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Employee
Of the
Month

Catnip or Catmint

Catnip or catmint is a perennial herb in the mint family.

Many plants in the mint family contain volatile aromatic oils used as flavorings.  In catnip the oil is produced in glandular hairs on the stems and leaves.  The oil contains citral limonene,  dipentene,  geraniol,  citronellol,  nerol, and sequiterpene plus various organic acids.

Cataria is a marked behavioral alteration in both domestic and wild cats.  When a cat is exposed to the ground leaves, whether they are dry or green, the animal attempts to rub in them while exhibiting bizarre behavioral vocalization and gyrations.

There is no evidence that ingestion of Nepta cataria causes any toxic symptoms.

Dionne Twilley

With her cat Merlin

Dionne Twilley is the MSAH  September employee of the month.

Dionne is originally from Tulsa Oklahoma and moved to New Orleans about one year ago. She has worked for MSAH since arriving in New Orleans.

She  is  a  college   student  majoring  in Biology, with her eye on possibly applying to Vet School.

Dionne lives in Metairie.  She enjoys spending her free time with her fiance, Drew, and her two cats, Merlin and Matilda.   She also enjoys playing Base guitar.

Catnip

Nepta cataria

MSAH Bulletin #18

Page 3

Clinical Briefs

Tapeworms
Dipylidium caninum

Cuterebra
Cuterebra buccata

Tapeworms are a common problem in dogs and cats in the southeastern United States.
The  most  common  tapeworm in these species is Dipylidium caninum. It requires an absolute intermediate host, generally the common  dog  and  cat  flea, in which to undergo a portion of it's life-cycle.  Since we are the flea capital of the world , we deal  with  tapeworms   in  our  pets  not uncommonly.

The pet actually acquires tapeworms from ingesting a flea which had in turn ingested a portion of the a tapeworm segment.  Each tapeworm segment can contain as many as twenty eggs.

Tapeworm  infection  is  most  often diagnosed by detection of segments shed from the terminal part of the worm.  Treatment is a simple specific dewormer and no human health significance exists. Early detection and good flea control are the best preventative

Myisis  (fly larval infestation) is common in  rabbits   kept   outdoors   and  on rare occasion in domesticated outdoor cats. They occur with highest incidence in the summer and fall.

Adult blowflies lay their eggs around preexisting wounds and the newly hatched larvae invade the wound. The larvae burrow into subcutaneous tissue and migrate to the preferred   body site.   Areas  commonly involved include  the  front  of the neck, under the arms, and the hindquarters.

Clinical signs may present as pain, reluctance to move, lameness, or the presence of one or more firm, fistulated, subcutaneous swellings. The larvae can frequently be seen in the fistula surrounded by necrotic tissue. Extraction with forceps or surgical excision following ether applied into the fistula to sedate the worm are the treatment of choice followed by antibiotics. It is imperative the worm not be crushed or broken. A job best left to a professional.

How do Cats Purr?

One of life's little mysteries

As far as we can tell this is a question that is as of yet, unresolved.
Here are a couple of possible explanations:



"...no one knows how cats do it [purr]. the standard explanation maintains that
it is the vibration of the false vocal cords, two folds of membrane behind the
true cords in the larynx, but this is not accepted by all zoologists...




"Another theory suggests that purring is the direct result of turbulence in the
bloodstream of the vena cava, the main vein returning blood to the heart from
the body. This constricts to pass the liver and diaphragm, and the theory
suggests that when the cat arches its back the blood forms eddies in this
bottleneck. This in turn sets up vibrations in the the thorax that are passed up
via the windpipe to resonate in the sinus cavities of the skull."




(THE BOOK OF CAT, Summit Books, New York, 1980)
"...the precise way in which purring is accomplished is not known, but the purr
can be produced with the mouth closed and continued for long periods of
time....As things stand this most familiar and distinctive feature of the cat
remains largely univestigated."





(THE DOMESTIC CAT: THE BIOLOGY OF ITS BEHAVIOR, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 1988)
WHY do cats purr? Here's an excerpt from Roger Caras' "A Cat is Watching"

Cats purr, and no one is really certain why, although there have been more than enough theories presented as fact. It starts when kittens nurse and it has been stated many times that purring is a cat's way of showing contentment. The mother on which those kittens are nursing during their first purrs is also purring in all likelihood, but she also purred while she was in labor. She will purr when sick and even when injured. She will be likely to purr while she is dying. Contentment just doesn't seem to do it. Profundity seems to have something to do with it. When cats are profoundly ANYTHING, contented, in pain, in any form of extremis, they seem to purr. Beyond that, it is something of a mystery.