Description
Elderly cats: why preventive healthcare is so important and how toa chieve this in your practice by Sarah Caney. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common problem, estimated to affect more than 90% of elderly cats. Diagnosis is not always straightforward as recognition of pain is difficult in cats, and cats affected by OA tend to adjust their lifestyle rather than showing specific signs of OA. Management options for OA include environmental modification, joint supplements, therapeutic diets and analgesics. Use of analgesics can be complicated by presence of concurrent illnesses, most common of which would be chronic kidney disease. This presentation will update practitioners on how best to diagnose and manage this condition, focussing on older cats. Sarah is a graduate of the University of Bristol where she also did her residency in feline medicine and PhD. She is an RCVS Specialist in Feline Medicine and enjoys seeing a mixture of first opinion and referral feline patients. She has written a number of books for cat owners and veterinary professionals including 'Caring for a cat with chronic kidney disease' and the recently published ‘Caring for an elderly cat’ (co-authored with Vicky Halls) published by her company Cat Professional, a subdivision of Vet Professionals Ltd (www.vetprofessionals.com). Sarah does a lot of owner-orientated feline research through online questionnaires and is especially interested in geriatric feline medicine. Book recommendations