MSI Press Blog

  This is not the first time we have written about cat cancer in a Caturday post. We learn more about it over time, and it seems that more in general is learned about it over time.  Blind Cat rescued share the following interesting and information post about cat cancer:  Feline Carcinoma (blindcatrescue.blogspot.com) . Cat cancer not only occurs, but at least in our household has become common as our cats have aged. Among our cats, three have died of it, and two are living with it. The breed does not seem to matter; it appears that cancer is blind to breed. Intrepid was the first to be diagnosed with cancer and the first to die with it. In his cancer, it was small cell lymphoma. He lived only a few months after diagnosis. His vet missed the cancer -- that happens with people, too. After describing Intrepid's late night howling to a friend who works at the SPCA, he gave us the name of a vet with excellent diagnostic skills. She immediately intuited the problem, scoped Intrepid, fou

how Happy Cat began sleeping post-stroke and our first big clue as to what had happened Diagnosing strange -- and altered --  cat behavior can be quite difficult, if not impossible. Our Happy Cat turned into Sad Cat overnight. We knew he was missing Snyezhka and Bobolink , who had suffered major medical trauma/issues and crossed the rainbow bridge. After perfect results from a physical check-up, the vet admitted that the picture of Happy Cat sleep was odd, but she had no idea as to why he would be doing that. He also walked unsteady, crossing his legs instead of walking with a straightforward gait. His sight dimmed; again, the vet confirmed that he was not seeing anything much but that physically his eyes looked okay. He walks around in a fog, quite unlike our blind cat Simone , who manages admirably. Perhaps if we lived closer to a major medical (animal) center, more diagnostic procedures would be available. But, like probably most Americans, we are too far away from such levels of so

Our Happy Cat is now Unhappy Cat. For 14 years, he was unflappable. He was the beta cat; he groomed the other cats, he introduced -- successfully and quickly -- new cats into our cat family, and he stepped in when alpha cat Murjan died, as mother and father to the brood. With people, he was laid back, a cool hippie cat who was friend to all, not overly affectionate, just always a friend to any human, but especially attached to Carl , sitting at his feet when he died. In a very short period of time, Happy Cat lost from his life Carl (from cancer ), Murjan (from cancer), Snyezhka (from a saddle thrombus), and Bobolink (from autoimmune hemolytic anemia and cardiac arrest). He would look out the door every day, looking for them. Then, her went blind.  He stopped grooming the other cats. He adopted CB, Carl's mini-me, as his buddy but otherwise did not care if there were other people around. He started eating a lot, like people who are depressed. And just sitting and lying and sleepin

Happy Cat with his best pal, CB Leaver When you have a family of cats, you end up facing some of the same difficult decisions that human families face, the most difficult among these being end-of-life issues.  A couple of months ago, Happy Cat changed overnight from happy to sad. One day he was his affectionate self, nurturing the other cats; the next day, he was walking in circles, stumbling into his food bowl, and acting confused--and was clearly blind. After local vets ruled out physiological reasons for the behavior and the blindness, we took him to a neurology center for an MRI. He has a brain tumor, a melangioma. Options we were given included very expensive surgery ($15K), radiology (nearly as expensive and would require frequent out of town trips), or medicine (that would not cure or even put him into remission but would make him more comfortable).  Beyond the expense of the surgery, there was a bigger picture. Happy Cat is a geriatric cat, a street rescue between the ages of 1

  We had a cat, Murjan, who seemed to be going blind. He seemed to walk into objects upon occasion that did not have anything to do with motor control. He would look intently at people talking to him. Yes, he was social, but it also seemed like he was trying to make them out. And it was different from cat staring , which is generally a sign of affection. So, I was a bit concerned. Unlike with people, the doctor could not tell if Murjan could see. The physical structure of the eye looked okay, but other than that, there is no visual acuity test for cats -- yet. So, we never did find out. So, recently, when I came across this very interesting and in-depth article about cat vision, it seemed appropriate to share for Caturday since I doubt that I am the only one asking if my cat can see and how well. Here is the article: What Colors Can Cats See? (Note: the article talks about more than just color -- worth reading.) For more Caturday posts, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC news

  Blind Cat Rescue has written and shared on its blog a wonderfully helpful article for owners of FIV+ cats. (Our 4 yo FIV+ cat, Bobolink, is pictured above. He gets along well with our other five cats, and in four years, none have been infected by him. It is very unlikly that this would happen -- encouraging for people who would like to adopt FIV+ but are afraid. No fear! Read HERE ! For more Caturday posts, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  X ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. Want to communicate with one of our auth