Last week, I attended the second seminar in a series at the Orlando Cat Cafe. The topic of this one was proactive cat healthcare.
Jodi Ziskin, the healthy pet coach spoke that evening, to an audience of humans and the 22 cats in the cafe.
She talked about how preventative healthcare means getting your cat to the vet, and she explained that cats are seeing veterinarians less frequently than they previously did.
One of the important things that a vet can do to help you is by being your partner in understanding what is normal for your cat. A baseline bloodwork test performed before your cat becomes geriatric helps you and your vet detect changes as your kitty ages. That way, you know whether an unusual value in bloodwork in your senior cat is unusual or normal for your cat.
Similarly, Jodi advocates knowing your cat. Being aware of how often your cat normally urinates and defecates daily helps you notice when an issue arises. Being familiar with what your cat’s output smells like is useful, too. If what you find in the litter box is suddenly more pungent than usual, it can alert you to something going on with your kitty’s health.
Although her previous seminar was all about nutrition, Jodi recapped some of the high points, including reminding everyone that cats are obligate carnivores and that cats don’t need kibble. She says she cooks for her cats, but that there is plenty of canned food that helps provide the moisture that cats need to stay healthy.
While Jodi talked, the cats were doing cat things around the cafe. One irresistible gray kitten stole the show. I spent nearly the whole time playing with him instead of taking notes.
As you can see, he doesn’t feel at all guilty about playing in the noisy crinkle tunnel while Jodi was talking.
Loud crinkling kittens aside, it was an interesting talk, and I’m looking forward to the next lecture in the series, Think like a Cat, The Importance of Enrichment and Play, on May 18th.
All of the cats featured in today’s blog post are available for adoption from the South Lake Animal League at the Orlando Cat Cafe.
My human wishes we had a real relationship with our vet… but honestly, even though they are nice, the ones at the clinic are pretty much interchangeable, and she is not 100% thrilled with any of them. But we still go, and pretty frequently at that!
What a cutie pie! You sure made a friend at the cafe! I’ve definitely become hyper-sensitive to monitoring the health of my cats over the years. Catching things early before they become big is so, so important. It’s sad that so many cats never see a vet until they’re very sick (if even then).
You took notes? I was so busy playing with the little gray kitten I didn’t even notice 🙂
You got some great photos of the cats! Oh yeah, and Jodi’s seminar was great, too. 🙂
that is so cool that she is offering these lectures….wish we lived closer!
guys~~~~I have never eaten kibble in my 14 years young and look at what it’s done for me well ok my photos not here but you know !!!!!! hugs from dai$y =^..*= ♥♥
Sounds like a great series. We were in love with that gray cat from the first pic since gray tuxie remind me of ME. TW and I will continue to battle the kibble war. I love it and she rations it like it was gold.
That sounds very interesting. It looks like you made a friend ! Purrs
This is such great advice! I learned all this the hard way with Kitty. First, she developed hepatic lipidosis because an inflamed fang caused her to stop eating. Since we had four people at home – no one person was in charge of watching her intake – whoever noticed her bowl needed filling, did the job. So we each assumed someone else was refilling her bowl. Then, after taking prednisone for a few years to stimulate her appetite, she became diabetic and a similar thing happened in regards to her litter box output. I wish I’d paid more attention – but at the very least, I’ve learned my lesson. I watch Bear carefully … especially as he’s gotten older. I check his teeth regularly and have yearly blood screens. I have a lot of guilt over what happened with Kitty … I wish I could’ve spared her pain.
I would’ve been distracted by the kitties too … last year at BlogPaws, one of the sessions had kittens. I sat in the front row and I spent the entire session playing and cuddling the kittens and I didn’t realize until it was over that I’d barely heard a word 🙂 Can’t say I felt bad about my priorities!
Hat sounds quite interesting with some good points to ponder!
What a great seminar! If cats are going to the vet less, it’s not us…the mom drags us there whenever we do anything out of the ordinary…and at least once a year.
What a good idea, lectures at a cat cafe! We hope some of those cuties found homes, too.
I don’t think I could have taken notes with all those cats to watch and play with. I know cats are often taken to the vet less frequently than dogs but it’s odd to hear that cats are going to the vet less often than they used to. I’m a big believer in knowing “your pet’s normal’. It saved our dog’s life, and has meant our cats received prompt treatment at the early stages of any diseases they developed.
What a fabulous way to educate, in such a fun environment!