feline health
‘Everyone needs a Chonk’
June 18th, 2025
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Passing time in a pet store in a city that’s 250 kilometres from home isn’t where you might expect to meet the pet that will change your life — but that was the case for the Helgason family of Kindersley, Sask. In a Medicine Hat pet store’s adoptable cat section, then eight-year-old Lena Helgason spotted a large fluffy white cat. Lena …
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Lilies real threat for cats
They’re among the world’s most popular ornamental flowers and are found in gardens or featured in seasonal bouquets — but beautiful lilies can also kill your cat. Both of the true lily plants, Lilium sp. and Hemerocallis sp., can result in acute kidney injury or toxicosis in cats and can be fatal if left untreated. True lilies include Easter lilies, tiger lilies, …
May 26th, 2024 Full story »
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To catch a cat killer
Advanced imaging holds key to non-invasive diagnosis of deadly disease in cats. Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a life-threatening disease with an increased incidence in cats that have spent time in humane shelters or other multi-cat environments. It’s one of the most common infectious diseases in cats globally, and without expensive medication, the disease is virtually 100 per cent fatal. …
May 26th, 2024 Full story »
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A rare reaction for a rare cat
My cat Bart is my best friend. When I’m sad, he jumps to where I am and lies down for pets and cuddles. He goes crazy for chicken liver cat treats. And when I come home from a long day at university, he greets me at the door. Last year, I adopted Bart from a local pet shelter when he …
July 17th, 2023 Full story »
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Vet Topics (Winter 2023) now online
The Winter 2023 issue of Vet Topics, news publication for the veterinary college’s Companion Animal Health Fund, is now available online. Click here to download the PDF of Vet Topics (Winter 2023). This issue includes the following stories: A passion for pets. The 2022 recipient of the Dr. Michael Powell Award of Excellence is Dr. Mathieu Paulin, a resident in small animal internal medicine …
February 14th, 2023 Full story »
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The feline diabetes puzzle
Kevin the cat has faced a roller-coaster of health problems during his five years of life. First, dental surgery. Next came pancreatitis, followed by a diabetes diagnosis. Kevin’s most recent health scare led to a late-night emergency visit to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM)’s Veterinary Medical Centre (VMC). Kevin was with a cat sitter when he stopped eating …
April 07th, 2022 Full story »
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Vets for Pets good medicine for everyone
The man standing in front of Dr. Jane Vermeulen was well groomed, neatly dressed and articulate. When he asked her for a specific flea treatment for his two cats, she assumed he was a staff member from Our Place — an inner-city transition shelter in Victoria, B.C. Our Place is also home base for “Vets for Pets,” a free veterinary clinic …
May 04th, 2015 Full story »
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CAHF Research Grants: 2014-15
Metformin: a new potential cancer drug for dogs? Drs. M. Casey Gaunt, Charlotte Johnson, Valerie MacDonald Dickinson and Trisha Dowling, WCVM; and Ryan Dickinson, Prairie Diagnostic Services Metformin is a drug that has been used to manage type-2 diabetes mellitus in humans. Recent studies have shown that the drug may also have the ability to decrease the incidence of — …
August 03rd, 2014 Full story »
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Cats join WCVM nutrition study
They won’t be walking around the Bowl like the pack of beagles did over the last few years, but a group of cats are joining a nutrition study similar to the one that made the dogs famous at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). The beagles that the campus community was so fond of seeing were part of a …
December 02nd, 2013 Full story »
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New clinical tool helps vets save lives
A $20,000 gift from Dr. David Stark — a Saskatoon-based dental specialist in endodontics — has allowed the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Medical Centre (VMC) to purchase a clinical tool that provides critical data about blood coagulation. It’s vital information that can mean life or death for an animal, says Dr. Casey Gaunt, an assistant professor in the veterinary …
October 02nd, 2013 Full story »
