Spirit is a cute little white domestic medium hair cat with very loving owners. I saw her initially near the end of June in 2008. She was feeling ill for a couple of days when she was brought in for examination.

Lois Legge, a reporter with the Halifax Chronicle Herald, recently met with Kathy and Patrick at the Atlantic Cat Hospital to discuss Urban Tigers, Tales of a Cat Vet.

Many cat owners are surprised when I identify problems like gum disease, cavities, and broken crowns and even missing teeth. How could this happen? In the animal world you don’t advertise when you’re sick or injured - you’ll quickly become someone else’s lunch! Unfortunately this instinct means our furry companions suffer silently with many chronic diseases, including dental disease.

Retroviruses are nasty germs that are responsible for serious diseases in many species. The most well known is Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS in people. There are two common retroviruses that infect cats – Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV).

Ailurophile Publishing had a booth at the recent Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Conference in Halifax. We were pleased to meet veterinarians from across Canada and even a few from the USA.

Veterinarians are often the ones that get the credit when an animal returns home after a successful surgical or medical procedure. People sometimes overlook the support staff that help with that success, especially the “out back” people that you may never meet.