Feline How-To Manual: Preventative Care - Dental Care, Flea Control, and Grooming ~ Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.

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Any health care links located here are NOT to replace a veterinarian visit; please take your cat to a vet immediately at any sign of odd behavior or any symptoms of illness or injury. Call your vet and describe your cat's symptoms with any of your concerns about the cat's well-being. Your veterinarian may discover changes in your cat's health that you have overlooked. It is always better to err on the side of caution.

Preventative Care: Dental Care, Flea Control, and Grooming

Dental Care

At the time of your cat's annual physical examination and vaccinations, ask your vet to evaluate your cat's teeth and assess the need for a thorough dental prophylaxis. Every cat's needs are unique; some, especially in the Siamese breed, can use a careful cleaning and polishing under the gum line every year. Other cats will need this dental care only once or twice in their lifetime.

Some groomers offer the service of scraping teeth, as do some veterinarians as a temporary measure until proper dentistry can be performed. Scraping teeth involves chipping off the large pieces of tartar with a sharp dental scaler while the cat is awake. This can improve the appearance of teeth cosmetically and can make it easier for some animals to eat. It also etches the enamel surface of the tooth, predisposing it to rapid return of the tartar.

The only total cleaning of teeth is to use a ultrasonic or rotary scaler like the ones dentists use on humans. The teeth are cleaned on all surfaces and below the gums where cavities often occur in cats. After scaling, the teeth are polished to remove the surface etching. Some vets also use a fluoride treatment to seal the teeth against cavities.

All this requires that your cat be put under anesthesia. A thorough examination for infection, cavities, and broken teeth, and proper cleaning and polishing cannot be accomplished while an animal is awake. Elderly cats are often the ones that need this type of dental work the most. To minimize the risks associated with anesthesia, your vet will probably require pre-anesthetic laboratory evaluation of kidney and liver function. If there are oher associated problems like a heart murmur, chest radiographs or x-rays and an EKG are advisable.

The health benefits obtained from routine preventive dental care are easier to understand if you've ever had a cat who acts reasonably "normal" despite the presence of fetid cat breath and bleeding gums. Once the cat's mouth is attended to and the infection is under control, there is often a personality change, with the cat becoming more affectionate and social. Eating habits also change. The cat will be at less of a risk for secondary effects of the chronic oral infection, like heart and kidney disease that can, without question, shorten his life.

Flea Control

To effectively control fleas, they must be attacked at every part of the life cycle. Simply placing a flea collar on your cat will doom you to failure. Unless you live in a climate that does not support fleas, managing rather than eliminating a flea problem is the best you can do for your cat. Fleas can come into your home regardless of whether your cat is indoor-outdoor. Management can give excellent results with only an occasional pest on your cat.

Effective flea control mandates the use of some insecticides. The so-called natural methods of flea control using herbs, garlic, nutritional yeast or other sources of B-vitamins, ultrasonic flea collars and boxes do not work. Sprinkling boric acid powder around doesn't work very well. It must be manufactured and applied properly to be effective.

The use of many over-the-counter flea control products are oftentimes dangerous and fatal. Those who are seeking more inexpensive methods are unware that they are actually putting pesticides on their pets when using over-the-counter products. In order to save a buck, unexpected vet bills and/or the death of their pet is what they will have to contend with by "saving" a few dollars for ineffective flea control.

All insecticides are not heinous and lethal. Some, such as the pyrethrins derived from a certain species of chrysanthemum, are natural botanicals, and are highly effective in killing fleas quickly. Your veterinarian can give you up-to-date information about flea control products.

Safety and effectiveness also depend upon the proper application and use of flea products. Manufacturers of these products have detailed instructions for entire flea control programs that include instructions for each step and product. Some programs have a toll-free telephone number for technical services.

Insecticides are still the backbone of all flea programs, although they are losing ground to some newer and more effective approches. They have a variable degree of three properties: to kill fleas on contact, to repell fleas, and to have residual action once they are applied to either the cat or the environment. Insecticides only kill adult fleas although some kill larvae. Researchers have developed a number of hormones called insect growth regulators that work only on fleas, not animals or the people who handle them. These hormones cause the eggs to dry up and not hatch. Where insecticides fail to kill eggs, these hormones essentially render the fleas sterile and break the flea life cycle. It is only by breaking this life cycle that fleas can be effectively controlled.

Of the fleas that parasitize dogs and cats, the adult fleas live their life on the animal. The adult female feeds by sucking blood, and mates and lays eggs on your cat. Blood is the sole food source for the adult flea, and because the female flea is laying enormous numbers of eggs, she is feeding frequently. The blood meal is digested and excreted as flea feces which looks like little specks of black pepper in your cat's coat. Sometimes, the is the only evidence of a flea infestation.

The eggs hatch out tiny, translucent larvae. The larvae feed mostly on the flea feces as well as skin scales and other organic debris. Flea larvae will not srvive in dry climates with a relative humidity of less than 50 percent. But even in dry climates, deep between carpet fibers and shaded areas of the lawn and under bushes, there can be microenvironments which support the larvae.

Flea larvae spin a sticky cocoon and enter a pupa stage. This stage can last from a few days up to several months. If conditions are right, the papae hatch and out comes a new adult flea seeking a host from which to suck a blood meal. The newly hatched adult must find another suitable host within three or four days or it will die. The paupae lie dormant if there is no host, such as a cat, for the next stage to feed on.

Insecticides kill adult fleas. Some insecticides kill the larvae, too. If the adult fleas or the eggs have been treated with an insect growth regulator, the eggs are not viable and will not hatch. The weak link in the available technology for flea control is with the pupae. There is currently no chemical or hormone capable of killing the pupal stage. That's why a single environmental treatment is ineffective. Even if it were possible to kill off every adult, larvae, and egg, the pupae will survive to hatch out a new crop of adults.

Effective flea control involves treatng the cat and the environment. While flea baths have a quick-kill effectiveness and can eliminate the adult fleas on your cat, flea baths have no residual effect. Residual flea control means using an insecticidal spray, powder, dip, or foam after the cat is bathed. This is also where flea collars fit in. They can help keep the population of fleas down.

Flea combs have special teeth and trap the flea as it runs through the fur. It is possible to remove the fleas mechanically using a flea comb and thereby not use an insecticide on the cat. In households with a small flea control problem, this approach may be feasible for removing most but probably not all of the adult fleas.

All pets in the household must be involved in your flea control program. Most people willingly go through all the necessary steps with the family dog, but if you let even one member of your four-legged household slip by, even if you never see fleas on that particular elusive cat, that's the one that the fleas will be attracted to first.

Environmental control means using insecticides and insect growth regulators in areas where your cat spends most of his time. Room foggers, aerosol or pump sprays should be used in your cat's favorite rooms, under and on the futniture where your cat sleeps, and along hallways where your cat walks. If you decide to use a flea comb to control adult fleas on your cat, you should still treat the environment with an insecticide that kills larvae and contrains an insect growth regulator.

It is also very important to treat your yard. Because the pupae are resistent to all chemicals, for your initial anti-flea campaign you should treat both yard and home environment twice, about three weeks apart. The first treatment will kill the newly emerged adults. After the initial set of environmental treatments, you will need to maintain your control by periodically treating the environment, and regularly applying a treatment to your cat. Failure of any flea control program is usually due to use of ineffective products, incorrect application, inappropriate timing of applications, or failure to treat an area of the environment serving as a reservoir for flea eggs, larvae, and pupae.

Grooming

Although cats are fastidiously clean by nature, some cats need a little extra help. Grooming your cat provides several benefits. Regular brushing and inspection will alert you early on to any skin problems, lumps, bumps, or fleas. It can help your cat to become accustomed to being handled. Brushing can be a pleasurable interaction between you and your pet that satisfies your cat's need for attention and can reduce anxiety and even blood pressure in people. By removing loose fur you help to reduce the incidence of hairballs and the amount of cat hair in your home.

For routine brushing of short-haired cats, use a flat brush with short wire bristles called a slicker brush. This is the best tool to remove the loose undercoat and prevent matting. For long-haired cats, a longer and softer bristled brush will detangle without breaking the hairshaft. Small mats cam be removed by pulling with your fingers or with a mat comb. If your cat's fur has matted because of a heavy shed, it may be necessary to shave the mats out with professional clippers. This is best done by a groomer or your veterinarian if you are unfamiliar with using a set of clippers. Be extremely cautious if you use scissors to cut mats out. It is very easy to misinterpret just where the mat ends and where the cat's skin begins and end up lacerating your cat.

Aside from brushing, sometimes it will be necessary to give your cat a bath. Always follow the label on the shampoo for lathering instructions unless your vet advises otherwise.

Check your cat's paws for ingrown nails. This especially important as they get older and may retain the old sheathes that will become embedded in the pads. Trim your cat's claws regularly.

How-to Articles in This Series:

Article   1: How to Choose a Vet
Article   2: Hospital Admission of Your Cat
Article   3: Preventive Care - Vaccinations, Serologic Testing, Spaying & Neutering
Article   4: Preventative Care - Dental Care, Flea Control, and Grooming
Article   5: Cooperation - Restraint Procedures and Trimming Claws
Article   6: Keeping Records
Article   7: Care in the Sick Room
Article   8: Keeping Watch - Your Cat's Vital Signs
Article   9: Nutrition for the Cat
Article 10: Feeding the Cat - Including Newborn Kitten Feeding
Article 11: Medications and Prescriptions
Article 12: Basic Nursing 101
Article 13: Managing Bandages and Splints
Article 14: Before and After Surgery and Dentistry
Article 15: Pregnancy and Delivery
Article 16: Euthanasia

Page URL: http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/howto4.html

Resource References:
Caring for Your Sick Cat Carol Himsel Daly, DVM and veterinary consultant
Cat Doctor, Mark Evans, B Vet Med MRVCS
Cornell Book of Cats, Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University