We joined forces with The Southern Star to find West Cork’s Cutest Pet!

Glasslyn Vets Social Media and Marketing Administrator, Alexa du Plessis joined a panel of judges along with Southern Star editor Siobhan Cronin and Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns to narrow it down to 10 finalists after a whopping 260 entrees.

The winner will receive a €100 grooming voucher, €100 pet food voucher and €50 health check, a professionally taken portrait, and a trophy.

Winner will be announced on 8 July 2023!

Go and Vote on : https://www.southernstar.ie/west-corks-cutest-pet?fbclid=IwAR0Xj6rStNg_vXcwqQHPLaVU8tm61WEXu-XwdkqLy34MBvG3mp-av6yTEoI

What to do when your cat has been diagnosticated with Feline Idiophatic Cystitis (FIC)? FIC is a complex syndrome that requires a multimodal management approach. Lets look at some tips:

ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATION- REDUCING STRESS
Cats with FIC are more sensitive to stress than avarage cats. Often, it is difficult to detect signs of stress in cats, but we need to provide an appropiate and rich
enviornment for them.
The most important aspects to consider are:
– Provide safe and quiet places to rest, where the cat can not be disturbed.
– Provide hight places where they can climb and have a view of most of the “territory”.
– Provide scratching surfaces, horitzontal and vertical.
– Play with the cat every day; they need to express their predatory behaviour and stay active. We can also hide small amounts of food around the house to simulate predatory activities.
– In a multiple-cat house is very important to provide enough ressources to avoid conflict (water, food, litter boxes..).
– Litter boxes: there are several aspects to consider refering the litter boxes: Place the litter box in a quiet and safe place, away from the
windows/outsie, so it can’t be overlooked. The litter box has to be away from the water and food. In mutiple-cat houses, there must be 1 box for cat plus 1 extra ideally, in different locations. Litter should be cleaned regullarly.
– We can also use feromones like Feliway.
It is very important to have close attention to the preferences of our cat (toys, litter, food…) and provide him/her depending on them.
You have to notice that environmental enrichment is the most important aspect in FIC management.

DIETARY AJUSTMENTS
Another important aspect in the management of FIC is increasing water intake in order to diluate the urine. Some strategies to achive this are:
– Feed with wet food (canned food) but we need to be careful when changin diets, it can be a stress factor in some cats.
– Use pet water fountains.
– Change water regularly, the water must always be clean and fresh.
– We can try flavoured water (tuna, beef…).
– Add some water in the dry food (if your cat tolerates it).
– Be sure that your cat likes the water bowl. It is recommended to fill the bowl so the cat doesn’t need to put all his/hers head inside. We can try different
bowls.
Normally, no other changes in the diet are required. If you cat needs an special diet, we will adapt it with the descrived strategies.

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Overweight and obesity are an important risk factor in FIC developement (and many other pathologies).
Some things we can try are:
– Increase activity: we can try playing more with the cat, with games that requieres running, jumping and climbing. If the cat stays alone long periods
of time, we can try with interactive toys.
– Diet management and diet changes: it’s important to feed the exact quantity that the cat needs and avoid giving him/her too many treats. If necessary,
we may change the diet into a specific weight management diet.

DRUG THERAPY
There are few drugs proved to be effective against FIC, but we can use some to improve clinical signs and recurrence.
– Glycosaminoglycan replacers: might be beneficial in some cats.
– Analgesia and anti-inflamatory drugs: they can’t resolve the episode by themselves, but can reduce the severity of signs.
– Amitriptyline: it can be usefull in severe recurrent cases

1. Make the cat comfortable with the chamber . Before applying any medication, we need to make sure the cat tolerates the Chamber. We will start with short sessions, using snacks -or similar-, to associate the chamber with good input. We can start by showing the chamber to the cat and giving her/him a snack. Then, we will place the snack inside the face mask, so the animal puts the head voluntarily into the mask. Every session, we will increase the time that the face is inside the mask.
2. Use the Chamber. Once the cat is comfortable, we can introduce the medication. After adding the medicine, you must count 15 breaths before releasing the cat, to make sure all is inhaled.
3. Remember to always make it a positive experience, either through play or snacks!

Tips for weight loss in cats

Obesity in cats are common, especially those who are kept indoors. Obesity is a serious problem that can predispose cats to different complex pathologies. These pathologies can put the cat’s life in risk, like hepatic lipidosis, diabetes, cystitis, skin problems or lameness.

A cat with perfect body condition-and weight- should have marked waist, the ribs should be palpated easily (but not seen) and shouldn’t have a lot of abdominal fat.

The pillars for a successful weight loss in cats are:

• Diet: if the cat is overweight or obese, switch his/her diet to a specific one for weight loss and maintenance.
• Exercise: it is very important to keep the cat moving! Try different things to promote exercise. Some of them are:
  • Play with the cat: it will help on the weight loss journey, but it is also important to simulate hunting behaviours in cats that are kept indoors. Every cat will prefer a different toy, some prefer rat-like toys, others prefer playing with balls. Try to play with your cat at least 30-60 minutes a day.
  • Change the place of the water or food bowl every few days (carefully so the cat doesn’t get stressed).
  • Hide some food in different places of the house, so the cat must look for it (a small part of the cat’s food ration).
  • Make your cat jump on surfaces (putting the food on high surfaces, playing…).
• Treat any kind of mobility issues.
• Ambiental enrichment: it is possible that the cat is eating more than he/she should because he is getting bored. Ambiental enrichment is an important part of the weight loss program (and also important in every cat we have home!). Some things that we can provide our cats with, are:
  • Scratching posts. Both vertical and horizontal.
  • High places where they can climb.
  • Hiding places.
  • Interactive toys
  • Litter trays must be away from the food and water, in a quiet location. In multi-cat houses, it is important to have 1 more litter tray than the number of cats we have.
  • If we have more than 1 cat, it is important to provide them with enough resources, so they don’t have to fight for them (food bowls, water, resting places…).
• Follow-up consults: it is important to control the evolution of the weight loss program to make sure that it is working.