Cat on the Cutting Edge

In full scrubs and armed with a scalpel, Clare Gregory hovers over an anesthetized light-brown tabby named Wink. He cuts through the vessels connecting the cat's kidney to its circulatory system and drops the walnut-sized organ in a dish of ice. A nurse sets the hands of a large timer on the wall of the operating room, which begins the countdown from 60 minutes. That's the amount of time the vets have to connect Wink's kidney inside Binky, a very sick kitty, whose own kidneys have failed.


Joe Toreno
Forget lab rats: Household pets are being used to refine advanced cloning and surgical techniques, and to pinpoint our DNA trouble spots.
In the operating room, the two cats are tied down on adjacent tables, paws taped back in spread-eagle fashion. Breathing tubes are stuck down their throats, and drip tubes deliver anesthesia through veins in their wrists. Their tongues hang out of their mouths, and their eyes are open and glassy. They seem dead except for their opened chests, which move up and down in a slow rhythm controlled by expensive machinery. They look nearly identical.

In fact, though, they're quite different. With Binky's kidneys failing, his blood chemistry has gone haywire. At 11 years old, he's highly anemic and unable to flush his own blood of nitrogen, urea, and other respiration by-products. His emaciated and shaved body looks more like a skinned rabbit than a cat that once weighed a hefty 14 pounds - he's now shrunk to 8. Wink, on the other hand, is downright porky. Just 2 years old, he's spent his entire life as a research animal in a nutrition study at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, where he did nothing but eat and sleep. Now he's been selected to donate an organ. The deal is that in exchange for one kidney, the recipient's owner must adopt donor pet Wink, liberating him from the lab. So to save one cat, you get two.

Now, sitting over Binky's draped body, Gregory and fellow surgeon Lynda Bernsteen peer into the patient's abdominal cavity through a giant microscope built for two. Gregory asks that no one bump the table as he begins cutting into the aorta and vena cava to plug in the new organ. "Time?" Bernsteen asks between careful incisions and minute sutures. She moves so quickly it almost looks easy. A quick cut here, an expert stitch there. The doctors work the miracle of modern surgery, and it's hard to remember that the patient is a cat. After what seems like only moments, a nurse reports that 32 minutes have passed. That leaves only 28 to finish.

All this energy to save poor Binky might seem a gross indulgence. But Binky's owner, Gayle Roberts, a vet herself, would willingly part with one of her own kidneys for any member of her family. That clan - in addition to Binky, a husband, and two kids - includes Blackjack, Bedbug, Dark Crystal, Penelope, Helen, Kiwi, and Lucifer. It's hard to remember who is who. Is Dusty her son or the Australian shepherd? Although Binky's kidney transplant will set Roberts back $9,000 for surgery, drugs, and post-op care (for canines, the cost runs upwards of 15 grand), when it's close kin, it's hard to say no. Forced to choose between Binky and mortgage payments, Roberts chose her cat. Since then, her bank has threatened to foreclose on the house.

One hundred years ago, Americans considered cats little more than rat catchers and gave even beloved dogs almost no medical treatment. But as the the middle class grew wealthy enough to include animals in their families, and as the automobile displaced the horse in the early 20th century, urban veterinarians began looking for new markets. They gradually found work spaying, neutering, and fixing the broken bones of a growing population of household pets: cats and dogs. The growth proved contagious. In 1950, there were roughly 9,000 members of the American Veterinary Medical Association; that figure is now 70,000.

As pet owners pour more and more money into advanced treatments, it's not just the Binkys who are benefiting. Animal medical procedures are pushing vets into the most experimental regions of science. Demand for sophisticated pet care has brought terms like gene therapy and MRI into the vet lexicon. Surgeons at UC Davis now complete 25 kidney transplants a year and are trying out experimental drugs on pets with terminal brain tumors. At Iowa State, dogs are getting artificial elbows, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, vets are saving damaged limbs by implanting the bones of dead animals. Over the years, the passion of pet owners has created a discipline poised to inform medicine as a whole.

"Our pets have this huge veterinary profession scrutinizing them, with thousands of observers of disease graduating from veterinary schools each year," says Stephen O'Brien, chief scientific officer at the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity.

All this data provides a window into human medicine that researchers otherwise wouldn't have. For starters, vet science gathers information that policy or mores make inaccessible in human science. Advanced cloning technologies, for instance, have allowed vets to begin using embryonic stem cells in ways that are against the law in human medicine.

Then there's the quality that drew humans to these animals in the first place - their emotional dimension. Drugs and other therapies affect moods in cats and dogs much as they do in humans. "The dog can look at you, and you can see if he's anxious or uncomfortable," says Stanford medical researcher Emmanuel Mignot. "You can see the side effect of a drug immediately. You can't see that in a mouse."

But a happy patient's wagging tail reveals only a fraction of what pets' congenital health problems can teach medicine in general. In our carefully propagated companions, there's a huge reservoir of diseases and mutations that result from efforts to breed the most skin folds in a shar-pei, the best eye color in a Siamese, perfect contours in a boxer, and herding qualities in a border collie. Generations of refinements have created extremely inbred populations, much more distinct than any found in the human species. Which means: Doberman pinschers get heart disease, schnauzers develop cataracts, and English bulldogs suffer from sleep apnea. By linking mutations in pets to their breed-specific ailments, scientists can find out which genes are active in certain disorders and apply that knowledge to the human model. Animals also share many of humanity's more common ills: Cats suffer from diabetes, hemophilia, retinal degeneration, and more than 250 other human diseases. Veterinary medicine has been cataloging these ailments for decades, creating a massive library of data that's applicable to people.

Kitten Care and Information on Kittens

The first thing to do is make sure the kitten is warm. Newborns are supposed to be between 95° F and 99° F. It is very important for the temperature not to drop lower then 94° F as metabolic shock will death could occur. Use of old towels and a cardboard box will work to begin with. Look at the overall kitten health to check the eyes, nose and ears for pus or discharge. This could indicate the kitten is in need of a vet.

Pedialyte, the same as given to humans will hydrate the kitten and keep it from going into shock. After the kitten is warm, you can try to feed with K.M.R., which can be found at most local pet stores. Using a syringe, eye-dropper or bottle feeding will be necessary for the fist three weeks or so. Then change diet to canned kitten food mixed with K.M.R. To help wean a bottle feed kitten, make a mush or milkshake mixture.

The first six weeks are very important in a kittens life. The kitten is very susceptible to threats of fleas and URI’s and other kitten illnesses. This time also develops the charter and personality. You are almost able to notice growth day by day. As the eyes open around nine to fourteen days of age, the kitten can not see very well. The pupils do not dilate and contract very readily so try to keep them out of bright light. New born kitten care will require the mother cat or the caregiver to stimulate the digestive elimination process as the kitten will not do this on their own until around week three as their digestive systems are developing.

Raising kittens is a very rewarding adventure. The kitten health is very important. It is very important to have a vet that you can depend on. The kitten should receive the first set of shots around eight weeks and the second set about three or four weeks after that. Treatment of fleas and testing for worms around the eight week period will help to ensure good kitten health.

A good guide for kitten care can be obtained from your vet and is a good start on a healthy way of life for your kitten. As the kitten matures into a full grown cat, you will soon experience and enjoy a relationship from a very unique personality. Some simple steps in the first weeks of development can ensure a happy cat for years to come. Of course you can find kitten adoption agencies is another way to find your special kitten. You would be able to ask for specific brand of kitten such as the more common siamese kittens or the persian kittens. Also you will be able to find the less common kittens like the munchkin kittens or the ragdoll kittens. There are plenty of agencies that are in the business of breeding cats for kittens.

ORPHAN PUPPY AND KITTEN CARE

Environment Puppies and kittens need a warm, draft-free environment during the early weeks of life. Room temperature should be maintained at a minimum of 72F. Remember that it’s about 10 degrees colder on the floor (since heat rises) than at eye level. Air temperature in the immediate vicinity of the pups/kits should be 85-90F for the first week of life, 80F for the next 3-4 weeks, then 75F at six weeks. Young pups/kits cannot regulate their own body temperature like adults can. Dampness and chilling can be fatal to young puppies and kittens. Temperatures can be maintained with heating pads, light bulbs, or heat lamps. Great care must be taken not to overheat or burn the babies when they are too young to move away from the heat source. They should never be in direct contact with the heating pad and the heating temperature level should always be set on Low. The heating pad should be under only ½ to 1/3 of the nesting box, allowing puppies/kittens to move away from the heat if they want to. Clean newspaper is good bedding because it is easily disposed of. Cloth material is suitable and offers good footing; however, it should be washed daily. A tall-sided cardboard box makes a safe nest and keeps the puppies/kittens inside until they are several weeks old.
Feeding A properly nourished puppy/kitten sleeps most of the time, stays quiet, and has a full stomach. Puppies and kittens can be fed by bottle or stomach tube. Stomach tube feeding is much faster and especially handy with large litters. Many people, however, prefer to bottle-feed because of the prolonged puppy/kitten contact. Your veterinarian or hospital staff are able to instruct you in either method of feeding. Use Puppy/Kitten formula only—milk or human baby formula can cause diarrhea.
Newborns should be fed 6 to 8 times daily (about 2-3 hours apart). The frequency can be gradually reduced to 3-4 times daily by 2-3 weeks of age. Puppies and kittens must be helped to defecate and urinate by gently stroking the genital area with a tissue or cottonball moistened with warm water after each feeding. Be persistent until they urinate or defecate.
Make the milk replacement formula fresh each day and discard after 24 hours. Keep in the refrigerator and heat up as needed. Be sure to check the temperature of the formula on the back of your hand to make sure that it will not scald the puppies/kittens. Also test the bottle for proper flow rate. Many times the opening in the nipple will need to be enlarged, because the pups/kits cannot exert enough sucking pressure to obtain the milk.
Frequent crying or failure to gain weight indicates a problem. Call the doctor. In general, the pup/kit should double its weight in 8-10 days. Overfeeding can be worse than slight underfeeding. Any time that diarrhea should develop, dilute the food 50% with water and call the hospital for instructions.

How Much Should You Feed?
You can determine how much to give an orphan puppy/kitten by considering its daily caloric requirements.
Puppies: 1st week 3.75 calories/ounce of body weight daily
2nd week 4.50 calories/ounce of body weight daily
3rd week 5.00 calories/ounce of body weight daily
4th week 5.50 calories/ounce of body weight daily
Kittens: 1st and 2nd week 6 calories/ounce of body weight daily
3rd and 4th week 8 calories/ounce of body weight daily
In general, milk substitutes contains about 1 calorie/ml. Be sure to use Puppy Milk Replacer for puppies and Kitten Milk Replacer for kittens.
Example: You plan to feed a 1 week old, 2 ounce kitten 6 times daily. The kitten requires 6 calories/ounce body weight x 2 ounce kitten = 12 total calories needed for 1 day. You plan to feed 6 times daily. Therefore, 12/6 = 2 calories required each feeding. Your milk substitute contains 1 calorie/ml. Therefore, you should feed 2mls each feeding.
Weaning In general, puppies and kittens can be introduced to food at 3-4 weeks of age. Pan-feed a thin gruel by mixing high quality puppy/kitten food with warm water and milk replacer. Over the next few weeks, when the puppies/kittens are eating well, the gruel can be gradually thickened, reaching normal, solid consistency when the puppies/kittens are 6-8 weeks of age. At this time, they can be offered good quality food 3-4 times daily.
Note: You must continue to supplement the puppies/kittens with bottle feedings until they are eating the gruel well. Watch for these danger signs: pup/kit that loses or does not gain weight, inactive pups/kits that feel cooler than their litter-mates, and pups/kits with poor muscle tone as compared to the rest of the litter.
General Information
Both puppies and kittens need to be brought to the hospital at 3 weeks of age for general deworming of intestinal parasites.
Tail docking and dewclaw removal on puppies is routinely done at 3-5 days of age in our hospital.
Eyes usually open at 10-14 days of age. Swollen eyes or discharge should be reported to us when observed.
Immunizations (vaccinations) start at 6-8 weeks of age. This is also when puppies are started on heartworm preventive.
Monitor pups and kits for the presence of fleas. On very small animals, even 5-6 fleas can cause serious blood loss. Contact our office for instructions on bathing and flea treatment.
Be sure that the nesting area is cleaned daily to help prevent infection.
Do not disturb except for feeding and cleaning.
Twitching is normal during sleep—this exercises the muscles to aid growth