In
General, your cat can't tell
you how it's feeling so you must familiarize yourself with its normal
behavior. A healthy cat maintains normal body weight, level of activity,
and social behavior. A significant change in any of these is a warning
sign.
Getting regular, accurate weights can detect
problems early. You can weigh yourself on a bathroom scale with
(holding) and without the cat and subtract. This is accurate only
to about two pounds on most bathroom scales. For better accuracy,
modify a kitchen scale by mounting a bigger platform on it. Train
your cat to get on the platform by placing a treat
on it. Any sudden weight change, especially loss, probably means
your cat is feeling sick.
Medicines for humans are often used for cats, both prescription
and nonprescription drugs (phenobarbitol, lasix, amoxicillin, cold
medications, etc.). When you hear that you should never give human
medicines to cats, it means that you should not give them without
first consulting your vet. Certain very common human drugs like
aspirin and especially Tylenol (acetaminophen) are deadly to cats,
so don't give them any kind of medication unless recommended by
the vet (note that aspirin can be given in very small doses, but
you need to check correct dosage and frequency of administration).
A final cautionary note about this section. This is not meant to
be a complete treatise on these various diseases. It is intended
to familiarize you with the various major diseases your cat can
develop. If your cat has any of these diseases, you should be in
close contact with your vet, who will provide you with all the information
you need
Veterinary Care On the net
Frequently there are postings such as: "My cat is doing , should
I take it to the vet?" Or even, "I can't afford to take
my cat to the vet, he is doing , what can I do?" The usual
answer will be TAKE IT TO THE VET! It is an irresponsible owner
who does not consult the vet, even by phone, at the first opportunity.
And if you take on the responsibility of owning a cat, you must
budget for the vet visits to keep it healthy.
Home vet books
A low-cost method to ease anxieties over non-emergency kitty problems
is to get a home vet book. These books also help explain what sort
of "deviant" behaviors are actually relatively normal
for cats. However, unless you yourself are a vet, these books should
never substitute for having a vet for your cat.
Pet Insurance
Vets and pet speciality stores may be able to direct you to pet
insurance plans that they know about. You may want to consider that
$100/year over an expected 15 to 20 year lifetime is $1500 to $2000.
Plus whatever you have to pay for excluded costs, coverage limits,
deductibles. Pet insurance will help with major medical problems
such as FUS, cancer, etc, or emergency care. If your pet is basically
healthy, you will pay about as much either way, for insurance or
for preventative care that keeps it healthy.
Choosing a vet
Choose a vet who you are comfortable with and who will answer your
questions.
Check out the office:
- Do animals seem just frightened or are they
also out of control?
- Is it bedlam, or reasonable for the number
of different animals there?
- Do you have local recommendations from friends?
- Does the vet specialize in small animals
as opposed to, say, livestock?
The best way to find a vet is word of
mouth (from someone who takes good care of their pets, of course).
Ask your trusted former vet if she/he knows someone good in the
new town. Often you'll get an excellent referral that way.
If there's a local humane society or shelter, see if there are vets
who volunteer their time there. Many vets who care about animals
are often trustees and/or volunteer their services.
Check with any local breed associations: see who their members go
to.
Look for memberships in associations like the American Animal Hospital
Association (which has a fairly stiff inspection), Feline Practitioners
Association, American Assoc. of Vet Cardiology, Animal Behavior
Association, etc. These are usually people who have kept up with
new developments.
24 hour Emergency Care
A good vet will either be associated with a 24 emergency care plan
or be able to give you the number of a good place in your area.
Keep this number on your refrigerator and check with your vet when
you visit that it's still up-to-date.
Fecal Samples
Any time you bring your cat to the vet, try to bring a fresh fecal
sample. Put a small, fingernail-sized sample into a plastic bag,
or ask your vet for a supply of fecal samplers. The vet cannot always
get a fecal sample from the cat, and this saves you extra trips
to return the sample and then bring the cat in if the tests are
positive. If you are afraid your cat will not cooperate and give
you a fresh sample before you need to go in, within 18-12 hours
a sample can be placed in the refrigerator. Samples over 18 hours
hold, however, will probably not be of use.
Cat Reactions
Cats largely dislike being taken to the vet. They hate riding in
the car most of all, and the smell of fear and other animals in
the office often distresses them further. Get a pet carrier. A plain
cardboard one will do for infrequent trips; get a stronger fiberglass
one for more travel or destructive cats. If you plan on having your
pet travel with you via airlines, you will need a soft-sided carrier
to bring your pet aboard the aircraft with you. Carriers keep your
cat under control at the vet's and prevent accidents in the car
en route.
Popular suggestions to reduce
your cat's anxiety during vet visits:
Make sure to drive your cat around (WITHOUT
going to the vet) to get it used to the car.
Use the relaxant acepromazine (ACE).
Find a "cats only" vet.
Find a vet who will make housecalls.
Find a vet who manages the lobby efficiently
to reduce waiting time.
Keep your cat away from dogs in the waiting
room.
Keep your cat in a pillowcase rather than
a carrier or box.
Feliway
is also great, as it helps to calm your cat in stressful situations.
Further steps
From kittenhood, accustom your cat to being handled. Look into its
ears (clean, white and light pink), eyes (clear, no runniness, inner
eyelids may blink but should remain open), nose (clean and pink,
or its normal color) and mouth (clean, light pink gums) regularly.
Hold it still and look at its anus; pick up its paws and look at
the pads and claws. This will have the added benefit that you will
notice any changes from normal quickly and be able to call up your
vet if something is wrong.
Do arrange for the kitten to meet plenty of people; this will socialize
your cat and it will not hide from people when an adult.
Vet bills
You should be prepared to handle routine costs from year to year
incurred by yearly physical exams, occasional fecal samples (and
worming medication), plus yearly vaccinations. However, accidents
and major illnesses can happen. Sometimes, pet health care insurance
is one way people use to control these costs. Other times you might
try vet schools which may give you reduced rates for their students
to have the opportunity to work with your cat, especially if the
problem is rare or uncommon.
You might be able to negotiate a monthly payment toward a large
bill, or a slightly reduced one in exchange for a bit of labor or
other work (for example, one accountant prepared his vet's taxes
in exchange for reducing the cost of surgery that his dog had had).
The humane society may know of lower-cost clinics or vets who are
prepared to cut prices for people who are not particularly well
off. It can't hurt to call around and ask.
But as other posters have mentioned, being a vet is a business,
too, and vets tend not to have high incomes. They also have many
of the same expenses as an MD (equipment, office staff) and the
additional expenses of running their own pharmacy (and animal medicine
is just as expensive as people medicine).
Author
Originally written 1991 & updated through 1997 by Cindy Tittle
Moore.
References/Additional Articles
*Cats That Hunt
November 29, 2000
Written by: Tracy Vogel, Staff Writer @ VetCentric
For more information on this article, please click here.
http://www.vetcentric.com
*Just Get In Already! (Getting kitty
into a carrier)
May 22, 2002
Written by: Christina Mehra, Staff Writer @ VetCentric
For more information on this article, please click here.
http://www.vetcentric.com
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