In the United States, 1 in 3 households has a pet cat.

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Credit...Caroline Gutman for The New York Times

But many aspects of feline health remain a mystery, even to experts.

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Credit...Octavio Jones for The New York Times

And when one of our kittens became critically ill last year, no one could explain why.

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Credit...Emily Anthes/The New York Times

pet theory

Why Are Cats Such a Medical Black Box?

By Emily Anthes

Emily Anthes is a science reporter who writes Pet Theory, a column about our creature companions.

March 11, 2025

When my husband and I took our cat to the vet early last year, we were hoping to hear that we had nothing to worry about. Olive, a longhaired tortoiseshell kitten who had been the runt of her litter, was naturally quiet and skittish, prone to hiding in closets and napping behind the shower curtain. That made her hard to read — and sometimes simply to find.