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No-one likes visiting the vet, but regular checkups are important!
Let’s be honest, vets are expensive and a pain in the ass! But, they are essential for making sure your cat stays healthy. While we don’t always visit the GP, we do have regular health checkups to make sure nothing sinister is happening and keep us running smoothly, it’s no different for cats or other pets. Cats are crafty and in many cases when they are unwell, they can mask it as behavioural problems so getting a vet check should always be your first point of call if you notice your cat acting strangely.
But, regular checkups can avoid this problem and catch anything before it gets that far. I thought I would write a post based on the regular checkup that people often avoid, because as annoying as it is, it’s very essential. Cats are independent, but it’s up to us to make sure they are in the best possible health.
Why Your Cat Needs a Vet
All cats are fiercely independent and have their own personalities, but they can’t tell us what is wrong with them (and I’m pretty sure if cats could talk it would be to tell us how great they are and tell us, peasants, to get them more food.) Qualified vets have undergone the training necessary to deal with your cat and their anatomy, with many of them having additional experience with them too. Always check your local vet who will undoubtedly have the experience to deal with your cat, if not, ask for recommendations and go to a licensed veterinary centre.
Regular Checks
Despite being hardy animals, cats can develop many health issues. For a healthy cat, a yearly checkup and routine visit with a thorough exam and their vaccinations should do the trick to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary. This costs about £50 per year and the vaccinations go a long way in avoiding something nasty in the long-run. In this check your vet should check for:
- Signs of parasites
- Check the teeth for signs of gum disease
- Take vital signs to check for heart normality
- Measure your cat’s weight to make sure it’s in a healthy range
- Look in your cat’s ears and eyes for any abnormality
You should also discuss eating, litter tray and behavioural habits to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary there either. The regular checkup also helps to create a baseline with your vet and the records will help to show what is “normal” for your cat so that any slight changes can be monitored. For example, Diablo recently underwent quite a dramatic weight loss which we only discovered because of his regular checkups that have recorded his average weight fluctuations which has prompted further testing.
Develop a Good Relationship With Your Vet
Regular visits can help foster a great relationship between yourself and your vet, making you more comfortable to discuss your cat and their health. Open communication and advice simply leads to better care and can help make sure you understand each other, particularly if something develops further down the line. Plus, seeing the same vet can make your cat more comfortable, particularly those who are shy so that they don’t view the vets as a negative experience all the time.
Freebies
With this in mind and to promote regular vet visits, I have created these vet record printables so that you can not only make a note of your appointment times for the future but keep an accurate record of what happened at your appointment. Doing this helps to create a long-term picture of your cat’s healthy which is beneficial to everyone!
