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Cats are Good at Hiding Illness
The Cat Owner’s Guide to Health Emergencies provides cat owners with concrete methods for coping with the most difficult feline crises, including solid answers on when to wait and watch and when to act quickly. Why was this an important book for you to write?
As an emergency veterinarian, I frequently witness the impact of the knowledge gap among cat owners, particularly when it comes to emergencies. Cats are notorious for hiding illness, making it challenging for owners to recognize when something is wrong. While we do see cats brought into the emergency room for minor issues that likely could have waited, we also encounter many cases where subtle, yet crucial, signs were overlooked, leading to unnecessary and often unsafe delays in care. Cats are not small dogs— they will conceal illness for as long as possible. That’s why it’s so important for owners to be prepared and knowledgeable about which symptoms may indicate a serious problem.
My goal with this book is to equip cat owners with the education and tools they need to confidently assess their cat’s health. This book offers vital insight into common emergencies and toxicities, while teaching practical methods for evaluating a cat at home. While no one wants to think about emergencies, especially when their cat is healthy, I strongly encourage a degree of advanced preparation to reduce stress when emergencies do arise.
I believe this book can be a valuable resource for all cat owners, but its greatest benefit may be for newer cat owners, adopters, and fosters.
What gap were you hoping to fill that other pet care books don’t address?
It’s no surprise that I love books, and I deeply respect and admire all those out there aimed at improving pet lives by supporting their owners. That being said, I noticed a few patterns in some of the existing books that I wanted to approach differently. Many books on this topic offer valuable and accurate information but can be visually overwhelming, often feeling like reading long articles or textbooks. Personally, I find those types of books challenging to get through, and I’m sure many pet owners feel the same. My goal with this book was to present information in manageable, digestible chunks that are easy on the eyes. To further enhance usability, I color-coded the chapters for quick reference, so owners can easily identify sections even when the book is closed.
Additionally, I’ve seen pet care books that are more story-based, using anecdotes to illustrate key lessons. While these books are excellent for teaching, I believe they’re not ideal for quick reference. My book is designed to serve as a practical guide, both to prepare owners before emergencies happen and to provide clear reference points if a concern arises.
What sets my book apart is my background as an emergency veterinarian. The scenarios highlighted in the book are ones I encounter regularly in my practice and conversations I have with pet owners often. The knowledge and expertise I bring to the table offer pet owners practical tools and a deeper understanding of their pets’ health, all presented in a way that is friendly to non-medical individuals and designed for quick, easy reference when it’s needed most.
You highlight specific dangers like urinary obstruction and open-mouth breathing. Why are these so frequently misunderstood?
Urinary obstructions and open-mouth breathing are two excellent examples in the book where misconceptions and lack of knowledge can result in missing vital signs. Let me explain why these issues are often misunderstood.
Urinary concerns, particularly in male cats, are extremely dangerous. Male cats can develop urinary blockages that, if not addressed quickly, can be fatal. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of this. A common misconception is that urinary changes in cats are always due to a urinary tract infection, which is more common in female cats. In fact, it’s really quite uncommon in males. This misunderstanding can lead to delays in seeking care, allowing the condition to worsen. Another factor is that cat owners don’t always pay close attention to their cat’s use of the litter box. Unlike dogs, whose bathroom habits are more noticeable during walks, cats’ litter boxes are often hidden from view, making it easy to miss important signs. While urinary obstructions can’t always be prevented, I believe that greater awareness could lead to earlier recognition and, ultimately, better outcomes.
Open-mouth breathing in cats is another issue where education can make a significant difference. Cats are not small dogs, and this distinction is crucial when it comes to respiratory issues. Many people mistake open-mouth breathing in cats for normal panting behavior seen in dogs. However, cats are obligate nasal breathers—meaning they breathe only through their nose. Since they do not breathe through their mouths effectively, open-mouth breathing (panting) is a sign of respiratory distress that should never be ignored. Note that overheating and pain can sometimes lead to short bursts of open-mouth breathing—which should resolve quickly.
Because cats are so adept at hiding symptoms, it’s important for owners to know how to assess their cat’s health. In the book, I not only highlight key warning signs like these but also provide practical tools for owners to evaluate their cat’s hydration, posture, gum color, behavior, and more. The goal is to help owners answer the critical question: Is this behavior normal or abnormal?
If a reader remembers just one thing from your book in a crisis, what do you want it to be?
There are a few key points I hope readers take away, but the most important is this: cats are incredibly good at hiding illness, often masking problems until they become serious. Even small changes in behavior or health can signal a bigger concern underneath. If you notice something concerning, it’s crucial to have a veterinarian assess the cat.
When preparing to transport the cat, safety is key. Make sure the cat is secured in a carrier, and if necessary, gently wrap them in a towel to get them safely into the carrier. Also, remember that the veterinary team is also invested in your cat’s wellbeing. Effective communication is essential, so share what you’ve observed at home in a clear, chronological order if possible. We’re always most successful when we work together—pet families and veterinary teams.
The Cat Owner’s Guide to Health Emergencies: Essential Tips to Recognize, Respond, and Prepare for Cat Emergencies
The Cat Owner’s Guide to Health Emergencies is a practical, veterinarian-written manual that tries to do something genuinely difficult: give anxious cat owners enough clarity to act fast without pretending they can replace a clinic. It moves from preparation into crisis, covering emergency planning, the ten most common feline emergencies, the ten toxicities Dr. Gal Chivvis sees as especially important, the signs that distinguish “watch closely” from “go now,” and a final toolkit of checklists and flowcharts meant to steady people when their nerves are likely to fail them. What stayed with me most was how concrete it is. This is a book that doesn’t just say “be prepared.” It asks you to know your nearest ER, keep a carrier ready, think through CPR decisions before panic takes over, and learn what a dangerous breathing pattern or an abnormal bladder actually looks like.
The book is calm without being bland, and authoritative without sliding into that chilly, overconfident tone that a lot of medical guides fall into. Chivvis writes like someone who has seen frightened people arrive at the worst possible hour and understands that information is only useful if it can still be absorbed under stress. The best sections have a sobering vividness. Her explanation of a linear foreign body, where swallowed string can make the intestines “accordion,” is memorable in exactly the right way. So is the repeated insistence not to pull visible string, not to dismiss open-mouth breathing, not to confuse urinary obstruction with constipation, and not to wait for toxicity symptoms before acting. I also appreciated the small humane details, like the note that visitation may sometimes be discouraged while a cat is in oxygen because seeing their owner can worsen distress. Moments like that give the book emotional credibility. It knows the medicine, but it also knows the strange helplessness of loving an animal you can’t fully question or comfort.
The prose is clear and serviceable, and the repetition built into the format can make the middle stretch feel instructional. Each section follows a familiar sequence of signs, causes, what to do, common interventions, and prevention, which is excellent for reference. I found that structure more helpful than limiting. It mirrors the thinking the book wants to teach. Notice. Assess. Don’t improvise recklessly. Call. Go. The ideas themselves are sensible and grounded in lived emergency practice. I especially liked the way the book pairs high-stakes warnings with prevention that feels doable: keeping cats indoors to reduce abscess risk, treating panting as abnormal, managing litter box stress, recognizing the danger of lilies and ibuprofen, and using simple observational tools like resting respiratory rate, hydration checks, and pain scoring. That practical intelligence gives the book its real force.
I found this to be a useful, reassuring, and refreshingly unsentimental guide. It offers preparedness, lucidity, and a steadier hand when things go sideways. I’d recommend it especially for first-time cat owners, multi-cat households, and anyone whose instinct in a crisis is to freeze, second-guess, or start doom-scrolling. It’s a caring and trustworthy book, and in a book about emergencies, that matters most.
Pages: 195 | ISBN : 978-1967320004
