in humans, the only treatment for allergies includes desensitization, treating symptoms such as itching and inflammation, and avoiding specific allergens. Through these steps, you can manage your pet?s allergies.

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