Stop in our store and get a 15%-20% discount on selected earth friendly products now through Earth Day on Thursday, April 22. Includes Recycled Pulp Scratchers, West Paw Mats, Litter, Bio-Bag Cat Pan liners, and more.
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URGENT !!!
Two Saint Francis Cats Need Homes
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"Intelligence in a cat is underrated."
Louis Wain
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Dennis Wackerbarth, DVM
Founder & Medical Director
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Faythe Vaughan, DVM
Christine Wilford, DVM
Sarah Brandon, DVM
Kate Schubert, DVM
Richard Lester, DVM
Jennifer Fligiel, DVM
Lora Schuldt, DVM
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What Should I Feed My Cat?
Why Canned Food Is Best
Good nutrition is vital to good health! We advise feeding a diet based on a good quality canned cat food.
Cats are obligate carnivores and require meat-based diets. Cats are designed to eat a diet with abundant, high quality, animal protein. Wild cats do not eat grains, vegetables or fruits and our cats don't need these foods either. Dr. Deborah Zoran's ground breaking article on this topic has lots of further information on this topic.
Cats need water with their food. Cats are also designed to get most of their water from their meat-based diet. Cats require fresh water and may prefer glass or metal dishes, water that moves, and water far from their food or litter box.
Cats can have problems with dry and high carbohydrate diets. It is impossible to make a dry food that is low carbohydrates. Free feeding of high carbohydrate foods may increase the risk of serious illnesses like obesity, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease, and pancreatitis. These conditions, in turn, increase the risk of urinary tract, joint, and skin problems.
Cats should be meal-fed rather that "free choice." In the wild, cats spend a lot of time hunting food. Of course, they are not always successful. Our cats still may do lots of food-seeking behavior, but if they are always successful, they will become overweight! In addition to regulating how much food they eat, we must provide our cats with other interesting things to do.
Read the labels on the cans of food. The first two or three ingredients should be some kind of meat. Many people prefer foods without any grains like rice, barley, corn, wheat, oats, but there should certainly not be more than one. Cats do not need fruits or vegetables and these are simply fillers from the cat's point of view.
IT CAN BE A CHALLENGE TO GET A DRY FOOD ADDICT TO EAT CANNED FOOD. A gradual patient, approach is needed!
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MEDICAL EQUIPMENT UPDATE:
New Digital X-Ray Machine
We have recently invested in a state-of-the-art diagnostic digital radiography (x-ray) unit. This equipment is a significant improvement over the old film  technology. In fact, our veterinarians and staff are amazed at the enhanced image quality it provides. If an exposure isn't quite right we can alter technique without taking an additional x-ray, reducing radiation exposure to your cat and our staff. It also enables us to enlarge and digitally enhance images to increase the detail we see, hence improving our diagnostic capabilities.
Another huge benefit from an environmental standpoint, is the elimination of harmful chemicals that traditional film processing deposits in our water system. We are very excited about our increased ability to 'look inside' your cats body and proud to be one of the few veterinary hospitals in the Northwest with such sophisticated technology.
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Dealing with Hairballs
It's shedding season again and that can mean hairballs for cats - those nasty little surprises that always seem to be in the middle of the floor when we are not nearly awake enough to avoid stepping on them.
Hairballs are formed when a cat grooms itself and swallows hairs. If you have ever been licked by a cat, you know how rough their tongue is. Specialized papillae, turned backwards towards the throat, provide this roughness and act to stimulate healthy coat development and to trap shed fur, which is swallowed a few pieces at a time and passed through the intestines in small amounts.
Every once in awhile, enough fur collects in the stomach to form a dense matt, called a trichobezoar (hairball). Depending on age, length of coat, diet, health status and size of the matt, these hairballs are either vomited up or passed in the stool.
In rare cases, hairballs accumulate in the intestines or stomach creating a blockage which necessitates surgical removal.
Here's what you can do to reduce hairball formulation in your cat:
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Why Do Cats Groom So Much?
 The fact is cats spend nearly one third of their day meticulously grooming their coat. This serves many purposes in their lives; it cleans and deodorizes their fur, removes loose hair and skin, increases blood flow and tones muscles.
Some cats even groom when they are unsure how to behave during certain social situations. Have you ever seen a cat appear embarrassed after missing a jump and falling off of a chair? No - they are steadfastly grooming pretending nothing happened.
Lastly, cats groom to heIp protect them from the environment. In the winter grooming stimulates the oil glands which helps repel the rain.
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HOURS:
Monday & Friday 8 am - 6 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 8 am - 8 pm
Saturday 8 am - 5 pm
19203 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA 98133
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Both the wet and dry formulas are lower in fat than some other high protein diets, making this food, especially the canned, a great option for weight control. Canned formulas are chicken/turkey, and a fish blend with salmon, whitefish & herring. The dry formula is a tasty mix of fish and fowl. Treats are available too.
