10 Books Cat Breeders Should Own

Here's a list of 10 books that cat breeders should have in their libraries.  The books range from genetics to care of kitten.  I wish to thank several of my breeder friends for make suggestions and comments on these books.

1. The Cat Breeder's Handbook  -- This is a collection of articles by various experts on everything from selecting cats for a breeding program to showing cats at a cat show.  There is a good article on cattery design.
2. Feline Husbandry -- One of the classics for cat breeders, which is still useful.  It covers diseases in a multicat environment, caring for kittens and mothers, and nutrition among other topics.  The book is fairly expensive as it is out of print, but it is available for free online through the UC Davis website.
3. Practical Guide to Cat Breeding (Royal Canin) -- I have not personally seen this book but it was highly recommended.  From the description, it sounds good as it has sections on genetics, reproduction problems, pediatrics, and even legal matters.  The down side of this book is the price -- it is out of print and routinely sells for over $100.
4. Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians -- This is THE book on cat genetics and how breeders need to consider relatedness among cats.
5. Notes on Feline Internal Medicine -- This is a technical veterinary book, but one of the best books for clearly diagnosing internal problems, explaining bloodwork, and giving medication suggestions.
6. Veterinary Notes for Cat Owners, Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook, or Cornell Book of Cats -- PICK 2 -- These are more user-friendly books that the above book.  They provide the reader with more background information on disease processes without the technical terminology and the medication suggestions.  Each book explains topics in slightly different ways, hence the suggestion for 2 books.
7. Infectious Disease Management in Animal Shelters -- This book is invaluable to understand and help prevent diseases from spreading in a closed environment, such as a cattery.  While it is for animal shelters, and thus includes dogs, it is very applicable to catteries.
8. Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook -- This standard reference on veterinary drugs is invaluable for understanding the biochemisty of drugs as well as for dosages.  Sadly, the book is expensive and some newer drugs are omitted until the newest edition is published.
9. The Pill Book Guide to Medication for Your Dog and Cat -- This is a more user-friendly drug book which covers the most commonly prescribed drugs, discusses the pros and cons of using human medications, and provides a simple first-aid guide.
10. Raising Cats Naturally: How to care for your cat the way nature intended -- For breeders interested in feeding raw food, this is THE book to have.  Not only does it provide clear recipes, it provides the rational behind the ingredients with references to literature.

Urinary Tract Infection in Cats

When a cat repeatedly visits the litter box, like 5 times in 10 minutes, or begins to pee outside the litter box, with even a drop or two of blood, one likely cause is a urinary tract infection.

There are several related medical problems that are related and must be clearly distinguished if treatment is to be successful.  They are:  bladder stones, urethral plugs in males, idiopathic cystitis, plus some other causes.  The key to determining IF it is a UTI is a urinalysis.  The urine specific gravity will help determine if the help distinguish upper urinary tract infection, associated diseases (e.g. CRF), or lower urinary tract infection.  A urine culture will determine the bacteria involved.  In more complicated cases, bloodwork, xrays, thyroid tests, and even an ultrasound may be needed.

The likey cause of most UTI's is bacteria spreading from the external opening up into the bladder and then even on to the kidenys.  Few infections seem to begin from blood into the kidneys, except in cases of trauma or urinary tract obstruction.  33-50% of all bacteria is E. coli.  25-33% are one of the many strains of Staph or Enterococci.  The remaining are a mix of 8+ bacteria.  In about 75% of the cases, only one bacteria is responsible for the infection, with 20% of the cases having 2 different species involved.  There is also the slim chance that a fungal infection can be the cause.

The standard treatment is antibiotics.  The first-line options are amoxicillin are trimethoprim-sulfadiazine.  Second-line option is nitrofurantoin.  Other antibiotics can be used, but many seem to be resistent to Enterococci.  Interestingly, the article says about clavamox "not established where there is any advantage over amoxicillin alone", which is intersting because clavamox is often seen as the go-to antibiotic.  Also of interest is the comment on cefovecin (Convenia) "Should only be used in situations where oral treatment is problematic" and it goes on to explain that the long duration interfers then with any post-treatment cultures for over 21 days.

In simple cases, treatment with antibiotics is for 10-14 days, with symptoms lessening in 48 hrs.  Sadly, simple UTI's are rare.  More complicated cases involving CKD or diabetes should be treated for 4-6 weeks.  Reinfection and relapse can occur.

The article also mentions alternative treatments, including cranberry extracts, D-mannose, methenamine hippurate, and probiotics.  Sadly there are no feline studies on any of these products.  Do note that methenamine is "poorly tolerated by feline patients".

Summarized from "Urinary Tract Infections", Shelly Olin and Joseph W. Bartges, pp 509-517, in Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine, v.7, 2015.

Feline Uroliths

80% of all bladder stones (uroliths) in cats are either struvite or calcium oxalate. The remaining 20% are formed from a variety of minerals, each type occuring very rarely, and so I will focus on the two main types.

Struvite crystals form when the urine is not acid enough. These crystals come in two forms, sterile and infection-induced. The sterile form is just precipitated minerals from the urine. They are common in cats 1-8 yrs old, in both male and female. Diets low in magnesium, phosphate, and protein can lead to their dissolving. Prevention includes lowering the urine pH, decreasin urine specific gravity, and decreasing dietary magnesium, ammonium, and phosphates. Increased water consumption also helps prevent formation.

The infection-induced struvite crystals tend to form in very young or older cats. A bacterial infection in the bladder releases urease which then leads to the formation of the crystalline nidus (seed-crystal). The treatment of these crystals is much the same as sterile struvite crystals, except that antibiotics should be used while the dissolution food is being fed. The reason for this is the bacteria trapped in the stone are released as the stone is dissolved and can cause UTI or further stone formation. Antibiotics should continue for 2 weeks past when the stone no longer is visible on xrays or ultrasounds. Prevention of infection-induced struvite crystals does not require any change in diet -- only thorough treatment of any UTI.

Calcium oxalate crystals form when urine is too low in pH. Various medical conditions such as hypercalcemia is associated with an increase risk in calcium oxalate stones. These stones can not be dissolved by diet and must be physically removed. Prevention is treatment of any contributing medical condition and increasing fluid consumption.

In the photo, Photo A shows a typical sterile struvite crystal which is nicely round and smooth. Photo B shows 3 infection-induced struvite crystals -- note that they are smooth but geometrically shaped. Photo C shows a calcium oxalate crystal with typical spikes.

Based on "Update on feline Urolithiasis" by Amanda Callens and Joseph W. Bartges, pp. 499-508, in Consultations on Feline Internal Medicine, v7, 2015