Louis J. Camuti


Louis J. Camuti was a
New York City cat veterinarian who made housecalls on cats and their people for over sixty years. He was the first veterinarian in the United States to devote his entire practice to cats. Camuti co-authored two books, Park Avenue Vet with Lloyd Alexander, published in 1962, and his autobiography, All My Patients Are Under The Bed: Memoirs of a Cat Doctor with Marilyn and Haskel Frankel, published in 1980.

Biography

Camuti was born in Parma, Italy, on August 30, 1893 and grew up in Manhattan, New York.
When Camuti was about 11 years old, he had typhoid fever, and while sick in bed, his mother left the house with food cooking on the stove. When the pot boiled over, gas began to fill the home. Their cat jumped onto his chest and weaved her head back and forth. He was too weak to get out of bed, and felt the cats efforts may have saved his life.
Camuti began specializing in cats around 1932–33. At the time, veterinarians did not spend much time providing services to cats. Camuti appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1962.
He died of a heart attack while travelling to see a patient.

Memorial fund

Former patients and friends honor his pioneering commitment to the health of cats through the Dr. Louis J. Camuti Memorial Fund at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine's Feline Health Center, which continues his life's work.