Puss-Puss has been a patient here at Pascoe Vale Veterinary Hospital for a long time. She will be turning 17 years old, and like many senior cats we are seeing her regularly to ensure that she is healthy and living comfortably. During Puss-Puss' senior health check up, we check for issues, which start to appear at an older age, such as high blood pressure. Puss-Puss was first diagnosed with hypertension three years ago and has been coming in to the clinic every three months to have her blood pressure check and medications adjusted.

Diabetes is a common disease in humans but it can also affect cats and dogs. Introducing one of our lovely diabetic patients Madigan, a 17 year old Burmese, who was initially presented to us with an upper respiratory tract infection after moving from Adelaide to Melbourne. On routine blood and urine tests while being hospitalised, it was detected that Madigan had excessive glucose (sugar) in his urine and blood. After more detailed testing, he was diagnosed as having both renal disease and diabetes.

Scooter is an eight year old domestic short-haired cat that has just been diagnosed with a liver disorder called lymphocytic cholangitis. Scooter's symptoms started off quite vague. She seemed a bit off color, became fussy with food, drank a little more than usual, and then developed some diarrhoea. Over the course of a few weeks she had significantly lost weight and her owners thought it would be best to bring her to the vet.

Laya is a beautiful four years old Burmese cat. One Monday night about 10pm, she was happily playing with a ribbon whilst her owner, Tracey watched on. Tracey saw Laya had the ribbon in her mouth, then it started disappearing down her throat until the whole ribbon had been swallowed. Now what to do? Was the ribbon likely to cause a problem?

Bruiser is 10 year old domestic male cat who loves spending time outside in the sun. He loves interacting with the other cats in his area and also heating himself up under the sun. Recently, scabs have started to appear at the tip of his nose and he was presented to the Pascoe Vale Veterinary Hospital for a check up. On examination, Bruiser had a few scratches on his face and nose from fighting with the other cats in his neighbourhood. He also had a scab on the left side of the nose that when removed, revealed ulceration of the surface of the nose. Due to Bruiser having a light coloured nose and his favourite past time of spending a lot of time sun-tanning, it was suspected that the ulceration on his nose was due to UV damage.

Mia was presented to Pascoe Vale Vet Hospital after being found lying in her backyard. Poor Mia was only 10 months old and had severe lameness on her right hind leg. A complete examination of this leg was very difficult as Mia was in pain, but a full examination showed she was coping well with good cardiovascular function and no evidence of head trauma.

Yakima is an 8 year old, male, domestic shorthair cat who loves having fun with his toys at home. One day, he presented to the Pascoe Vale Veterinary Hospital for vomiting and being slightly quieter than usual.

Josie a four year old domestic shorthair cat who was brought to the clinic as she was showing signs of having Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD).

Mim is a very fortunate little kitten. To say a cat has nine lives is very true and Mim is no exception. Her first life was when her owner decided to look after her. Mim was only a few days old when her owner had to hand-rear her, often taking her to job sites to make sure she got her regular feed. Thanks to the
dedication of her owner she grew to be a fine healthy young cat.

Phoebe is well known to all of the team at the Pascoe Vale Vet Hospital, as she visits regularly for treatment of arthritis, thyroid and renal disease. Thanks to the dedication and love of her owners, she is now in her 18th year and travelling along quite well. The major hurdles for Phoebe's health this year have been the undertaking of two general anaesthetics, firstly for a dental procedure to clean some very sore teeth, and secondly to surgically remove a cancerous lump. Both procedures have been a huge success as Phoebe's comfort level is much improved, and we are all very pleased with the outcome.