We all love our cats, but unfortunately for them, many do not come to the vet as often as they should.\u00a0 Studies have shown at least one third of cats do not see the vet every year, and twice as many cats as dogs never see the vet at all. There is no question that cats typically don\u2019t like being captured and placed in a carrier for a car ride.\u00a0 Many owners avoid bringing their cats in because it seems too stressful, and their cats give them the \u201ccold shoulder\u201d after they get home.\u00a0 But well meaning owners trying to be kind to their kitties may be doing them a disservice. Here are the top 5 reasons that we at CareVet of Shoreline want to see your cat at least once a year:<\/p>\n
1: Cats are extremely good at masking signs of illness!\u00a0 They typically don\u2019t show signs of pain, and unless you are very observant of your cat\u2019s eating, grooming, and litterbox habits, you may miss signs of disease. \u00a0\u00a0By examining your cat at least once a year we will know what is normal for him so we are better able to recognize a problem before it is too late.<\/p>\n
2: Owners rarely examine their cat\u2019s teeth, and cats rarely show outward signs of dental disease until it becomes severe. By 2-3 years of age many cats have dental disease starting with gingivitis and tartar accumulation, and it can quickly progress to painful erosive lesions or \u201ccavities\u201d and root infections.\u00a0 Dental extractions can often be avoided when home dental care is begun at the first sign of problems.<\/p>\n
3: Fleas!\u00a0 We find almost as many fleas on indoor cats as we do on outdoor cats each year.\u00a0 Many owners are not aware of the problem because most cats are so good at grooming themselves that only a few adult fleas are present on the animal.\u00a0 This can lead to an unseen infestation of your home with flea eggs and larvae.\u00a0 By the time you are getting flea bites yourself the flea problem is bigger than you think!\u00a0 We can recommend the most effective and appropriate flea control products for prevention and treatment for your kitty, and save both of you a lot of discomfort!<\/p>\n
4: A thorough physical exam can tell us a lot!\u00a0\u00a0 There are so many medical conditions in cats that we can find on examination that owners may not see or feel.\u00a0 Examples include heart murmurs, thyroid tumors, obesity, ear infections, bladder stones, and arthritis.\u00a0 Slight weight loss can be the only symptom of many common problems including kidney disease, diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease.\u00a0 Many of these problems are much easier to manage if they are diagnosed before the signs become very obvious.<\/p>\n
5: Rabies!!\u00a0 State law requires that all cats be vaccinated against rabies, even if they live indoors.\u00a0 Wildlife rabies cases are documented every year right in our local area.\u00a0\u00a0 Many cats that live indoors escape from time to time, and could come into contact with raccoons, skunks, foxes, bats and other rabies vector species. There have even been cases where a wild animal, such as a bat, gets into a home and could be a source of rabies exposure to your indoor cats.<\/p>\n
So do your kitty a favor- if he hasn\u2019t been to see us in a while, call to schedule an appointment! If you have concerns about how to get your cat in the carrier or how to make travel less stressful call us! \u00a0We can help!\u00a0 860-669-9374.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We all love our cats, but unfortunately for them, many do not come to the vet as often as they should.\u00a0 Studies have shown at least one third of cats […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carevet.com\/shoreline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}