The Wellness Exam is the key to keeping your pet healthy. Cats do age and change more rapidly than do humans. Regular physical exams are the most important thing you can do to keep your pet healthy and detect problems before they can get out-of-hand. Often the doctor will pick up problems during this physical exam that may have gotten much worse before symptoms were ever noticed.

4 in 1 Combo Vaccine is the core vaccine for most cats. This vaccine prevents the diseases your cat is most likely to come into contact with. Even if your pet is "only a house cat", they will be exposed to these infections regularly. Most of the common feline diseases are airborne and travel about freely. Adults need a booster every year.

Fecal exams should be part of every wellness exam. Most parasites are occult (hidden) and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Please bring a stool sample and receive $10 off the price of the fecal test at the time of the wellness exam.

Feline leukemia (Felv) and FIV testing is strongly advised for any new cat or for cats never before tested. These viruses are like the human AIDS viruses and are highly contagious. Felv can cause leukemia, lymphosarcoma (lymph node cancer), bone marrow cancer, other types of cancer, respiratory disease, reproductive failures and fading kitten syndrome. FIV can cause chronic fevers, enlarged lymph nodes, diarrhea, inflammation of the lips and gums, upper-respiratory infections that persist for long periods and behavioral changes. Kittens can catch either from their mother or other cats so it is a good idea to make sure your kitten is negative early in their life. Adult cats can catch these infections through any, even brief contact with other cats.

Feline leukemia vaccine is advised for any indoor/outdoor cat and for cats living in multi-cat households. The incidence of felv doubles when two cats are in a home, and triples with additional cats, even if they are indoors only.

Rabies Vaccine is not required by law but you should consider this vaccine if your cat will be outdoors at all.

Blood screening is usually done as cats near 7-10 years of age as adult cats suffer for many internal problems that can be dealt with if caught early enough.

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©2007 James W. Day D.V.M., P.C.