Cat Health - Just What is Normal?

We all know the basics of our own health when it comes to desired temperatures and such, but what about our pets? Most of us haven't a clue. In this article, we take a look at what is normal for your average cat when it comes to basic health measurements and events.

The average cat is a predator. You probably know this already given the "gifts" they leave on your floor every so often. As with any predator, teeth play a big role. Your fluff ball develops teeth much like you do. As a kitten, most will have 26 teeth. As they become an adult, they will lose their baby teeth. Unlike us, they will replace them and add an additional 4 for a total of 30 teeth.

Your friendly feline has a heart that can really pump. It has a normal range of 120 to 140 beats a minute. This rate can nearly double, however, when the body reaches an excited state such as when tracking down prey. Like humans, your fur ball can suffer from a host of heart conditions including diseases like hyperthyroidism.

Cats are often said to run hot and cold when it comes to their affections. While this may or may not be true, what is clear is they definitely run hot when it comes to temperature. The average body temperature of a feline is between 100.5 and 102.5. It has often been posited that you can tell the cat temperature by feeling how warm the ears are. This is incorrect! If your cat runs a temperature more than.5 above or below the normal range, get them to a vet quickly.

What about the old pregger cat? Humans may take nine months, but kittens develop much faster than that. The pregnancy of your feline lady will last between 57 and 70 days. Since you probably will not realize she is pregnant until well along in the process, the pregnancy may seem much shorter than this.

Cats are very good about taking care of themselves. That being said, they need to be taken to the vet from time to time to make sure everything is working normally. Failure to do so can lead to a host of problems that you really don't want to let go unchecked.

Thomas Ajava writes AskAVetAQuestion.com - where you can ask a vet a question about your cat or critter.