Andrew Specht, DVM, DACVIM

Among the key frustrations is a lack of understanding about exactly what this condition represents (i.e. Is there really a causal relationship to some form of infection? is it immune-mediated? Allergic?...). Since it is a diagnosis of exclusion, there is also always a bit of doubt about whether or not I may have missed a primary nasal diseas.

Inflammatory disease has been reported to be the second most common category of liver disease in cats in the US (after hepatic lipidosis). However, within this category, there are a number of different pathologic patterns that may represent different stages of disease or even potentially separate disease conditions.

Unfortunately, we don't really know how common clinically relevant pancreatitis really is in our feline patient population. Based on necropsy studies, pancreatic inflammation may be found in anywhere from <1% to 67% of cats, which is obviously an enormous range.

The use of inhaled medications is certainly not a new phenomenon in feline medicine. It makes intuitive sense that local delivery of medication might result in different actions than systemic administration. There are two primary methods for delivering inhaled medications to cats: 1) use of metered dose inhalers (MDI) or 2) use of a nebulizer to aerosolize liquid medications.

Feline lower urinary tract diseases are characterized by hematuria, pollakiuria, and dysuria, and are common problems encountered in feline practice. It is estimated that they affect over one half million cats in the United States annually.

Feline hepatic lipidosis (HL), a syndrome characterized by hepatocellular accumulation of lipid, intrahepatic cholestasis and hepatic dysfunction, is one of the most common liver disorders of the domestic cat accounting for approximately 50% of biopsy diagnoses. It may be a primary (idiopathic) condition or secondary to another disease process. Despite widespread interest and the numerous studies performed since HL was first described in the veterinary literature in 1977, the causes and pathogenic mechanisms of the disease are still largely unknown.

Feline lower urinary tract diseases are characterized by hematuria, pollakiuria, and dysuria, and are common problems encountered in feline practice. It is estimated that they affect over one half million cats in the United States annually. Although there are numerous recognized causes of these signs, the exact cause is never identified in the majority of cases.

Although feline asthma is among the most commonly diagnosed respiratory conditions in cats, there is still a lot of confusion about how to define or classify this condition or how to differentiate it from other lower respiratory tract problems.