by Susan McCullough

Most people don’t think of a cat as a four-legged war machine. A feline that is napping on a soft blanket, playfully pouncing on its favorite toy or rubbing up against his/her human doesn’t exactly look like a soldier. But make no mistake. Your feline friend is a kitty combatant, battling 24/7 to defeat a tenacious enemy. That enemy is germs, and the stakes are your cat’s health — even its life.

Fortunately, your cat’s equipped with a remarkable set of defenses: its immune system. But while this system is amazing, it’s not always able to withstand assaults from germs and to fight off resulting illnesses. That’s where you come in. You can strengthen your cat’s immune system so that your pet is better able to combat germs and disease by following these four steps.