All the latest info on caring for your pet

November, November, the month to remember… ...but for too many of our dogs and cats, fireworks make it a month they want to forget! With Fireworks Season stretching from October to January nowadays, while it may be fun for us, it’s horrible for them. In this blog, we’re going to think about all the things we can do to help them.

Hair loss in cats is almost always due to excessive grooming from itchiness (pruritus). They often do this in secret so may not be seen. In the UK, fleas are the most common cause of this over-grooming. The general veterinary approach to skin disease: fleas are the culprits until proven otherwise.

Research has found some 19 different vocal patterns in cats, with individuals adding personal sounds only used with their owners. Most sounds fall into three groups: closed mouth greeting (purr or chirrup), fixed open mouth emotional sounds (hissing, growling or spitting), and open then closed mouth ‘meow’, which cats change depending on the circumstance. Kittens meow to communicate hunger, cold or fear to their mum. Adults communicate with each other by hissing, growling and using body language and scent. An exception is the ‘yowl’ (similar to a meow but more drawn out and melodic). Adult cats yowl at each other specifically during breeding season. Meowing in adults is usually reserved for communicating with humans.

In this final part of our series on zoonotic infections, we’re going to look at rarer or emerging zoonoses – those where the zoonotic risk is perhaps less well known.

In the first of this series, we looked at what a zoonosis was, and the 'worst case scenario’ of a rabies outbreak. In this second part, we’re going to look at some of the more common conditions that vets (and doctors!) in the UK see in general practice day in, day out.