I just got a kitten and she is 7 weeks old and has no shots yet - she just caught a mouse…

Even little kittens can be stealth hunters! Your kitten will likely be fine just be sure and mention this to your veterinarian. The vaccines she will get protect against cat diseases and not anything transmissible from the mouse.

She could pick up parasites from the mouse however, so your veterinarian may elect to give her a deworming medication. Congrats on your new little huntress!

My short haired cat is a little over a year old and I recently saw a small bald spot in…

This bald spot could be many different things. Hair loss can be due to trauma, parasites such as fleas or mites, ringworm, immune-mediated disease or allergies to just name a few. If you're concerned, I'd have her checked by your veterinarian to be sure it's nothing to worry about.

I have tried various medications and procedures with the vet for quite some time now, but…

As you've read, cats with allergies to food tend to have skin related issues not upper respiratory issues such as sneezing or runny nose. Also, cats are usually not allergic to one brand of food versus another but instead to an ingredient such as fish or wheat, etc. Ingredients in the two foods you've mentioned do overlap, so I'd be very skeptical about this being an allergy issue due to the diet. I would suspect another cause of the upper respiratory disease that is perhaps exacerbated by the aroma of the food or by just bending down to eat. Chronic snuffles and sneezes in a cat can be very frustrating. I'd keep trying to get to the bottom of this, while I never say never, I'd be extremely surprised if this was related to diet. Good luck!

How serious is a heart murmur in a cat? My cat (who adopted me!) has been diagnosed with…

It's important to note that a heart murmur is not a disease itself but a symptom of something. It is heard when there is a disturbance of blood flow through the valves of the heart. This can be caused by many different things.

Many cats may have what is called an innocent murmur, where there are no changes in the heart. A murmur can sometimes be heard if too much pressure is placed on the chest while listening to the heart. In other cases, it can be due to actual heart disease. At this point, the best thing to do is an ultrasound of the heart to try to determine why the murmur is happening. If there are no heart changes, there is likely nothing to worry about. If there are changes in the heart and/or heart disease, then medications may be needed and prognosis depends on the severity of the disease. Hope this helps and that it turns out to be nothing to worry about.

About two weeks ago, I adopted a 10 week old kitten. The cat rescue I adopted her from…

It is not going to be life or death if getting the vaccine is delayed by a week or so. It may just mean a period of time where your kitten's immunity towards these viruses may be decreased. If she's inside only, you will likely be just fine.

My cat is healthy but skinny. How can I increase her appetite?

The best recommendation I can give without knowing more details about your cat is to consult your veterinarian on this issue. Your vet can give you a true indication if your cat is skinny or not. Body condition scoring is the best measure to determine if a cat is in the best condition. Your vet can give you details on how to best determine the body condition of your cat. Body condition scoring requires a physical and visual evaluation of the animal as compared to a standard chart.

Purina Cat Chow brand cat food offers a number of options that you can try depending on the age and lifestyle of your cat (Cat Chow Complete, Cat Chow Indoor Formula, Cat Chow Healthful Life, Cat Chow Vitality). You might try some of these options and see if your cat's appetite increases and body condition improves.

Do you have any suggestions for treating an allergy to food?

The causes of an allergic type of response may be many and varied - including pollen, fabrics, insects and plant material. While it is possible for an occasional cat to have an allergic reaction to food, it is generally accepted that food allergies are third, behind inhalant allergies and flea bite allergies. Allergies do not usually relate to one brand or one specific product. Ordinarily, a variety of commercial foods would cause a similar response because the ingredients are often quite similar. Food allergy, when it occurs, does not imply a product problem, but is the result of an individual medical problem. It is always important to identify the allergen in order to guard against further exposure. When a food allergy is suspected, the standard method of diagnosing involves feeding an elimination diet to see if the symptoms clear. If they do, the veterinarian may reintroduce the original diet to see if the symptoms return. If the symptoms do return, as a third step the veterinarian may feed select ingredients to try to identify the offending ingredients. Skin tests and blood tests have not been found to be very reliable in diagnosing food allergies in dogs and cats.

Since the ingredients in Nestle Purina products are very similar to those in other cat foods, we would suggest that you continue to work with your veterinarian in determining the specific ingredients your cat needs to avoid.

My husband and I have three cats. Recently our middle cat hissed at his food bowl. He did…

I haven’t a clue why he hissed at the food bowl, and can only guess. Perhaps he heard something that startled him. Maybe a kibble moved and startled him. If you changed dishwashing soap, the odor could prompt a hiss.

One day our two cats were outside in the yard. We noticed four other cats sitting in a…

They most certainly are communicating. But we can’t know what they’re saying. It may have been that a bug crawled along the ground in the center of the circle, and they’d all gathered to watch this episode of Kitty TV. Or they may have been sharing some scent we can’t detect. By watching their eyes, ears, tails and fur they “talked” to each other as well as with scent. I’m sure the meeting offered lots of fascinating information to the participants.

I have three feral cats. I rescued the momma and her two kittens, a male and female. The…

Sad to say but it’s not unusual for a bully cat to find one cat and target that feline. The picked on cat also starts acting like a victim, and may as well be wearing a “kick me” sign.

I’d suggest that you act as though the two cats are strangers, and start with introductions from scratch. Set up a single room with all the cat paraphernalia--litter box, food bowl, scratch object, toys--and put the bully inside. Allow the mom-cat to continue to have free run of the rest of the house. Keep them apart for at least two weeks.

Start feeding the two cats on each side of the door. Use a sock to pet the mom-cat, especially her cheeks, and then use that same sock to rub all over the bully. This helps the two cats smell more alike. Cats that are friends lick each other and sleep together, and smell alike--so help these two cats start to smell more alike.

You need to build up the mom cat’s confidence. Offer more cat trees and hiding spots for her to get away from him. I really like the cat tunnels, so that shy cats can travel across a room out of sight of bullies. During these two weeks or so, the shy cat has opportunity to find the new places and stake her claim.

After a couple of weeks, open the door and allow the cats to meet again. Be prepared to interrupt any bullying behavior. Watch the boy cat for signs and distract him with a flashlight beam to get him interested and distracted in something else. If he does attack, stop the behavior with an aerosol hiss, or loud clapping hands--or simply throw a towel over top of him. Many more tips about introductions and dealing with cat aggression are in the book PETiQuette: Solving Behavior Problems in Your Multipet Household.