046 Caring for Older Cats

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In this special Catcast, we talk to Dr. Tracy McFarland, who was our guest on Episode 36, about caring for older cats. During the podcast we discuss:

  • Signs you need to take the cat to the vet
  • Dental disease
  • Oxifresh oral hygene
  • The dietary needs of older cats
  • Dry or wet food?
  • Obesity
  • Arthritis
  • Kidney disease
  • Water
  • Hyperthyroidism
  • avmi.net
  • Grooming
  • Step stools
  • Checking your cat’s teeth and gums
  • Feeding times
  • Urinating outside the litter box
  • Integrating older and younger cats
  • Heating pads for older cats

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

New Cat Sensation: Faux Rat Tail

beettail

We’ve discovered a thrilling new cat toy: a long tail from a beet root. Yes indeed, it looks exactly like a hairy, dismembered rat tail, right down to the bloody stump. Even better, when batted, it moves like a rat tail.

In fact, the excitement around this toy was so great that I could not capture any decent images of our cat, Buck, and his rat tail, which he would not share with the other cats (who were wildly envious), or slow down his play so I could get an clear shot. By the next day, when he tired of it, the tail had dehydrated into little more than a rat whisker.

This Root Simple Approved Artisanal Feline Play Device contains no artificial flavors or colors. It is 100% organic, raw, vegan, locally grown, cruelty-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, compostable, non-toxic, derived from renewable beet crops and only somewhat staining to carpets.

buckandtail

036 The Cat Doctor

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Our guest this week is veterinarian Dr. Tracy McFarland DMV, founder of the Cat Doctor and Friends–a cat-only veterinary practice in Santa Clarita, CA. Dr. Tracy is our veterinarian, even though Santa Clarita is a bit of a haul from Los Angeles. We commute to see her, because she’s that good. And we are thrilled to have her with us this week to talk about cat health and cat behavior.  During the show we discuss:

  • The importance of checkups
  • What makes cats unique from a biological perspective
  • Cat dental care
  • Vaccinations
  • Rabies
  • Feline panleukopenia virus
  • The outdoor vs. indoor cat debate
  • Ohio State University advice on environmental enrichment for indoor cats (pdf)
  • DIY cat toys
  • A toy to be careful about
  • Strange things Dr. Tracy has removed from cat’s stomachs
  • Plants that are toxic to cats
  • What should you feed your cats
  • The raw food debate
  • Natural veterinary food and homemade pet food resource: balanceit.com
  • AAFCO feeding trial
  • How to tell if your cat is fat
  • Meal feeding cats
  • How to know how much to feed a cat
  • Dry vs. wet food
  • Flea control
  • Heartworm
  • Listener questions: weepy eyes,
  • L-Lysine
  • Cat social hierarchy
  • Zylkene

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Submit your questions for the Cat Doctor!

cat at computer

Go ahead, tap on the bright box. It’s all you do anyway.

At the end of this week we will be interviewing Dr. Tracy McFarland  for our podcast, and we are absolutely thrilled.

Dr. Tracy is an top-notch vet who specializes in the care of felines. She’s also our very own vet. We’re going to talk about all things cats, and hear her advice on cat care, including feeding, vacinations and the perennial indoor or outdoor question. At the end of the conversation, if there’s time, we’ll pass on a few questions from our reader/listeners.

So please leave your cat-related questions here. We can’t guarantee they’ll be answered, but we’ll try. It’s best not to leave questions about specific cases (e.g. “My cat Mr.Muffinpuff has a purple spot on his ear…”) because this simply isn’t the correct forum for such things. Keep it general.

Cats!