A cat making hacking noises and throwing up a cylindrical mass of hairs and mucus can be quite alarming. This problem is cat hairball, a mass of hairs accumulated in the intestine and stomach when the cat grooms and licks its fur thereby swallowing loose hairs. These loose hairs cannot be digested and do not pass through stools completely, which makes the cat throw it all up. The problem becomes graver when the cat sheds heavily, grooms and licks other cats, or swallows big hairs. Cat hairball can clog the digestive system and can be removed only by surgery. Whether the cat has long hairs or short, over grooms or not, it will face this problem some time or the other.

The cat will vomit hairball just about anywhere and any time. Some cat hairball symptoms include the cat passing hard stools containing hairs in them, lethargy, vomiting after consuming food, dry cough, and a loss of appetite. Additionally, the cat’s fur also becomes matted, and the cat will seem depressed and fatigued all the time. A general pet health information is that when the cat tries to vomit a hairball out, she will crouch, back up and hack, symptoms that are similar to cat asthma too. So, if one finds the cat showing these symptoms several times without throwing up anything, the owner must take it to the vet immediately as it may be an asthma attack in deed.

Even though one cannot do anything when the cat is expelling hairball, controlling this problem is quite possible. Preventing hairballs can be a part of pet health care as this problem can lead to extreme abdominal pain, intestinal blockage and even death in some cats. The owner must brush the cat’s fur about twice a week and once everyday during the shedding season to remove loose hairs. Feeding the cat half a spoon of melted butter everyday for a few days or a little petroleum jelly will lubricate the intestine and make the hairball pass through feces instead of vomit. It’s important to improve the quality of the cat’s coat to prevent shedding and consequent hairballs. For this, the cat’s food must have more fiber and less grains like corn or wheat. Heavy snacking and inadequate exercise will make the cat’s bowel movement difficult and in turn make it throw up the hairball. There are many commercial hairball remedies that can help in treating pet health issues like hairballs and inability to defecate.

Cat Hair Loss Tail

Hair loss in cats is becoming one of the commonest pet health issues these days. A cat loses hair all over the body or just in patches, (a condition called alopecia areata) due to many reasons. One of the most common parts where a cat loses hair is its tail. Often, the hair loss is at the tip of the tail and moves upwards. Factors like toxins in the blood, mites or flea infestation, stress, hormonal imbalance, injury, or stud tail causes alopecia areata in cats tail.

The most common cause for a cat to lose hair on its tail is an allergic reaction to flea bites. In this case, the bite of a single flea is enough to make the cat scratch, bite and lick the tail at the skin level causing baldness in that area. One can prevent this by applying anti-flea ointment or brushing the coat with a metal flea comb regularly. Including fish oil in the cat’s diet also helps in treating flea bite allergies. There is also endocrine alopecia that is responsible for hair loss on the tail. This condition causes inadequate or excessive hair growth hormones thus disturbing the hair growth cycle. This problem can be treated only by a veterinarian. Injury to the tail can also be a reason for hair loss, as it makes the cat lick the wound excessive causing hair fall. So, it is important to check for injuries on the tail or any other body part if one notices hair loss in an area.

If there has been a change in the cat’s environment or even food, it will become edgy, nervous, stressed and anxious and lick itself excessively causing hair loss. Checking for and eliminating such factors will help in getting rid of the hair loss on the tail. The presence of toxins in the body also makes them lose hair excessively as the poisonous chemicals in the blood stream affect the body cells. Keeping the cat free of toxins should be a regular part of pet health care and it can be ensured by regular moderate exercise and nutritious cat food. An important pet health info with regards to cat hair loss is a condition called stud tail. Sometimes a build up of wax or oil from the sebaceous glands near the base of the tail causes hair loss and a sour smell. A veterinarian must be consulted if the owner suspects this condition.

Cat Ear Hair Loss

It is disheartening and worrying to find hair loss in a furry pet like cat. Cat hair loss, also called alopecia areata, can be hereditary or acquired and has several causes. Though the cat loses hair all over the body, the face, neck, and ears are most prone to cat alopecia. Pet health info worth noting is that hair loss caused on the ear the most worrisome one and must be treated immediately. Allergens like some food products, pollen or dust mites, ear mites, fleas, chronic stress, and side effects of some medications cause alopecia areata in cats. General pet health care can prevent all these problems and the resultant hair loss.

Ear mites infesting a cat’s ears cause severe itching, redness, wax, foul odor and hair loss. Mites can be easily removed from the ears and a solution can be instilled into the ear canals. Similarly, the saliva left behind by the fleas after biting causes an itchy reaction in the ears. The cat scratches its ears against furniture or rough surfaces to find relief, in turn, losing hair. Fleas can be treated by insecticidal sprays or shampoos. Ringworms, actually an itchy fungal infection, also affect the cat’s ears. The mites that cause this infection survive in the hair follicles and nourish on dead cells and cause breakage of the hair at the skin level thereby leaving bald patches. Fungal infections often require the cat’s hair to be shaved off completely. Tablets and topical ointments are available to treat the infection. Mange is also a mite infestation that causes hair loss in the ears, and on the neck and face. Additionally, the skin gets covered by a yellowish crust. The treatment of mange includes applying lime sulfur once a week about six to eight times.

Apart from these infestations, food allergies also cause itching and subsequent hair loss, which is further worsened by chronic ear infections. It’s important to find out what is causing the allergy and avoid feeding the cat that food. Lastly, though in only a few cases, stress and boredom also cause hair loss in cats. The more stressed a cat is, the more it licks its fur and paws. This causes the hair to fall, and since ears have short hair, they fall off more easily. If all the factors causing stress are eliminated, the cat won’t suffer from hair loss. There are other problems like damage to the sebaceous glands or even cancer that cause hair loss on the ears too.

Cats are generally known to be an independent breed. When it comes to pregnancy, too, the cat is more or less independent throughout the gestation period and during the delivery. She will decide who does and does not she want to be with and will also look for a cozy place in the house on her own to deliver her litter. The cat goes through the pregnancy and delivery almost without any trouble. The owner may not have a big role to play. He will just need to pay attention to her nutrition and general pet health care during her pregnancy and give her affection, fresh water and make a comfortable litter box for her.

When a cat gets pregnant, she will show many physical and behavioral changes. She will have a bigger appetite, will gain weight and her nipples will be larger and rosier. There will be behavioral changes as well. A cat that likes being outdoors will be seen around indoors more often. She will be more subdued, lazy and will want to sleep more than usual. An important part of pregnant cat behavior is her disinterest in male cats and other cats in general, as she wants privacy during gestation period. So, it would help if the other cats in the house are kept away from the pregnant queen. The cat will shower more affection on her human companions and she will also seek more attention from her owner. The owner must give her that attention but try not to pick her up too much as this will make her irritable. In some cases, the pregnant cat may avoid her human companion and behave moody. But once she has delivered, her behavior will be back to normal.

During the last stage of pregnancy, the cat will be restless and try to find a comfortable place in the house where she might deliver the kittens. This is perfectly normal. But if the cat gets too irritable and restless, or pants and paces around too much, the owner must consult a vet immediately. One of the reasons for such a behavioral problem can be eclampsia (depletion of calcium from the blood stream), which is one of the pet health issues found in cats during the last stage of pregnancy. If you see cat behavior problems like not eating and being too lethargic along with passing a discharge, you must have your cat checked by a vet immediately.

Usually, the owner cannot tell that his cat is pregnant for the first three weeks, unless he has bred her and keeps a track of her pregnancy. A sign like a bulging stomach becomes visible only a couple of weeks before the cat is due to deliver the litter. So, a cat’s pregnancy often goes undiscovered till she is well into the pregnancy period. One can determine whether a cat is in gestation or not by knowing some pregnant cat symptoms, which are both physical and behavioral.

One of the first cat pregnancy signs is a stoppage of her heat cycle. The pregnant cat will stay indoors and away from male cats. This can be seen as the first sign of pregnancy. About three to four weeks after conceiving, the cat’s nipples become more visible, softer and pinker. This change is called pinking. Other than these, signs of a pregnant cat also include increase in its appetite and weight gain. Since the cat has to eat for herself and her fetus, she will crave more food and after four weeks of pregnancy gain considerable weight too. The weight gain will be more on the stomach and mid-section. Just like human beings, a pregnant cat also suffers from morning sickness, that is, she will have occasional bouts of vomiting in the morning. While this is perfectly normal, if the episodes of vomiting become too frequent, a veterinarian must be consulted.

The owner will also be able to see a change in the cat’s behavior when she is pregnant. She will seem lazier, quieter and will tend to sleep more. Jerky and sudden movements such as stretching will be avoided by the pregnant cat. Though the pregnant cat will be less affectionate towards male cats, she will have affection in abundance for her owner. This is often credited to her maternal instincts. During the advanced stages of pregnancy, she will look for a warm, quiet and secluded place to deliver her litter, a behavior that has been termed as the ‘nesting behavior’. It becomes important to pay attention to pet health care when the cat is pregnant and give her nutritious food. Though these signs show that a cat is pregnant, ultrasound procedures are recommended to rule out abnormalities in fetuses that can pose pet health issues later. Another important pet health information for a pregnant cat is that she must be given adequate clean water and exercise to prevent obesity and to keep her muscles toned.

Cat Gestation

Other than how many kittens a pregnant cat would be delivering, the most likely question about cat pregnancy is: how long are cats pregnant. The usual cat gestation period is 58 to 65 days, that is, about nine weeks or a little over two months. However, the cat can have a normal delivery approximately five days before or after the stipulated date too. So, over all, the cat pregnancy period can be as short as 58 days or go up to 70 days. If the owner is breeding the cat, he will be able to keep a check on the gestation period. But, if the cat is in heat, meets an unneutered male cat and has an unplanned pregnancy, there are chances that the owner will discover it after about three weeks. This is because the cat will not show any signs or symptoms of pregnancy for about three weeks after breeding, and her abdomen will bulge only a couple of weeks before she gives birth to kittens. If one finds the cat’s nipples getting softer, rosier and warmer, it should serve as the first sign of pregnancy. Other than that, the cat’s appetite increases, it gets more affectionate, gains weight, and suffers from morning sickness. If all these signs are visible, the cat must be taken to the veterinarian to confirm pregnancy.

Cat Pregnancy Tips

Even though cats are self sufficient during pregnancy, it is very important to give the pregnant cat the right care throughout the pregnancy period. One important pet health fact about a cat’s pregnancy is that she must be kept indoors as much as possible throughout the cat gestation length as she can be on heat during pregnancy as well. She can have two different sets of litter at the same time. Anyway, kittens must be delivered only in a warm environment. The cat must be fed nutritious food high in proteins and calcium. To ensure that the cat produces a healthy litter, one can mix cat food with a premium kitten food as it has more calcium, fat and protein than regular cat food.  Other than specific pregnancy tips, the owner needs to keep general pet health care in mind during pregnant cat care. She must not have fleas or intestinal worms as she can pass them on to the kittens through her womb or milk. It always helps to have your cat checked by a vet regularly to prevent any pet health issues especially during pregnancy.

Pet Health Tips:

Pet health treatments are generally determined by your vet after a through examination and diagnosis. There are various pet treatments and the most common among them are pet flea treatment, pet allergies treatment, and pet arthritis treatment. In addition to these, pet gastrointestinal disorders treatment and pet urinary tract infection treatment are also common pet health treatments.

Pet health treatments can consist of creams for topical application or medications that need to be ingested. Depending on the condition and the severity of the situation, the doctor may prescribe a combination of both topical applications as well as prescribed medications. Pet health treatments like pet flea treatment are among the most common of health treatments for a variety of pets.

De-worming treatments are another common and routine treatment for almost all pets, just as with humans. De-worming is extremely important as parasitic worm infestations can pose serious threat to your pet, and there is also a risk of contagion to humans.

Vaccinations and shots are another important area of pet health treatments, and this should in fact be the first treatment that will also be a routine treatment. Your local veterinarian would provide you with information regarding the necessary vaccines and also a schedule for the vaccinations that are necessary. For example, rabies vaccinations are among the most common, but there are also other vaccines against common viral and bacterial infections. Getting tests and checkups done for pets that have been imported is also absolutely essential.

There are also many other treatments that may be specific to certain species or certain breeds. Cats are known to suffer from problems due to ingestion of fur and most of us know of this as ‘fur balls’.

Another routine pet health treatment that is common at least for cats and dogs is spaying or neutering. This is extremely important if the animal has not been kept for breeding purposes. Apart from the fact that it prevents any unwanted pregnancies it is also highly beneficial for the health of your pet. It helps prevent the animal from going in to heat, which also means that your pet will not attempt to wander of in search of a mate or keep you up at night with the incessant howling. This procedure also helps eliminate the risk of several diseases and cancerous growths that can afflict the reproductive system.

Your veterinarian would be the best source of information on pet health care and treatments that are necessary for your pet, as these can vary significantly, not just from species to species, but also among different breeds, within a species.

Pet Health Problems:

Caring for a pet can be one of the most rewarding and exuberating experiences you will have. Pets do however require special care, as just like humans they are susceptible to a variety of ailments, but unlike us they can’t really point these out. There are many health conditions that are common and it would help to be on the look out for, or cautious about these. At most times prompt detection of a condition will enable a swift diagnosis and treatment that could make a world of difference to your pet. Not all health conditions can be treated easily though, and some may require greater care and attention.

Here are some of the most common pet health issues and problems that you would most likely encounter. Not all of these problems may be widespread among all species, but most of them are, while all of these are common to the most popular species of pets like cats, dogs, rabbits, and others.

• Gastrointestinal disorders can affect almost any pet and you would easily notice such a problem as it would be accompanied by obvious symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, or a stomach upset. At times these may be symptomatic of a more serious condition, and at times there may even be no visible symptoms. Although it isn’t always necessary to bring your pet in to the clinic for every digestive or gastrointestinal disorder it does help to play safe, and most importantly you need to observe any changes in behavior or appetite and report these to the vet.
• Obesity is another problem that seems to be on the rise not just among humans, but among their domesticated counterparts too. This could be caused by a variety of factors, but very often the culprit is low quality food. Pet food formulas are often inappropriate as a diet for many species, particularly for cats. This holds true for dogs as well.
• Cancers are another ailment that almost all pets are susceptible to.  Cancer is in fact so widespread that it is believed to be the cause of at least half of all deaths in aged pets. Abnormal swellings or lumps, difficulty eating, difficulty walking, and observable weight loss are just some signs that could accompany cancer. Not all forms of cancer are hard to treat, and some can be cured quite easily. The main reason for the high death rate from cancer is that the symptoms most often go unnoticed until the cancer is well advanced.
• Rabies is another common pet health problem that you need to be very guarded against. It is a fatal condition that can easily be prevented with vaccination. It’s also easily communicable to humans.

Pet Health Information and Issues:

Pet health is a very serious issue and therefore should be taken very seriously. If you take proper pet health care, you will be able to prevent most of the common pet health issues. Still, we often find ourselves faced with the challenge of taking care of an ailing pet.

There are many different health issues that your pet may face. While some of these issues are grave and require intensive medical attention, there are many issues that are simple to handle and can be completely treated with the help of a qualified veterinarian. Fleas and ticks are minor problems that can be tackled on your own by using medications prescribed by a veterinarian. However, if your pet is really sick, you may have to take it to a hospital.

Medicines for pets are very expensive. Equally expensive is caring for them when they are no longer well. The overall cost in terms of time, effort, and money, when caring for an ailing pet, may run very high. It is also emotionally draining to see your loyal and frisky friends ailing and in pain. Therefore, the best way to deal with pet health issues is to take preventive measures. Recent studies done on the issues of pet health claim that it is extremely important to pay close attention to your pet’s weight. Just like an overweight human being, overweight pets may also suffer from a lot of health issues. Statistics show that one out of every four pets are overweight and therefore are at a high risk of developing medical conditions.

Making sure that your pet gets plenty of exercise is something that is extremely important. This is the first step towards making sure that your pet remains in good health. You can buy them toys or other accessories that will be beneficial for them.

Some of your pets may need some extra vitamins and supplements in order to meet their nutritional needs. Talk to your vet about any extra supplements that your pet may require. Though your pet may be able to go on without these supplements, there are good chances that later in their life they may develop an ailment.
To make sure that your pet remains in good health, you will have to be disciplined and stick to a regular pet health care routine. Though the cost of keeping your pet healthy is high, the cost of taking care of a sick pet is even higher. Keep in constant touch with your vet and make sure to get a qualified opinion on your pet’s ailments.