This student report is a literature study about cardiac insufficiency in cats and it is written mainly for veterinary nurses. It is about cats with an underlying heart disease that has led to an incompensated heart failure.It presents a general basis on normal anatomy and physiology, and also how to make the diagnosis, therapy and intensive care.The student report is also about the role of the veterinary nurse during the process of the disease, how to help the veterinarian in the best way, how to handle anesthesia in cats with a heart disease, which factors that can have a significant matter in feeding, and what advices to give to a pet owner with a cat with a incompensated heart failure..

The objective was to examine the frequency of unwanted behaviors in the Swedish feline population and what factors in the environment, inheritance and past life that have an influence on the frequency. SLU?s web poll generator was used to create a web poll which insinuated that it was a poll with objective to make an inventory of the Swedish feline population. I wanted to avoid that only owners to cats with unwanted behaviors answered the poll. The web link to the poll was sent to SLUs students and posted on Internet forums for people interested in cats.

Borna disease virus (BDV) is a virus with capability to cause neurological disease in several species of mammals and of ostriches. Also humans are suspected to be susceptible to the virus, as the viral RNA and antibodies against BDV have been found in some humans with psychiatric diseases, like schizophrenia and depression. In Sweden there is a disease called staggering disease in cats, associated to BDV-infection. This disease often has a fatal progress. Definite diagnosis is reached by histo-pathological and immunohistochemical examination of the central nervous system.

Behaviour problems are often behaviours that cat owners don´t like, but are normal to the cat. The reason to why cat owners experience certain feline behaviours as problematic is probably due to the current practice in cat housing. The ways that cats are kept today causes somewhat of a compromise between cat and owner and inhibits the expressions of the cat's natural and normal behaviour. The cat owners may misunderstand their cats behaviour, for example the cat owners believe that their cats perform certain behaviours because of feelings of guilt, hate, revenge or maybe to protest against something or someone. An animal hospital may help solve behaviour problems, but also help the cat owners to undstand their cat´s behaviour in an other perspective. The aim of this study is to investigate the need of a cat ethologist in animal hospitals.

Ej tillgänglig fram till 29 juli 2015.

Salmonella in cats has been documented for many years. Infection with S. Typhimurium,which is often referred to as Songbird fever, is believed to be caused by birds whoinadvertently infect cats. The disease is often seen during the springtime when songbirdsreturn from their winter habitats, while other birds who have stayed during the winter are intheir weakest condition of health. In the spring of 1999 an epidemic of S.

The objective was to examine the frequency of unwanted behaviors in the Swedish feline population and what factors in the environment, inheritance and past life that have an influence on the frequency. SLU?s web poll generator was used to create a web poll which insinuated that it was a poll with objective to make an inventory of the Swedish feline population. I wanted to avoid that only owners to cats with unwanted behaviors answered the poll. The web link to the poll was sent to SLUs students and posted on Internet forums for people interested in cats.

The aim of this study was to see if an increased amount of gas could be seen in the small bowel of cats subjected to trauma and if measuring the amount of gas could be of any use in the clinical evaluation of the patient. When the peristaltic waves in the small bowel decreases due to neurological damage or chock the microorganisms of the gut grow in number and possibly produce more gas and toxins. When the cat is stressed it can swallow more air then usual, and the air that is in solution with the chyme in the lumen of the gut separates from the ingesta. When the bowel isn?t moving it becomes easier for bacteria and toxins to penetrate the wall of the gut, and then get access to the bloodstream.

Particular to the cat among our pets is its´ unique nutritional needs and metabolism. The cat cannot produce some nutrients by themselves and must get them through their diet. This means that the cat quickly can suffer from various diseases unless the nutritional needs are covered. In those cases where man is completely in control of the cat?s diet, the right knowledge is crucial for the cat?s wellbeing.

Diabetes mellitus is characterised by persistent hyperglycemia in all species. Fructosamine is a glycated protein reflecting blood glucose concentration during the preceding weeks. It has become a valuable analysis to differentiate persistent hyperglycemia from transient stress induced hyperglycemia in cats. It is also used to evaluate current therapy in diabetic patients. Although fructosamine is a well accepted analysis, it is sometimes regarded with scepticism.

Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion (FORL) is a tooth disease affecting both domestic and wild cats. Although FORL was described as early as the 1920´s, the etiology is still unclear. Several hypotheses have been presented but different studies have obtained contradictory results, and today there is no generally accepted etiology. Teeth affected by FORL are characterized by root resorption with progressive destruction of the tooth structure and alveolar bone as a consequence of clast cell activity. The disease is considered very painful when reaching a certain stage.

The Pallas cat is a small cat living in central Asia. The cat is approximately the size of a domestic cat but the Pallas cat is more stocky build and has a much thicker fur that enables the cat to live in a climate with temperatures plummeting to -50°C. The thick fur is one of the reasons this cat has been a popular game for hunters in the past. Nowadays there are other threats to the Pallas cat. One of the major threats today is the reduction of food sources.

Lower urinary tract diseases are a common problem in cats all over the world. The symptoms are for example dysuria, pollakuria, stranguria, periuria and hematuria. In approximately two thirds of these cats the underlying cause is not known and the disease is therefore called feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC). We need to know more about the disease to get a consistently effective treatment and prevention. A retrospective study was performed in 50 cats with symptoms of FIC and where other causes of inflammation were ruled out. Data like breed, age, sex, body weight, feeding, therapy and therapeutic results were collected, also if it was an indoor or outdoor cat, duration of the symptoms, if there was any stress and if the cat was living with another cat.

The cat is one of our most common pets. Understanding the reproductive physiology of the queen is important, not only for the knowledge of our domestic cats but also for wild undomesticated feline species, many of which have been reported endangered. Understanding the mechanisms behind the estrous cycle, ovulation and pregnancy is also important for handling the feral cat populations that are a problem in several countries. The purpose of this literature study is to look into the hormonal patterns of the reproductive physiology of the female cat, with focus on ovulation, pregnancy and pseudo-pregnancy, and from this information determine in which fields more research would be needed. The female cat is seasonally polyestrous in Sweden, meaning that she can have several estrous cycles during the breeding season but goes through a long period of reproductive dormancy during the darker months of the year. The queen is considered an induced ovulator, with copulation triggering the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland needed for ovulation.

Obesity is a growing global health problem among both humans and cats with the risk of several medical conditions as a result. This can be detected and prevented by body condition assessment methods in order to visualize and detect possible or potential weight problems in cats.To achieve the best results, owner and cat should be introduced to this as soon as possible in their contact with veterinary care.Purina Body Condition System and Walthams Feline Body Mass Index are both morphometric assessment methods that are quick, relatively cheap and simple to perform. 20 cats with owners and a veterinary nurse student participated in a study to compare pet owners and a veterinary nurse student's assessment of the Purina Body Condition System and WALTHAM's Feline Body Mass Index. The body condition assessment methods were compared with each other, and it was investigated which method was preferred, the body condition distribution among the studied cats and if long-haired cats' body condition was more often misjudged. Results of the study showed a significant difference between pet owners and the veterinary nurse student's assessment of Purina BCS with a difference in median of 1.