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Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea in cats and kittens may show they have an intolerance to certain types of pet food or it may be the result of an abrupt change of diet. Severe cases could be due to food poisoning, feline enteritis or liver disease and can lead to your cat becoming dehydrated. If your cats diarrhoea is persistent, contains blood or is accompanied by blood consult your vet. In kittens diarrhoea can usually be due to worms (See below for more info!) or incorrect feeding. If you cat has diarrhoea starve her for a few hours to let the stomach rest then try feeding her with small amounts of a bland diet ie fish or chicken. Give her plenty of water to drink. If you have a kitten and her stools firm up after a few days on a bland diet but then she gets diarrhoea again, after you slowly introduce her to wet branded cat food, it may be that your kitten has an allergy to this type of food. If this is the case your vet will be able to advise you on the correct diet available for your kitten. If you cat has worms then she can be treated with worming preparations (See below for more info!). Ear Mites Tiny mange mites are present in most cat's ears particularly those of kittens. A severe infestation causes intense irritation for your cat and excessive production of a dark brown coloured wax. This makes her scratch or shake her ears persistently and causes inflammation. To eradicate ear mites your vet will clean out your cat's ears and prescribe ear drops for her. These drops will kill the adult ear mites but not their eggs, therefore, the drops must be used for a few weeks in order to completely resolve the problem Ear mites are very contagious and should you have any other cats of dogs in the household these will have to be treated as well.
Fleas! Most cats can be prone to fleas at one time or another. They easily pick them up from other cats, dogs and even in your garden. If your cat is scratching persistently then most probably she has a party of visiting fleas. Fleas are about 1-2mm long and are dark brown. If your cat has fleas you may come across them when combing her and also find specks of flea dirt left behind where her favorite places to sleep are. Adult fleas can live up to 14 days and during that time live on your kitten or cat feeding and reproducing. Female fleas can lay a great deal of eggs during one day and they fall onto the ground and hatch into pupae. These can remain dormant for many months waiting for an opportune host to leap on (your kitten or cat) when they feel warmth and movement.
There are several ways of eliminating the problem of fleas from your cat-
Hairballs A cat hairball is a build up of the cats hair in her stomach as a result of constant grooming. If your cat has access to grass then usually she will eat this and vomit up the hairball. However, if this becomes too large it can cause a blockage in the bowel and cause recurrent vomiting and digestive problems. If your cat has hairballs she could make frequent trips to her food bowl but only eat a small amount every time. Regularly grooming your cat can lessen the chances of hairballs. There are preparations that you can purchase to give your cat from pet shops containing malt extracts. Also, try feeding her once a week with oily fish such as sardines to ease the passage of hairballs.
Vomiting Cats can quite often vomit and this is more often than not to expel hairballs (See above for more info!). Cats who eat their food too quickly can regurgitate their meal soon after eating. If your cat regularly brings back her meals you should seek advice from your vet. If the vomiting is frequent and is associated with other symptoms such as lethargy, lack of appetite and diarrhoea then this could be a serious problem and you should not delay in contacting your vet for advice. Worms The most common intestinal parasite in cats are roundworms and
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