Cat Health FAQ

Cat bites and claws are sharp enough to leave a small puncture that seals over quickly, sealing bacteria underneath. The initial pain fades within a couple of days, then often returns 7–10 days later as an abscess develops — usually with a fever, poor appetite, and a cat who suddenly wants to be left alone. Abscesses need to be drained and treated properly, and antibiotics given too early can actually let the infection smolder and come back.

If your cat loses interest in food or suddenly becomes sensitive to touch, schedule a visit right away.

Yes — when temperatures drop into the single digits (especially with wind chill), toes, ears, nostrils, and lips are at risk. Kittens, older cats, and underweight cats are most vulnerable to both frostbite and hypothermia.

If your cat spends time outdoors, provide dry, wind-blocked shelter and make sure water sources don’t freeze.

On cold nights, outdoor cats look for warm places to sleep — and a still-warm engine compartment is an inviting (and dangerous) option. Moving parts or belts can cause serious injury in a split second.

Before starting your car on cold mornings, pop the hood and check first.

Cheatgrass awns get caught in fur, ears, and under eyelids — causing mats, irritation, and sometimes infection. Once a mat forms, the awn itself may not be visible.

Any swelling, discharge, or closing of the eyelid needs to be checked right away to protect your cat’s eye.

Yes — cats with white fur and pink skin are especially prone to sunburn on the nose, ears, lips, and face, which raises their risk of skin cancer later on. Most cats naturally avoid the worst of it by resting in the shade during peak heat.

If your cat has white fur and pink skin, keep them inside during the most intense sun, generally 10am–4pm in summer.

Yes — coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, and large birds of prey like eagles and Great Horned Owls are real risks in Central Oregon, even within city limits. Young cats are especially vulnerable since they’re often unaware of the danger.

Keep cats indoors, especially at night, and give them a safe space to retreat to during the day.

Roundworms mostly show up in kittens through nursing from an infected mother, and routine kitten deworming handles it effectively. Adult cats with poor condition or diarrhea should be tested, since transmission is cat to cat.

Outdoor cats that get into rodent dens or deer beds can pick up fleas, but otherwise fleas are uncommon in Central Oregon. Topical flea medication works well if needed.

Also uncommon here, mostly found on cats that spend time in areas wildlife frequents. The same topical treatment used for fleas handles ticks too.

Yes — usually from hunting and eating rodents, or in other areas, from fleas. You’ll often spot dried tapeworm segments around your cat’s hindquarters or in their feces, looking like small grains of rice. Tapeworms aren’t transmissible cat to cat, cat to dog, or cat to human.

A “cattle grub” that occasionally uses cats as an unusual host, forming a lump under the skin with a small breathing hole. It needs careful surgical removal — this affects dogs too.

A nearly invisible mite called Cheyletiella that causes intense itchiness and skin lesions. It’s diagnosed under a microscope and treated effectively with oral medication — and occasionally, people who handle an infected cat can develop skin lesions too.

These mites are nearly impossible to see on your own — if your cat is extremely itchy, schedule an appointment.

Quite possibly. Ear mites are common in Central Oregon cats (much less so in dogs) and very contagious cat to cat. Look for dark, “coffee-ground” debris at the base of the ear. Treatment is two or three doses of oral medication, two weeks apart — and every cat in the household needs treatment at the same time to prevent reinfection.

Check inside your cat’s ears for dark debris if they’re scratching at the base of the ear.

A common fungal skin infection — not actually a worm — that causes a round, hairless, scaly patch, usually on the head, neck, or back. It’s transmissible to people, and cats can carry and spread it without showing symptoms themselves. Healthy cats often clear it on their own in 6–8 weeks, but we frequently treat it topically or orally to keep it from spreading through the household.

If you or your cat develop a round, hairless rash, get it checked.

FeLV is prevalent throughout Central Oregon, in both urban and rural cats. It can cause immune suppression, secondary infections, cancer, and pregnancy complications in infected queens. It spreads through saliva (grooming, fighting, shared water bowls), blood, and during pregnancy — but it’s effectively prevented through vaccination and limiting contact with infected cats.

Always test a new cat for FeLV before introducing them to your household.

FIV is about as common as FeLV here, and is most often seen in free-roaming, intact male cats involved in fighting and breeding. There’s no vaccine, so prevention comes down to neutering and limiting contact with free-roaming or feral cats.

Keep your cat in at night, avoid feeding feral cats outside, and test any new cat for FIV before introducing them at home.

FIP shows up in both urban and rural cats here, often alongside FeLV or FIV. It’s difficult to diagnose early, ultimately fatal, and most common in young cats (6 months–2 years), particularly in multi-cat environments like shelters. We’ve seen it spread from newly adopted shelter cats into households with existing pets, which is why isolating and testing new cats matters.

Isolate and test a newly adopted cat before introducing them to your other pets.