You're listening to in the Vets Office with doctor Josie Horchak.
Hi everyone, and welcome back to in the Vets Office. I am your host, Doctor Josie, and this is a very exciting week because we are joined by one of my very best friends in the entire world, Doctor Andrew Bean, who I will be calling Bean for the entirety of this episode. Bean and I went to veterinary school together at the Ohio State University. We worked together in Chicago at Boulevard Vet. Shout out Boulevard if you're in Chicago, check them out. They are the best. Bean is actually
now a partner there. It's hands down the best VET clinic in all of Chicago Land. And he is in Nashville today to film this episode with me. So welcome Bean.
Thank you so much.
I oh, let's go.
You have to do it when you're together, we.
Have to go buck Eyes. The main reason I asked doctor Bean to come today is because we've done so many episodes centered on dogs, and a lot of listeners say, hey, you're giving all the love to the dogs. What about the cats? And Doctor Bean is the cat king, so love them, he says, love them.
I only have one, but I would kill to have more of them. I just cannot handle it, but I would have as many as I could stand.
I don't think your cat Zelda would allow you to have more than just her. I feel like she's an only child.
That is the problem. I think she is the queen of her roost. She does not like when new faces come in. So when she dies, which is going to be still a long time, hopefully never forever, but when she does pass, I might get two or three or four, who knows.
Perfect You will see those like tiktoks or videos where it's like this person's a Golden Retriever, and I always joke that our friendship, I'm like the Golden Retriever with like a little bit of Terrier, maybe a sprinkle of Chihuahua. And you are a house cat. I tell you I love you, and you say thank you.
Thank you. That is very a cat. That is a cat answer.
It is a cat answer. And I'm very happy because I wear my cat socks today. Can you see in the camera I got my cat socks. So yeah, we're ready to go. We're gonna talk all things cats. We always start our episode with the case of the week. And since you're here, doctor Bean, I'm gonna let you take it away.
Yeah, So sticking with our theme, it is a cat that I saw actually recently, a few weeks ago. It's a four month old kitten that I saw. They presented super lethargic, hadne eaten in days, just really not doing well.
And you had just seen it like a few weeks before they did.
I saw it a week before for like its first kitten visit. It was doing great, eating, drinking, bouncing off the walls. So when I saw this in the exam room, this is not the same kitten. You know, there's something wrong with this kitten. And so looking at the cat, just looking at it, the whole cat was yellow, ears, skin, gums, eyes, everything was just yellow.
That's always shocking. As a vet. You walk in, You're like, oh boy, this is not good.
Like immediate red flag. You're like something's up, like this is this is something. So we do our physical We also find its abdomen is huge, it's belly is super distended, and just feeling it, there's fluid in this belly. So this kind is in rough shape. So we run some tests, butteric X rays. I end up draining like one hundred and fifty millimeters of fluid, which is a lot of fluid off this three pound cat, four pound cat.
Yeah, that's a lot.
It's a lot. So we pulled the fluid off and we essentially diagnosed it with a disease called FIP, or feeling infectious paraniitis. Cats in general, I think are a little bit more prone to infectious diseases than dogs, and this is kind of a weird disease that is kind of confusing in terms of transmission. Even diagnosing it can be tricky and difficult, but with this case, this was
kind of a classic slammed case. But if your vet is suspicious of FIP, you know, they very may want to run some additional tests if it's not quite as clear cut or not as obvious as this one. This was kind of a slam dunk diagnosis, as we would say, and kind of the interesting thing about treating FIP. Nowadays we have this great anti viral drug. We ordered it from our special pharmacy. It came the next day, the owner started it and I got an update a couple
of days later. Kat was back to normal, doing great. So I saw them Actually a couple of days ago. Kat's again doing great, doing fantastic. I'm optimistic he's going to make or she's going to make a full recovery. The kind of interesting part about this case is if this was just a few months ago, we would be talking about a very different treatment.
Yeah, like three months ago, three months ago.
Yeah, So this treatment just became legal I think in June, June or July, this anti viral compound, and before it was legal, it was extensively tested. We know it was safe, we know its effected, but it was illegal.
It was not FDA approved, IFT approved.
We cannot use it off label. It's a big no no. But again, we knew was safe, we knew was effective, and so I'm not saying I did this. I have a friend, a friend veterinarian who back in the day before this drug was legal, you a friend of mine would have to basically refer them to the black market to get this drug. And so there was a Facebook page. I don't know if it's still around. Can I say
the name of it. Yeah, It's called FIP Warriors, and it basically what owners would have to do join this private, secret Facebook page. They would connect you to someone in the area that sells it on the black market. You have to go to their house, usually an hour or so away. You pay one thousand bucks in cash. They give you a vial of hopefully the drug, hopefully the medication. They teach you how to inject it in your cat and on your way. And again we were not allowed
to talk about it. We are not allowed to recommend it. My friend would never write anything in the record that they are recommending it because I read an article a few months ago there was a group of vets in Texas that like got quote busted for using it and saving cats lives and they lost their license over it.
It's really crazy.
So black market veterinary drugs exist.
We are not saying to go hunting for them. But if your vet recommends it, I mean, yeah, this is a very special exception, I would say.
Very special exception. And luckily we don't have that anymore. There are more and more competent pharmacies that are carrying this drug and it's legal now. So I'm just very happy we have something legal to fix these cats because it works.
Yeah, And it was crazy as a vet walking into the room. I mean, when my friend walked into the room wing wink and being like, hey, your cat has this disease. They will die fatal.
It is almost always fatal.
Correct, they will die if they don't get treatment. You need to get a thousand dollars in cash. You're going to drive to this random person's house. The medication sometimes will be in their mailbox. It's like a drug deal it really it is.
It is a black market drug.
Dealer or cat for your cat, but it saves her life.
Like, oh yeah, I've seen it work like it seems like a miracle drug. Honestly it does, because yeah, that cat is doing fantastic. But it's just so crazy that we had this drug for a while. We knew it was safe, we knew it was effective. We just could not use it to fix these cats or help these cats. So I've seen cases where dinners couldn't afford to do it, or they honestly did not believe me. They were like,
you're lying to me, You're crazy. I'm getting another opinion, And I'm like, I wish this was not how it had to be.
Yeah, you're like, I know I sound insane, but I promise.
And I actually have another client who or my friend had a client who they did it, and she was like, honestly, anyone that doubts this process, like, they can call me and I'll tell them it works. Do it a testimony exactly.
I love that.
Well.
I know we both have lost you know, especially coming out of school almost eight years ago. Now, we lost a lot of patience to FIP because we didn't even have the black market drug available. So it's definitely been a game changer for sure.
Yeah, I'm very happy we have it, and yeah it's legal. So if your cat has FIP, there is hope. Now there's legal, good hope. So talk to your veterinarian if you're ever worried about it.
Absolutely all right, we're gonna take a quick break and when we get back we are going to do our listener question and answers. Hey, doctor Josie, my cat will randomly PM poop outside of our litter box and I don't know why. Is there anything I can do? This is a great question, I know, being I feel like this is the number one one of the number one things, one of the number one that doesn't really make sense.
One of the top things that we see with cat owners when they come in is cats going to the bathroom, not in their litter box. And what I would say to that is they are the most sensitive of creatures and more often than not, it's usually stress related or something is different in the home and kind of like throwing them for a loop and for whatever reason they decide they are not going in their litter box.
What do you think, Yeah, I mean, super super common, especially being outside the litter box. I've struggled it with it myself with my cat, And like you said, it is a lot of times sometimes related to stress or a behavior issue. Obviously, your that'll probably run some tests to rule out any sort of like obvious medical cause, like a UTI is what we hear a lot of our you know, a parasite or something weird like that.
But in a lot of cases, it is this kind of stress or behavior issue, and there's absolutely some things we can do about it before you go.
One thing that I always think of is people come in and if they have a dog, you're like, oh, these are UTI symptoms, Like of course, and it would be so easy, like honestly would be easier for it to be a UTI because you just give them an
antibiotic and they're better. But honestly, like eighty percent of the time, ninety percent of the time it's not a uti and it's something just as simple as like, oh, you have your great aunt staying in the guest bedroom, and that alone dressed the count enough for them to want to be outside the litter box.
It could be anything.
It's crazy.
And I had one case where the owner was convinced that I was convinced by the end of it too, that the cats started peeing outside the box when she moved the cat's favorite chair just a little bit, and then when she moved the chair back, everything went back to normal. Yeah, so cats are very very sensitive to really any changes. Something that seems minuscule or minute to you can be a big deal for them.
It's life altering to them, not the favorite chair.
They need it.
And then another really interesting thing too is they can be really some cats, not all of them, but some of them can be so particular about the type of litter they use.
Yes, there is so many different types of litter out there. And you know, in school they would tell you to do a litters morgesborger a little buffet. I don't know about you, but I do not want five litter boxes with different litters in my house. So it's a good recommendation, but a bit impractical.
Yeah, maybe not realistic.
That the couple litters that I like, I think the one that I always recommend if you're having trouble pooping and ping outside litter box to the cat. It's called called doctor Elsie's Cat attract Litter. I'm not paid by them. They don't know me.
I wish, hey, how do you spell elsie e l sy Okay.
But no they I have no affiliation with them. I love them though. They're great. Shut me out if you need me. Yeah. But now it's supposedly I think like it's like pheromone infused litter that's supposed to really draw the cats into the litter box, and I recommend it to all my clients that have this issue. Again, I use it personally with great success. So that's kind of an easy thing that potentially could could improve this a bit.
The other thing, too, is cats are really particular. In school, they teach us for every cat you have, you should have one additional litter box. So if you have two cats, you want to have three litter boxes. Obviously, if you have two cats and you have one or two litter
boxes and they're using them normally. Great, But if you're having an issue, add another litter box in and keep in mind that if they have a hard time getting around, like it could be the litter box set up like it could be if you have one of those robotic litter boxes. I know they're cool and I'll be interested to hear what you think about them, But sometimes they can be hard to get in and out of, and sometimes you need something just as simple as like a tray with litter in it.
Yeah. Some I mean older cats. Sometimes they are arthritic. They have trouble getting into a litter box if it's too high, so something low. Sometimes they're afraid of the electronic mechanism that scoops their own litter. There are a million reasons you'd be like, oh my god, these cats are crazy.
I maintenance they are.
You think you're getting an easy cat, and a lot of them are, but sometimes they are particular.
What do you think about the robot litter boxes?
I want one personally, It's one less thing to think about. I think if you've got an electronic litter box on a mag feeder, that cat is good to go for a long time. I think the downside is they're, you know, on the more expensive side, and if you pail this money and the cat is afraid of it and doesn't use it, then you're.
Like a damn we stuck with an expensive litter box. I guess you could sell it on Facebook marketplace. You sure can get some money back. The nice thing about the robotic litter box is cats are also very particular in that if their litter box is dirty or it's not frequently cleaned, they're like, nope, I'm not going here. So at least with the robot, you don't have to worry about that as much, and they clean it after every time, doesn't it.
I think some do. I think I don't. Some maybe have like timers or like daily But yeah, I'm sure you can program it to do whatever.
We were talking about this episode and you said something where when that cats, if you have the automatic feed and the litter box, like you quite literally have to do nothing. And there's so many owners out there that think they want a dog, but they actually want a cat.
Oh all the time, I see so many clients get dogs, get puppies, and they have a little bit buyers remorse because they're like, you know, I really just wanted an animal that was like a companion for me. That's kind of a little maintenance that I don't really have to like do a ton of work for. And I'm like, guys, you wanted a cat. You did not want a dog. You wanted a cat. And I think cats have a little bit of a negative connotation with them, especially with men.
I think it's kind of a man has a cat, You're.
Like, oh, like, are you a weird guy?
Yeah, And I think that's ridiculous.
It is ridiculous.
So if you want a cat, if you do want a low maintenance kind of companion that will still give you love, a cat is You're a great bet for you.
They're amazing. They really are underrated and they don't get enough love. And it is like you hear crazy cat ladies, or oh that's weird he has a cat. Like I just think that is so silly.
It is very silly to me. And I'm here to break the stigma. I'm here to advocate for the cats and advocate for cat daddies and cat moms everywhere.
Shout out cat daddies. I love that you said something about pheromone in the litter, pheromones in the litter. I think a cool thing that a lot of people don't know about is feel Away. And again this is not an ad, it's just a product that we love. We have them in the vet clinic and these are like almost like a glade plugin that you would put into
your wall, and they release pheromones for cats. I think maybe this is maybe I read this somewhere, but the Mama scent gland where she like releases these pheromones to her litters that kind of help bring down stress. They've basically like created that into this like synthetic pheromone that they're releasing into the house. So it's pretty awesome and it comes and plug in sprays wipes. I highly recommend.
I love it. Any behavior she with a cat. Any you have a new cat coming, you are introducing new cat, feel get a plug in or two. I do believe they actually work. I think there's some very similar products that I will not name that I have questions about whether they work or not. But I think the FeelA Way.
Absolutely works one hundred percent agree And we'll even sometimes spray it on our scrubs before we go into an exam room, and cats that are notoriously like trying to beat the crap out of us during an exam will be like so sweet and like rubbing up on you and headbutting you and like it definitely absolutely works, I think, and it.
Doesn't hurt at all. You know, it's much easier than giving your cat a pill every day. I'm just having a diffuser on if they're kind of an anxious or stressed out cap totally.
That's called it Feel Away everyone. You can get it on Amazon. It's awesome. Okay, I'm just going to hit you with some like topics, big cat topics, and we're just going to go through them because these are some of the common questions I get as a veterinarian. And you are at the cat king, So let's dive right in number one, what do you think about bathing your cat?
So I get this question a lot. I will say my cat is thirteen years old. I have never bathed through once in my whole life. Cats usually do a great job of doing it on their own. I think some breeds, like you know, if you have a long hair breed with just lots of lots of hair, or you know, some sort of like skin disease or there's not good on their own grooming, then sometimes you do give them a bath, take them to a groomer. But I would say, in general, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
Totally agree. I totally agree. I'm saying like, I feel like it's part of their like routine to groom themselves. Like cats are so particular in that way that if we're doing it for them, they're kind of like what the heck, Like, please don't Susan, just stop?
Please stop? Yeah, I mean, I I've seen some battle wounds from people trying to bait their cats. So if you don't need to do it, don't do it.
And then the long haired cats too, they'll come into the clinic and sometimes we have to give them like a little Brazilian wax around the booty hole, lit sanitary, some dingle berries back there.
Yeah, you know, things get caught in things.
Back there, and if they're like a little chunky, which we're going to dive into that too, they can have a hard time reaching around back there. So it's never a bad idea to have some clippers. Obviously you don't need to clip them short, but just like trimming up a little bit, and if you're nervous about it. Groomers are great. If you're at your VAT clinic for something else, you can ask them to do that. We usually are pretty amenable to it.
Yeah, lungs are good, easy.
As long as they're nice. I'm not trying to kill us.
No, we can. We can make it happen.
Usually, definitely. Okay, what do you think about hairballs?
Hairballs? I as a doctor, I hate them because I went to a talk a little while ago and they basically said, we do not have any sort of like peer reviewed research to fix hairballs. And you're like, well, great, this is a great talk that I just came to.
Thank you for nothing.
Thank you. But I think unfortunately it's kind of something you have to live with with the cats. A couple of things that they say can help is just frequent brushing if they tolerate that. Sometimes adding fiber to their diet with like flavorless spinner mucles always my kind of go to, or the other like fiber supplements.
What dost do you say for meta mucle just like a pinch?
No, I think it's like a quarter to a half teaspoon per meal, and you can kind of like tight right up, depending on how it's going.
I say a pinch for everyone out there.
That's how that's It's like a small little.
Like half a teaspoon, quarter teaspoon. I guess it depends on how big your hands are.
True.
Okay, well everyone measured.
I guess that's the cat energy is. I want it measured. I want a particular I want it the right way. And you're like a dog like I'm just gonna throw something.
Throw it on there, honey, and just see how it goes. It's fiber, I mean that, what can happen? Okay, keep going, what's the next thing?
And then this other product that we like, which again not sponsored by them. We just like the hat.
We're plugging all our products. This is great.
It's called laxotone. It's like a pace that you like put on their paw and they're supposed to lick it off. It's like a lubricant to just help kind of get the hair to pass through so they're not throwing it up quite as much.
Yeah. I really like laxotone. It comes into maple and I think like a tuna flavored and I've had a lot of success. I know, it's not like we don't have any major studies, but I feel like a lot of my clients have told me they see a lot of success with it, so definitely worth a shot. If your a cat has a lot of hairballs, were the shot?
Yeah, I think the goal is always improvement. I tell people the goals to minimize the hairballs. I don't think we can ever stop them with anything that we have now.
Yeah, it's just part of part of them grooming themselves. Okay, what do you say too? I have so many clients saying, Josie, should I feed dry food? Should I feed wet food?
Like?
What is the answer as far as feeding your cats?
I would say this is a controversial question because I feel you probably will hear a lot of different opinions for different beats. Personally, I like a mix of wet and dry. I think there's pros and cons for each of them, and I think, hey, a little bit of each goes a long way. Some bets, I think, will say wet only, and I don't think that's bad or wrong. That's just not, you know, my preference. But again, unless your cat is like a specific disease that they need
wet food, they need canned food. Then I personally like the mix of both.
I like it to add a little crunchy in there because I think it helps break down plack and harder, like that act of chewing. Really it can be helpful. And cats like their crunchies. I will say crunchies can make them a little bit more fat.
They're a little more calorie dense dry foods, and so wet food is usually thought of as helping a little bit more with weight loss. You know, they feel more full, they don't want to eat quite as much some cats. You know. I have clients all the time say the cat will only eat right, will not eat wet, and they get very stressed out of pan it, and it's like, yeah, he's a cat. You can't force them to need something they don't want to. If that's what it is, then and that's what it is.
Yeah, they're gonna do in true cat fashion. They're gonna do what they want when they want. So it's definitely not the end of the world. I agree. I have clients that really really get stuck on this, and if they don't like one or the other, it is certainly not the end of the world. But I do think a mixture of both is important, especially because cats really don't love to drink water. I feel like we have to encourage them. One thing we had talked about was
I like having the water fountain. Again, we're not really sure how much how scientific it is, but I do think that they tend to drink more out of those running water fountains.
I think it's always been the wisdom. I think for a long time we were recommending fountains. I have a fountain just because I like a cute little water feature. Yeah, they do my apartment. But I think studies are coming out where they're kind of saying, we don't think it really makes a huge difference. But again, it's not gonna hurt if you like a little water feature. If it helps, then it's a win win.
Definitely not. I like to watch the videos of the cats drinking out of the faucets too. It's so cute.
I love it. Yeah, my cat, if you leave a water glass of water anywhere in the house, she is going to drink out of it. And so sometimes I have to decide. If a glass of water has been sitting up for a while, I say, do I risk it? Do I drink this.
And I usually will your swapping spit with Alda.
You know what, It's fine. I scoop her poop by clean her all the time. It's it's okay, she's your daughter.
Yeah. So the dry food is more calorie dense, which kind of brings us to fat cats. I find that especially in multi cat households, like if you have one or you know, two cats, three cats, there's always a chonker and then the other cat tends to be like pretty skinny, which is very frustrating for owners. And just getting a cat to lose weight in general is just the bane of my existence.
It's tough, it's a challenge, and I will tell people with a multi cat household we getting weight loss. It's not impossible, it's just harder. So it does take a little bit of work and time and time because yeah, you usually will have one cat that is stealing all the food and you can tell which one, oh, you know, And usually I recommend what I would call kind of strict meal feeding. Basically, you have your food, you're measured out, you put it down ten minutes his meal time. At
the end, you pick it up and that's it. Some owners I know have these like fancy microchip feeders that if your cat does have a microchip, it scans it and it'll dispense food out depending on which microchip they're scanning. A little pricey, but I know somewhere is that it's worked really well for.
Yeah, I agree. I have some owners that I've used the microchip ones and it's so cool. It's like, Okay, here is Fluffy, We're going to feed him x amount, and here's fat Sassy, We're going to feed her way less so fat Sassy, no I think. I think, yeah, if you can afford them, great, If not, I really
do like the timed feedings, just like you said. And if you don't know how much to feed your cat, ask your vet because all the cat foods have very different amount of calories in them and it can be confusing and following I always say this, but following the back of the bag or what the can recommends you always going to end up, for the most part overfeeding your cats and your dogs. So talk to your vet.
They'll give you an exact calorie coount. You can look at what how many calories are in the foods you're feeding and come up with a little weight Watchers game plan because obesity and cats, especially in all of our pets, but especially in our cats, really can lead to a lot of long term issues. I feel like our fat cats are so prone to getting diabetes and joint issues. So it's definitely something we want to stay on top.
Of, definitely. And I mean cats are kind of silent sufferers. You know, they will hide illness or hide disease. So I mean, yeah, if you have kind of a fat, old thread cat, they're hurting. You know they're hurting, and getting weight loss off of them is tricky, but again not impossible and should always be the goal.
I agree. Okay, what do you think about people? I have a lot of clients that say, Okay, I can't get my cat to stop jumping on my counters. What do I do?
So, I mean, my cat does not jump on the counter, is hees perfect? So I think it's you know, it's a training issue. I think you'll try to obviously discourage it when they are jumping up the kind of a couple of tricks that I'll recommend to people. Cats in general are very tactile. They based a lot of their decisions on how things feel, so putting like double sided tape on the countertop or like aluminum foil. Sometimes serran wrap also works. They hate how that feels, so they'll
usually jump on and immediately jump off. And so the hope is that they just learned that they just don't jump up there because it feels weird for them.
And it's like dogs, where you start. If you start them young as a kitten, hopefully they don't develop that bad habit.
With all behaviors cats and dogs, start them young, trim their nails young if you can. Yeah, get any sort of behavior shoes kind of sorted as early as possible is going to be your best way to get it sorted.
Yeah, I mean I do get it. I think you know your cats are going into the litter boxes or peeing and pooping, and then if they're like walking across your kitchen counter, it's probably not the best thing in the world. So that is fair. Zalda doesn't jump on your kitchen counter at all.
No, wow, at all.
You were a strict cat daddy.
I I mean I would say, I'm not. I am not tempted by their their tricks. You know, cats and dogs. I see them begging for food, I see them asking tricks or things you have to be You have to be stronger, you have to be stronger totally.
I think having some structure is a really good thing sets you up for success. What do you think about keeping cats on flea, tick and heartworm prevention all ye round? Especially my clients will say, my cat doesn't go outside their indoors only. Do I really need to do that?
This is a tough one. I know. I'm going to be very honest. I think you know, if you go to your vet, your vet is probably going to recommend this is my cat on flea and tick? She is not. I kind of explain it to people, Hey, it's all about how you manage risk and how comfortable you are with risk. Can I say that it's impossible that your cat will get fleas if they're indoor only, It's not impossible. I've definitely seen cats get fleas when they're indoor only.
Is it likely not likely? So if you're a person that wants no risk, you want to make sure you're covered, then I would definitely stay on flee in tick. If you're somebody that's like, you know, a little ambiguity is fine. I can manage it. If it comes along, then you may not have to put them on flee in tick.
Yeah, I think that's a good, really good point also too, like depending on where you live, Like being is in downtown Chicago in a high rise. It gets very very cold there in the winter. I feel like you don't see as many fleas, like down here in the South in Nashville, we see so many fleas. And I think if you have like cats, and you have dogs in the house or other pets, you know, if they're going outside at all, then having them on prevention makes a
lot of sense. But yeah, if you're in like New York City or Chicago and you're living on the twentieth floor, the risk of them not being on prevention is pretty low.
Pros and cons with each side. I think if they have like a skin disease, I'll always recommend being on free preventional least for a month or two. Just in case cats. A lot of times you will not see
fleas on a cat. They groom themselves so so well, and so I've had cases where we work them up for alogies or other causes for itching and scratching, and you do special diets, you do medications, you spend it to a specialist and it was just a flea all that time, and it's like, just put them on flee prevention initially to see if it works, because that's such an easy fix for kind of what I would call a stupid problem. Yeah, and can save people a lot of time and money.
It's funny how you say that, Like dogs will see them come in with fleas and it's so obvious they're crawling in fleas, and then a cat comes in and they are so meticulous they've like plucked each tiny little flea off, and so you don't always know.
Oh no, and usually you never know, usually don't see them. That's why I think always, if we're having a skin problem, sort of, flea prevention is always a smart idea.
Yeah. It's like twenty bucks and maybe thirty bucks now and covers your bases and can definitely save you a lot of time and money if that's what it is. Okay, what do you think about my favorite thing in the entire world, which is when cats make biscuits?
What is everyone's favorite.
Things when they're in they no, she.
Uh now, it's it warms your heart when a cat decides for the first time that they want to make biscuits on you. It's like they have decided they love you, they care about you. And that's why I like cats more than dogs. I feel like a dog. Most dogs, you give a treat, they love you forever. A cat you really have to work for them to love you, and when they love you back, it is.
Like nothing else, like you won the lottery. Oh you've been chosen.
Yeah, you have been chosen. And so when they make biscuits, you know, I think there's a couple theories out there. I think some one time I read that as kitts they do it to like stimulate milk production in their mom so they you know, maybe they feel like you're a parental figure. They love you, they're comfortable, they want to kind of get a nice comfortable spot going because I feel like sometimes my cat can make biscuits for like twenty thirty minutes, really not long, and I say,
we get enough biscuits. We have too many biscuits. Now we made many.
Who's gonna eat all these biscuits?
Exactly?
That is crazy twenty thirty minutes. I didn't know that.
Oh she'll she can go. I've seen cats can go for a long time.
Wow, just working away in the bakery just making biscus. Oh there's nothing cute or oh I love it. I need you to send me a picture of Zalda making biscuits.
I have videos I'll show you after this.
On your chest making them, yeah, like on your chest.
On your ab, demand on your back, like wherever they want to do. Cat's jeless, do whatever.
I wish I could have a cat. I don't. I as everyone knows, I have three dogs and my husband is like deathly allergic. I would have to literally get rid of him in order to have a cat.
I mean, I love him, I love your husband, But I mean I like cats a lot too, So I don't. I'd have to think about it.
It depends on the day. Some days I'm like, get out, give me the cats. I will say.
There.
One thing that we haven't talked about is there is a diet out there that Purina makes clear, live clear, something like that, and the cats eat it. And one of like the main sources of allergens and cats comes from their saliva and their dander, and it's supposed to kind of like change that so that if you do have allergies, you're less allergic to the cats. I've had some owners say it works.
I've had some owners say it works. Yeah. I always sell owners. You know, we don't have any studies. We don't have any like research that proves this, I think, but I've had owners try it and they think it works and they're happy with it. So hey, if it.
Works, yeah, great, definitely worth a shot. I think the big thing for me is like, if you know you're highly allergic, you probably shouldn't get a cat because then you're just gonna have to end up rehoming it. If you already have the cat and you're experiencing allergies, great, like, this is a great option to try live clear Purina. Look at us, we're plugging again. Someone sponsor us.
Thanks my god, we love your stuff. Please sponsor us.
Pay us. We're poor. Okay. Next is what do you think about outdoor cats?
So again, it's kind of again how you manage risk and everything. I think. I live in city of Chicago. I would not let my cat outdoors, you know, as long as you're doing it responsibly. Maybe if you're out in like a more rural area or a suburban area, you know, if they're vaccinated appropriately, if they have flee intake prevention if you're doing regular fecal checks. So if you're doing it and doing it responsibly, it's okay. But I think you always need to know that there is
a real risk that's something absolutely devastating could happen. You know, there's a very real risk it could get hit by a car, get attacked by another animal. So I mean that's how I will always phrase it. It just depends on how you kind of are with risks.
Yeah, I totally agree with that. And I think if you have an indoor cat that's like itching to go out, but you don't want to like let it free roam. You had said, getting it harness is a great idea. The little cadios are so cute where you can stick them in their backyard and then they can roam around in it and see the sun and the birds and feel the wind in their hairs, but don't necessarily run the risk of escaping and you know, getting killed by a coyote or a bobcat.
And they have like backpacks that you can put them in that have windows and holes, so you can do that. They have strollers. I love a cat rolling down the street in a stroll. I don't care what it looks like. I don't care if it's embarrassing to the people, I support it. So I support you getting a cat stroller and rolling around in it.
If I see you pushing your cat in a stroller, just it's over. I'm going to come over and be the happiest person alive. I have a patient that comes in and it's a really big sphinx cat, so like a naked cat, and she wiliers a big pearl necklace. The cat does and she comes in her stroller with her cheetah blanket, and I'm like, this is the best day of my life. Amazing.
They always come in with like the cutest like sweaters because they're naked. Yeah, they don't have fur, they are naked. You're funny though, that's awesome.
Misconception. People think, oh, I have allergies, I can get a naked cat. But no, it's sadly the allergies are in their saliva and I'm a little allergic to cats. And I'll still like tear up and sneeze after cuddling and stuffing my face on a naked cat. It's too bad. Okay. Next on the docket, what would you say to someone that already has a cat or a dog and they're introing and bringing in new cat into the household.
Yeah, so there's a lot of things you can do. You know, I always will say it can be a little unpredictable. You could be doing everything right and the cats still aren't getting along the cat and the dog is still not getting wrong along. But generally you want to take it nice and easy. I usually say, first
couple days, just keep them in separate rooms. Maybe the classic thingel here is to switch blankets between rooms so they smell each other, so they get their scent, and then you kind of gradually increase it to kind of supervise visits from afar. It's where they see each other, and then again getting to more closer actual contact and all. That's really over a week or so if they're real,
real sensitive, maybe even longer. Yeah, but I feel away what we talked about before is a great thing to help the cats relax a little bit more when there is a new cat coming, to help decrease the temperature a little bit.
Yeah, definitely, so, and Steady wins the race. One thing that this makes me think of is if you're bringing in a new cat. Most people are getting their cats from a shelter, even if it is coming from a breeder, is doing the triple test for your new cat coming in, which tests them for FIV, which is like kitty aids essentially, and then FeLV which is feeling leukemia virus, which are contagious. You can transmit them through bites and sharing food bowls
and water bowls. So anytime you're entering a new cat, you definitely want to make sure they're negative for those two things. And your vet will know exactly what to test for. So check the papers that you're given, whether it's from the shelter or your breeder, see if they've done the test. If they haven't, I would definitely get that checked prior to introducing them to other cats in the house.
Oh yeah, ibsltly recommend that test. I think you know, it's just one test usually right when you get them, make sure they're negative for that, and then you really don't have to worry about it ever again, because I have seen one case I can think of they did not want to do with the leukemia as fiv's tests and they had other cats at home the cat ended up being positive. We found out later and then the other cats got it, and it's just a really sad situation that is very avoidable.
Yeah. Absolutely, Okay, this is sort of a random one, but I have some clients come in and they say, my cat looks like it's having like a spasm on its back sometimes where it does like all this sort of like twitching. What what do you say that that is, doctor Meade.
So I'd say that very commonly is something that we would just call feeling hyperesthesia syndrome. And it's basically where I think it's kind of poorly understood. It's basically maybe where the nerves are a little bit over excited and they have these twitching spells. Some people think it's like allergy related, if it's like a skin issue. Some people think it's like, again, a primary neurologic issue. Sometimes I've
seen anxiety as a potential cause. And so again it's definitely something that you can talk about with your vets. But the kind of trouble is treating this is a bit of trial and error. Sometimes you try anti seizure meds, sometimes you try anxiety medication, sometimes you try allergy medications. And so it's tough to again, but the goal oftentimes is to not maybe stop it altogether, but just try to minimize it to where it's at an acceptable level.
I agree with that, and I feel like it can be something as benign as they're just kind of overstimulated and their little back does these twitchies, but it definitely can represent something a little bit more sinister. So taking them into the vet and getting a good exam is definitely the place to start.
Oh yeah, I have one client who's kat has a very severe case of it, and she's done on an incredible job but just even doing her own research and working with me and trying to figure out what cocktail and what a couple of medications will work for him, and he's doing great.
Love that.
If you're listening, you know who you are.
Shout out to the good owners. Love you guys. All right, we are going to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to do our paw and order. All right, we are back and we're going to dive right into our paw and order. Number one on the dock at this week is I would not scoop my cat's litter, or I'd be very mindful at least if I was pregnant, what do you say to that, doctor Bean?
Yeah, so I'd say be mindful. I think the big reason why pregnant women should just be cautious when scooping letter other cats is there's a parasite called toxic plasmosis that cats can have that I believe has been known to cause like abortions and miscarriages in women. And again, if you want to be extra extra safe, yes, you have your partner do it, have somebody else do it. But in school, we were taught if you're just regularly cleaning the box daily or every other day, your risk
of contracting this is very, very low. I believe our parasitology professor would tell us that it can take a few days for the kind of parasite to become infectious. After that they've been pooped out essentially, So here's being diligent cleaning your litter box. Your risk is gonna be pretty low. I would still use gloves, I still wash your hands afterwards. But something to definitely be aware of.
Should not panic about it, shouldn't be afraid of it, but just be aware, be educated, and make a plan.
You don't need to be in a hals mat suit. Just stay on top of it, wear some gloves. Make your husband do it, and make your husband do it. Yes, get those cat daddy's working. Yes, Okay, number two, I would not declaw my cats. I know I have said this before on this show. I'm pretty sure I've done a whole pond order on it. But We're gonna die on this hill because I feel very, very very strongly about this.
Yes, this is declined cats. I think ten years ago was a common practice. And I've done a few the surgeries previously, and they are just real tough surgeries. You know, it is a It is a brutal surgery where you're pretty much just removing the kind of you last knuckle or last digit of their of their finger. And these cats are painful. It can cause chronic pain. And and you know, I've had clients say, well, my last cat was declouded and I've not seen any sort of issues.
They seem fine. And cats are fighters, cats are survivors. They're going to hide the pain. They're going to keep moving on. You're not going to see a sign of pain. But I can tell you these cats are really uncomfortable long term.
Yeah, absolutely, I mean you hear. We hear from our amputees as humans that anytime you have a joint or anything that's been amputated like that, you can have phantom pains and you're more prone to arthritis. And so imagine in this case, it's disarticulating ten joints in there, well, probably eight, I guess, depending on how many tobines they have, which, by the way, I love tobines, but des articulating at least eight of their wait, no, four, ten?
Oh my gosh, those are your front four? Me on the back, YEAHI on the front.
Yeah. Way, I can't do the math.
That's twenty if you do all of them.
If you do all of them, oh my god, twenty little joints having phantom pain.
And especially if your cat is an afdoor cat, decline them is dangerous. You know. They need their claws to defend themselves in case anything does happen while they're outside.
Yeah, and they just they do have a lot of chronic They can have a lot of chronic issues with chronic arthritis. Like doctor Bean said, it's actually illegal now in Australia. I think it's illegal in like certain states here in.
The US, New York is illegal.
Now we're moving away from it, which I'm happy to see.
I think the one caveat I will say the only reason that some people will allow declaw is if someone in the house doesn't mean a compromised so like cat scratch fever, or you're getting some sort of infectious disease from the cat scratch could be you know, debilitating for these people, you know, if they're undergoing cancer or they have some other kind of disease. So that's kind of the only exception where we can declaw the cats. But
I've never run into any of that yet. I've not had one that's asked to do it.
And otherwise, if your cat, if you are just a regular cat owner that doesn't have you're not that exception. There's a lot of great alternatives out there. Again. Feel Away can be really helpful with annoying scratching behaviors, getting a scratching post. And then my favorite is the soft Pause.
They're so cute. They're like little stick on gel nails and they're pretty easy, I mean, depending on your cat, they're fairly easy to apply and they're just like these little gel caps and you get them on all different colors, so they can look very very cute in chic and and that keeps their nails covered so that way they're not destroying your furniture.
Yeah, and I think the easiest thing is just cut their nails regularly. Start when they're young, start with they're kittens, so that they're used to it, so that you can do it regularly at home, because that's going to be the easiest, simplest, simplest thing.
Yeah, it will desensitize them, for sure. It is frustrating. My girlfriend just got a new couch and it's already like frayed from her cat scratching it. And I just I understand why people get frustrated. It probably is Oh.
Yeah, my car. I got her when I was in undergrad, so I did not know all this at the time. And I mean, my couch is torn up to shreds. Oh yeah. And everyone always yells at me, get a new couch, get a new couch. If I get a new couch, she's gonna do it again. So again I have to wait till she dies to get a new couch. But then again, she's gonna live forever, so who knows what's going to happen.
We'll just have a stress.
Well, we're going to live with the shudded couch.
There was one time I was very happy that a patient was declaude. It was actually at Boulevard I was working at in the River North location in downtown Chicago, and a cat came in named Chili Palmer. I will never forget him and shout out to Chili Palmer if your parents are listening. I was sitting on the opposite side of the room. The parents were on the other side. The exam table was in the middle. This cat was like completely on the other side of the room in
a corner. This cat launches up onto the table, takes his paw and goes and just smacks me across the face, like just like part of my friend. She bitch slapped me and he was declawed. Thank god, otherwise I would have like thrash remarks across my face.
It's hard to recover from that when a cat just bitch slaps you and you're like, I don't know what to do now. It's like like bye, I'll see you.
It'll buy right red. I just was like I'm just gonna go away for a minute. You can't recover now, like I would need to take a minute.
You have to take a excuse myself. I'll be back or maybe not.
He was definitely I don't know what I did to offend him, but my apologies, Chili Palmer. Okay. Number three on paw and order, I would not minimize or ignore if my cat seems a little bit off. They are very, very tough. If a dog stubs his toe, he's screaming like he's dying. If a cat is in full throttle like kidney failure, you usually have no idea. They are so tough.
They are tough. Again, I think people don't really realize it, but cats are. They're predators. You know. They don't like to show weakness. Dogs definitely a bit more dramatic or have a flair for the dramatics who us. But I think it's always really really important to just do regular
preventive care visits with your cat once a year. I think I saw a study, I think from the main society that said majority of cats do not go in for yearly checkups because you know, it could be a hassle for people to bring them in yearly if they seem to be doing well. But I think you will look at the teeth, we'll listen to the hearts, we'll
talk about obesity, if they have weight issues. There's a lot of things that go into that yearly checkup that even if they're fine, they may not be and especially when you start noticing little small things, if they're not eating, if they're losing weights, you if they're drinking more. These are all signs that something's happening by your cat. This definitely does not want you to kind of pick up on that.
Mm hm. I feel like so often we talk about you said, teeth and dental disease with dogs especially, we see like chihuahuas with gross mouths or docs in with
all this plaque and tartar on there. But cats are very sneaky and that they may not have tons of plaqu and tartar, but they can have really significant dental disease, specifically something called resort devisions where to the untrained eye you would never ever notice it, and that's something that we diagnose all the time, and we know that it's
really painful for them. So again, just another reason like getting them in once a year so that we can get a really good look in their mouth and make sure they're not living in pain and not showing us any signs of it.
Yeah, the reserved a lesions are the bane of my existence sometimes that I call them just like cat cavities. Essentially, that's what they are. And basically it's where the tooth is kind of disintegrating and resorbing essentially back into the jot. It's a pretty painful process when it happens, as you could imagine. The only real treatment is to remove the tooth, and once they get one, they're prone to getting more,
so they may get more in time. My fun fact that I tell clients about them, it's just kind of a cat thing that happens with their genetics. I went to one CE and the dentist said that even on saber tooth tiger like fossils, they were seeing these resorved a lesions. Really, so, the specialist said, so, I think that's a fun nugget that I tell people. It's just kind of a cat thing that happens.
Maybe those cats that get resorped ilesions are like the great great great great grandchildren of the saber tooth tiger.
I mean they're descended yet they are.
That's so cool.
You're you have a vicious predator in your house the size of making biscuits exactly. And that's that's why. That's the duality of cats. You know, they can be making biscuits in Cuddley and they can be vicious predators. So I like that they're complex like that, just like.
You, my favorite housecat. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for coming in, Bean, I absolutely adore you, and we covered a lot of ground here today. I would say, if you guys still have any cat questions for us, let us know. You can always DM me on Instagram at doctor Josie Vett. You can also find doctor Bean on Instagram. His Instagram handle is at since You Bean Gone, like the Kelly Clarkson song, and as always, click the link in my bio you can record a voicemail for
us to play. And then, last but not least, please be sure to rate, review, subscribe, give us five stars, or a new podcast, so every single review counts and we'll see you guys next week