If a new feline has joined your household, it’s necessary to make sure you plan routine visits to a veterinarian. Just like their pet parents, cats require proper health care. This means booking annual checkups and not waiting until your feline friend is ill to seek out the assistance of a vet.
Let’s take a look at what veterinary care includes, starting with what your vet monitors. This will help you know what to expect and prepare for those all-important check-ins with the right questions in hand.
What are some common vet concerns?
Essentially, the veterinarian wants to gather information about your cat’s nutrition, behavior, and lifestyle. Expect them to ask about your pet’s diet, what food you’re giving them, and how much and what their appetite is like.
Your vet needs to establish whether your cat spends their time exclusively indoors or if they go outside. Cats who are outdoor creatures have certain health risks that your animal care provider will be aware of. You may be asked about the level of activity and play that your pet usually enjoys. This can speak to whether they’re getting enough exercise and cognitive stimulation.
The vet will also be concerned about how your feline interacts with all members of the home, human and animal. An enriching environment offers your pet companionship, privacy and minimal conflict.
How often does my cat need a checkup?
You should bring your cat to the animal clinic once a year for a physical exam. Remember, these are preventative care visits. They give your vet the opportunity to get to know your feline and learn what is and isn’t normal for them. Your pet’s weight will be taken and compared with their history. They’ll have their eyes, ears, and teeth looked at and their body will be examined for anything unusual or sensitive spots.
Annual checkups are the best time for your veterinarian to find anything worrisome and investigate a health concern further to determine if it needs to be treated or monitored. A vet has the expertise to detect a problem before it becomes noticeable and might cause serious harm. Cats are very skilled at hiding pain, for example, and it’s not always easy for their owner to realize that something is wrong.
Which vaccines are required?
Vaccinations are crucial to helping your feline stay healthy and boosting their immune system to avoid infections. The types of vaccines your vet may recommend can be related to the usual diseases that occur where you live and whether your cat stays indoors or not. Having said that, here are the common ones that will be provided.
Kittens receive their first vaccines when they’re about 6 to 8 weeks old. These shots protect them against calicivirus, rhinotracheitis, panleukopenia, herpesvirus, and other serious diseases. They’ll be due for second doses of these medicines every month until the youngsters are 4 months of age. Booster vaccinations against these illnesses are generally recommended every year thereafter.
When you pet is about 3 months old, they’ll be given the rabies vaccine and will need boosters after one year and then every three years afterwards. Your cat may or may not be offered a feline leukemia virus vaccine; it all depends on how prevalent this disease is in the area where you live.
Do vet visits depend on a cat’s age?
The answer is yes, your feline friend will have different needs for veterinary care depending on their age. Kittens need to visit the animal clinic about every three or four weeks during the first four months of their life. In part, this depends on when certain vaccines are due and when your cat will be spayed or neutered.
After that, a yearly assessment is fine until your cat is between 10 to 15 years old. Felines that are older than this are considered to be geriatric. While the advice varies somewhat, those in this age group should be brought to the animal clinic at least every six months. As your pet gets into their senior years, they’ll be more prone to certain illnesses like liver or kidney disease. This may necessitate regular blood tests to rule out these conditions.
The checkup schedule depends, of course, on your pet’s health status. If they have identified ongoing medical concerns, you can anticipate that they may need to see the vet more often. The frequency of visits is something that your veterinarian will advise about.
What else should I know?
Appropriate veterinary care can extend your pet’s life and keep them feeling fit and content as they grow older.
In addition, your vet is an expert when it comes to giving medication, cleaning your pet’s ears, teeth, and eyes and trimming their nails. So, taking your cat to the vet is your chance to learn the importance of this care and how to do it at home.