Holiday Weekend Schedule

Dr. Robison is away from the office until Tuesday May 31. Medical care will be unavailable at Cat's Meow Veterinary Clinic until then.

If you have a medical emergency during this time, please call Veterinary Specialists of the Valley at 818-883-8387.

If you need a refill of your cat's medication; need to purchase food or retail items; need to call to schedule an appointment for next week; or would like to have us fax a copy of your records someplace else for care, the office will be open for administrative/retail services only on the following schedule:
Thursday May 26 9 AM - noon and 5-6 PM
Friday May 27 9 AM - noon and 5-6 PM
Saturday May 28 CLOSED
Sunday May 29 CLOSED
Monday May 30 CLOSED

Regular hours will resume Tuesday. Have a pleasant weekend!

Feral cats identified as possible Willow Creek rabies source; victim currently in stable condition

For decades I have been harping on the subject of rabies as a public health issue, constantly telling clients, friends, family, and a whole host of other acquaintances that the rabies threat is real, that it is and will always be with us here in North America, and that cats should never be ignored as potential rabies vectors. We have a huge feral cat population in Los Angeles, and they have always troubled me because they are by and large unprotected against this ancient scourge. Our local bats are an ongoing rabies threat, and cats by their curious and predatory natures are especially at risk when rabid bats are around. Where this case occurred rabies is also common in skunks and gray foxes.

So it appears now that a perfect storm of events may have occurred in Northern California: high local incidence of rabid skunks and foxes, with some rabid local bats also; significant feral cat population; susceptible humans. The result is a woman in a fight for her life, and the only good news is that the Milwaukee Protocol appears to be working and she is now in stable condition. Every one of the half dozen rabies survivors worldwide is a small miracle because this viral disease has the highest mortality rate of any infectious disease: essentially 100%.

While I am thrilled at the woman's probable survival, I worry that people will use this as an excuse to have an even more lackadaisical attitude toward rabies than they do now (and that's really saying something). We have a serious feral cat issue here, and they pose a significant zoonotic disease threat even without taking rabies into consideration.

We still need to, as a community, come together to eliminate the feral cat problem, not just perpetuate it by dumping the poor things out on the street after neutering and a one-time vaccination and calling it good. Cats are NOT a native species and have no place in any North American ecosystem other than our households. As domestic animals, they have every right to a clean, safe home; protection from the elements and outdoor hazards; and most importantly, ongoing and adequate medical and preventive care by a licensed veterinarian.

I hope this is a wake up call for Angelenos. I fear that it will not be.

IPad Games for Cats - What Will They Think of Next??

I just got wind of this new way to keep your cat entertained: iPad games for cats. Of course, I don't personally have an iPad, and am unlikely to get one, being a PC girl who doesn't get the Mac cachet, but even I have to admit this is pretty cool.

The games are: Cat Fishing, Tasty Treasures Hunt, and Party Mix-Up.

But please don't take this as an endorsement of Friskies cat food. As you know by now, I oppose the use of fish in cat foods except for very limited situations, and Friskies puts fish in virtually everything they make. I think they also use a bit of wheat gluten in some of their canned foods and that also is a bad idea.

I'm also not sure what sort of damage cat claws could do to one of those rather costly devices.........

A Day in the Life of a Veterinarian

I came across this article back in April - it details a reporter's experiences as an observer at a veterinary hospital in Wisconsin on one day this year.

I found this part interesting:
"...Doing follow-up research for the story, I came across a British study that revealed the suicide rate of veterinarians is proportionally four times that of the general population and twice that of other doctors and dentists. Job stress, lethal drug access and euthanasia acceptance are among the potential driving forces behind the heightened risk, the study said..."

I wasn't aware of this, but it doesn't surprise me. We certainly know how to do that "dead" thing as part of our professional training, and have access to the tools and drugs to do it. A veterinarian from the class ahead of me in vet school committed suicide just a couple of years after graduating, while he was successfully employed in private practice.

I wonder how the numbers look in light of the economic decline of the past few years? It has almost certainly become more of a problem than ever, because veterinary visits are down so much.

Sigh. I'm gonna go home tonight and tell my kitties how much I love them, and that no matter what, I will always be there for them.