There's a wide array of things they can have, the most common being simple gingivitis. You can have periodontal disease, and you can have tumors or growths in the mouth. You can have broken teeth. Cats are especially prone to what's called oral resorptive lesions. I think that's a pretty thorough list of them that we see. Depending on what we find, they all require different types of treatment.

To be quite honest, we're looking for anything abnormal. During every single exam we do on a dog or cat, one of the things we look at is their mouth. So it allows us to know what a normal mouth looks like. And that way, in contrast, when you see anything that's abnormal, it very quickly stands out to you. And that's what we're looking for.

The most common things we see—especially here in South Louisiana in the spring and summer—is allergic dermatitis. Some people call it atopic dermatitis. It’s all referring to the same thing, in that dogs are allergic to something in their environment, and then their skin becomes inflamed and irritated. Because the skin is inflamed and irritated, often those will be followed by bacterial skin infections. Those are the most common things we see, but to make a little bit more thorough list, you also have parasitic diseases, ticks, mites, and fleas. Those things are also very commonly seen. And, occasionally, we'll see fungal skin conditions. Thankfully, these aren’t as common, as they can be a little tough to cure.

Let's be honest. It's a cat and they're going to rest pretty much whenever they want to rest. We all know the lifestyle of a cat. I think the biggest thing is to avoid stress. Now when we say "rest", my mind immediately thinks sleep. More importantly, though, you should avoid exposing them to stress as much as you can.

If there's a way to give them their own little space where there are no other animals in there harassing them, that's ideal, especially if they don't do well with the dogs or other pets in the house. Keep them separate so they don't have to be traumatized by those kinds of things. I think stress is the bigger enemy there.