The Hissing Feline

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Taking your cat to the veterinarian can be a challenge. Putting your four-footed child into its carrier is just the start. Then, there is the battle of giving your cat a pill if the vet prescribes medication. 

“There must be a better way to deal with those situations,” you tell yourself.

Yes, there is! You’ll hear about solutions to those problems on this episode of The Hissing Feline podcast.

Joining me on this podcast is Dr. Elizabeth Chapman, owner and medical director of Just Cats Clinic in Reston, VA. 

Vet visit tips you will learn about on this show:

1. The vet visit starts long before the appointment
2. A better veterinary visit starts by changing what the carrier, car, handling, and even medications mean to the cat at home.
3. Carrier training: Stop hiding the carrier. The carrier should be furniture, not an alarm bell.
4. Choosing a good carrier.
5. Practice when you aren't going anywhere.
6. Introduce "medication foods" before you need them. Don't let the first Pill Pocket mean "there's a pill in this."
7. Pre-visit medications.
8. What to do the morning of the appointment.
9. Dealing with the car ride.
10. Tell your vet is your cat is terrified.
11. The bigger message: Stress is cumulative.
12. Takeaways: Three things owners can start doing today:

Learn more about Just Cats Clinic in Reston, VA, at justcatsclinic.com.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Cats offer a lot of enjoyment to our lives. Watching Fluffy play with a toy mouse or scamper across the floor to catch a ball is as entertaining for us as it is for the cat. 

This edition of The Hissing Feline focuses on the ways cats benefit humans. My guest for this episode is Dr. Erica Monaco, owner and medical director of Highlands Animal Care in Henderson, NV. 

Show highlights:

• Different perspectives of cat vs. dog interaction
• Cat-human bonding
• How cats demonstrate connections with their humans
• Mental health benefits of having a cat
• Cats and human mood improvement
• Physical benefits of having cats
• Positives of cats for seniors
• Practical benefits of cats

For more information about Highlands Animal Care, visit their website at pawshealthpartners.com.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Do you talk to your cat? Did you know that your cat also communicates with you? 
On this episode of The Hissing Feline podcast, you’ll learn about how cats use vocalizations and body language to express themselves to humans and other cats. 

My guest is Dr. Sarah Bruggeman, Senior Associate Veterinarian at Billings Animal Family Hospital in Billings, MT, and a member of the Feline Veterinary Association. 

Dr. Bruggeman discusses topics, including those listed below, about feline communication:

Vocal communication

• Mother cat to kittens
• Different reasons cats purr, including physical benefits for the cat
• Hissing
• Yowling

Body language

• Ear position
• Eyes, such as blinking and staring
• Posture
• Tail location and shape

Other communication expressions

• Kneading
• Rubbing

For more information about the Billings Animal Family Hospital, visit their website at www.billingsanimalfamilyhospital.com.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Have you wondered what a cat feels when its paws touch cool grass or a crunchy leaf? When it hears the buzz of an insect…or comes face-to-face with a human? There’s a new book that lets you sense and think like a cat. 

Kat McCarthy is my guest on this episode of The Hissing Feline. She is an author and a member of the Cat Writers Association. Kat talks about her novel, “The Wild Side of the Wall: A Cat's Tale of Courage, Kinship, and Joy.”

On this episode, Kat discusses the background of her book, what inspired the novel, what she hopes readers take away from it, and how listeners can obtain a copy of her book.

• Her goal for writing the book
• Initial thoughts before starting the book project
• Inspiration for writing the book
• How research about cats informed the book, including examples of findings from research
• What Kat learned from writing the book
• What people can learn about cats from reading the novel
• How interested listeners can get a sample of the book
• How people can obtain the full book

Get more information about Kat's novel by visiting her website at thecatstale.com/wild-kin-press/the-wild-side-of-the-wall.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Chronic Kidney Disease is one of the most common health issues cat owners face, especially in older cats. 

What symptoms might cat parents observe that point to kidney disease? How is the disease diagnosed? What treatment methods are available? 

Dr. Jessica Quimby joins me on this episode of The Hissing Feline to talk about feline chronic kidney disease. She is Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University. Dr. Quimby is a board certified internal medicine specialist.

During the show, Dr. Quimby discusses several aspects of feline chronic kidney disease (CKD):

1. Explanation of Chronic Kidney Disease
2. Risk factors and causes of kidney disease
3. Cats that are most susceptible to the disease 
4. Symptoms cat owners might observe
5. Effects of feline kidney disease
6. Diagnosis/screening
7. Importance of seeing a veterinarian early if an ailment is suspected
8. Veterinary treatment methods, including new methods and technologies
9. What cat owners can do at home
10. Ongoing monitoring when a cat has CKD
11. Prognosis of CKD
12. End-stage CKD

Find out more about the work of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine here.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Some great changes are coming to The Hissing Feline podcast in September:

• Same excellent cat expert interviews.
• New podcast logo.
• Inspiring Cat Stories after each interview, with stories from listeners.
• The Hissing Feline website that has links to current and previous episodes, the Cat Stuff blog, profiles of the podcast crew, and a contact page with information about how to submit an Inspiring Cat Story.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, and other podcast platforms.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Watching our cats age is not easy, especially when they have chronic pain, kidney disease, weight loss, arthritis, and other debilitating conditions. Some cats experience mental decline also known as Feline Cognitive Dysfunction.

This episode features a visit with Dr. Melissa Boldan about feline dementia. Dr. Boldan is associate veterinarian at Trailside Animal Hospital in Columbia, MO. She also is a contributing author of articles about cat and dog health topics to PetMD. 

Here are some of the topics discussed on this podcast:

1. Feline dementia defined. 
2. Cats most likely to get dementia. 
3. Symptoms cat owners might observe.
4. Veterinarian diagnosis process.
5. Medication-related treatments for feline dementia.
6. Feline dementia treatments outside of medications
7. Prognosis for cats with dementia.
8. What cat owners can do to support their cat as it declines.
9. Resources for understanding and managing dementia. 

Click here to learn more about Trailside Animal Hospital in Columbia, MO.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Very popular types of online videos feature cats. They are everywhere on social media. People simply cannot get enough of cats being cats. 

The guest on this episode of The Hissing Feline is Will Braden, director of the Cat Video Fest. On the podcast, Will discusses a number of topics about the Fest:

• Fest history and Will's involvement
• Growth of the Fest in the US
• International aspect of the Fest
• Types of videos that are included in the production
• The process of receiving, sorting through entries, and selection criteria
• How the Fest helps local shelters with part of the proceeds

For more information about the Fest, visit CatVideoFest.com.

Learn more about CVF Director Will Braden by clicking here. 

We would enjoy hearing from you.

There are many shelter cats that are considered "unadoptable" or overlooked. They are felines that are more difficult to adopt out due to various circumstances. That includes cats that might have either a shy or aggressive personality, those that are undersocialized, felines with medical situations (e.g., feline leukemia, diabetes, and cancer), special needs cats, and cats that are in their senior years.

This episode of The Hissing Feline podcast features an interview with Nikki Healy, executive director of the Good Mews Animal Foundation in Marietta, Georgia. In this show, Nikki talks about overlooked cats and discusses some people's perception about adopting those cats.

Nikki talks about the benefits both to adopters and felines of adopting overlooked cats. She also explains what adopters of these cats need to know.

Finally, Nikki discusses the importance of people educating themselves about adopting overlooked cats and lists some resources for more information about those types of cats.

You can learn more about the Good Mews Animal Foundation by visiting the organization's website at https://www.goodmews.org.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

One big health concern of cat owners is feline diabetes. What are symptoms that cat parents can recognize? What treatments are available for the disease? How can diabetes be managed in cats?

This episode of The Hissing Feline features a discussion with Dr. Elizabeth Chapman about feline diabetes. Dr. Chapman is owner and medical director of Just Cats Clinic in Reston, VA.

The show focuses on topics such as factors that contribute to feline diabetes, signs of diabetes that cat owners might observe, and detection methods and diagnosis by veterinarians. Dr. Chapman also talks about complications of feline diabetes and methods to manage the condition. She provides important resources to learn more about feline diabetes.

Find out more about Just Cats Clinic at justcatsclinic.com.