January is Compassion Animal Hospital’s Feline Health Month! This means 10% off wellness exams, vaccines, and bloodwork. We are excited to see your cats and give them the veterinary care they need to stay safe and healthy.

 

Why bring your cat to the vet?

1. Dental Health/Feline Resorptive Lesions: By three years of age, most cats have evidence of disease around their teeth. Signs of this disease are very subtle, but the effect of dental disease on cats is serious. Tooth pain can reduce food and water intake, or worse, be the source of bacteria for the heart, brain, kidneys, gall bladder, and other organs causing your cat to have serious health issues that owners have trouble noticing until it is much too late to treat.
2. Painful Arthritis: The majority if not all adult and geriatric cats have arthritis. They almost never show lameness or difficulty standing like dogs do. They hide, may not enjoy being touched, or may become annoyed. Some owners write this off to the cat getting older, but this is the cat’s way of showing that he or she is in pain. We can help make your cat happier and less painful, which makes them a much better pet.  Oftentimes, a joint supplement can really help a cat feel less pain and move better. Sometimes a pain reliever or laser therapy can be used for more severe pain or advanced arthritis.
3. Vaccines: These are sometimes ignored for cats especially indoor cats, but the core vaccines: rabies and FVRCP are very important for cats. These are vaccines for severe diseases. If your cat gets them, they are fatal or at the very least severe and will require hospitalization.
4. FeLV/FIV testing: This is especially important in multi-cat households. These are contagious diseases that pass from cat to cat through exchange of bodily fluids (saliva, blood, etc). FeLV: weak immune system, anemia, bone marrow shut down. FIV: equivalent of HIV in cats
5. General Wellness: Cats are independent. They do not show illness like dogs, but they get sick much more often than owners realize. The key to effective treatment is early diagnosis. Screening for disease with wellness bloodwork can detect kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, anemia, liver disease, etc much earlier than when your kitty starts showing symptoms. That’s perfect! Then, we can start feeding a special diet or other medication before your cat is ill. This will increase your cat’s comfort and help manage if not cure your cat’s underlying disease.