Centreville Animal Hospital Newsletter
www.centrevilleanimalhosp.com

Vol. 7 Number 8

News and Views as Summer Stays Dry, Hot & Humid

We receive questions from time to time about problems cat and dog owners experience. Send us your questions and we'll try to answer them. We received this question this month.

How to transition from one cat litter type to another.

Cat owners from time to time change kitty litter for multiple reasons. Sometimes the cats don't follow our logic and stop using the litter. So maybe some thoughts are in order.

Cats are very tidy and neat creatures of habit and if they are doing well with the present cat litter we would recommend to stick with it. If the transition is unavoidable try to do it gradually because cats may start urinating in inappropriate areas otherwise. Always have one more litter box than the number of cats in your house. And clean each and every one a minimum of three times daily. Consider it a Ritz Carlton versus a Job Johnny environment mentality!

First, you may fill one box (it is better to use old box that already has your cat's special odor) with the new type of litter and put it next to the old one and watch how your cat likes it. If your cat is using it and prefers the new compared to the old one – no problems! If the cat is not using the new litter, we recommend that you add a small amount of the new product with the old product. This change over should take approximately two to three weeks. For instance, on the first week, please fill the bottom 3/4 of the litter box with the original product and the top 1/4 with the new product. The next time that you totally change out the cat box filler, fill 1/2 of the litter box with the old product and 1/2 of the box with the new. By changing your cat's litter in this manner, we would not expect any refusals to use the litter box to occur.

A cat may have already urinated somewhere in the house and just changing the litter is not going to solve the problem of soiling your house. First of all you have to get rid of the smell at the inappropriate spot. Cats are much more sensitive to the odors and it takes special chemicals to eliminate it completely. Most of the pet stores or animal hospitals offer a good variety of these products. Sometimes odor can penetrate under the carpet and then you really need to clean the floor under the carpet or all the cracks on the floor.

After cleaning the soiled surface with a clear product such as Chlorox, “409”, Resolve, or OxiClean, then purchase an animal odor eliminator product. They are sold at every veterinary hospital and pet store. Saturate the surface with this second step. If the product has a spray top, take that off and pour the product on the soiled surface. This needs to stay in contact with the urine as per the directions that can differ with each product. Then remove this liquid via a wet-dry vacuum, or soaking up the liquid via your weight on towels, etc.

US - FELINE HYPERTHYROIDISM    Researchers at the EPA and two US universities (University of Georgia and Indiana University) believe that an epidemic of thyroid disease in cats may be linked to dust from flame retardants found in common household items. According to the study, the epidemic began three decades ago when polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were introduced to household furniture, carpeting, fabrics, and pet food.  The researchers found that levels of PBDEs in blood samples drawn from cats diagnosed with hyperthyroidism were three times higher than blood samples drawn from younger cats that did not have the disease. (Animal Pharm)

Topical Dewormer for Cats Available

A new topical product to rid our cats of internal parasites has been just introduced. Profender is applied over the shoulders instead of in the mouth. This eliminates so many problems of acceptance and tolerance of deworming medicines we have had in the past. Since most of our kittens get parasites from their mother, the queen, this saves our children's and pet's health at the same time.

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