Preventative Healthcare

• Cats age much faster than humans and significant health changes may occur in a relatively short amount of time.  See the Feline Aging Chart Below.

• Preventative Healthcare provides a means to alleviate or prevent potential suffering or pain associated with an underlying disease process.

• Prevention is better than treatment.  Since cats often do not tell us when they are feeling unwell, early detection of an underlying disease is key.  Preventative Healthcare’s focus is to prevent conditions from occurring and prevent conditions from advancing.  Early detection of a disease process equates to early treatment and potentially a more favorable outcome or correction of a disease process.  In many instances, treatment may become more costly and complicated when a disease process is allowed to progress to an advanced stage. 

What is involved in our Preventative Healthcare?

• Preventative Healthcare starts at home!  Your goal is to know what is normal at home for your specific cat.  If you notice any physical or behavioral changes, no matter how small, your cat needs to be evaluated.  What should I observe at home?  The big six categories include attitude, activity, eating, drinking, urinating and defecation patterns.  You should have your cat evaluated if you notice any changes in these areas.  For more information, please visit these Cat Wellness website:

• Comprehensive Wellness Physical Examinations – We perform an annual examination for cats 7 years of age or less and a semi-annual (every 6 months) examination for cats 8 years of age and older. Please visit our Comprehensive Physical Examination Page for more information.

• Vaccinations – In accordance with the American Associations of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) Vaccine Guidelines, we only vaccinate our patients against rabies, FVRCP and FeLV, and only when necessary.  We use the safest vaccines available and only use non-adjuvanted vaccines.  Please visit our  Vaccinations Page for more information.

• Spay or Neuter – In addition to the pet overpopulation issues, having your cat spayed or neutered also has some individual health implications.  For male cats, neutering at a young age will help prevent marking, roaming and fighting behaviors.  For female cats, spaying at a young age will help prevent mammary cancer, infection in the uterus, estrus or heat cycles, marking behaviors and unwanted kittens.  Please visit our Surgical Services Page for more information.

• FeLV / FIV testing – Our hospital strictly follows the American Associations of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) Retroviral Testing Guidelines.  Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are major causes of illness and death in cats. Both viruses affect the immune system and secondary illnesses may occur such as tumors, infections, immune-mediated diseases, and bone marrow disorders.  Signs associated with a FeLV and/or FIV infection are numerous and encompass virtually every symptom.  Early detection will help maintain a high quality of life and prevent spreading of these viruses.  All kittens and cats should be tested at least twice in their lifetime 2-3 months apart.  Why?  The viruses can take a few weeks before commonly used screening tests can detect the virus in the blood.  Therefore, the first negative test needs to be confirmed with a second negative test.  Additionally, these viruses can remain hidden in the bone marrow where commonly used screening tests cannot detect the virus.  These viruses may only be detected when your cat becomes unwell or with a bone marrow biopsy.   Please visit the AAFP website for more information
  
  

• Patient Trending – We recommend annual wellness screening on all of our patients so that we may follow key markers (i.e. kidneys, liver) as your cat ages.  We recommend a heartworm antibody blood test annually (see below).  For our younger patients, we recommend mini-blood and urine wellness profiles.  For our more mature patients, we recommend a more extensive blood and urine panel in addition to blood pressure monitoring annually.  Please visit our Laboratory Page for more information on Patient Trending and our wellness panels.

• Dental Home Care – It has been estimated that approximately 70% of cats over the age of 2-3 have some degree of dental disease.  Proper dental care is imperative to a happy and healthy life.  In most cases, cats are very good at hiding significant disease in their mouths. Your cat’s mouth will be evaluated at each visit to our hospital and our doctors will give recommendations to maintain a healthy mouth.  Some recommendations may include (1) brushing your cat’s teeth once daily, (2) a VOHC-approved dental diet, or (3) or a professional dental cleaning.  Please visit our Dental Healthcare Page for more information.
   

• Heartworm Prevention – Feline heartworm disease is a serious, life-threatening disease.  Fortunately, this is 100% preventable with year round protection.  The heartworms are  transmitted by mosquitoes and indoor cats are just as susceptible as indoor / outdoor cats.  One North Carolina study found 1/3 of indoor only cats had a previous heartworm infection.  It is estimated that 11% of cats have had a previous heartworm infection in the Philadelphia area.  Clinical signs may include coughing, sudden asthma-like attack, difficulty breathing, vomiting, weight loss, lethargy, anorexia, or sudden death.  There is currently no treatment for heartworm disease in cats, so prevention is key! Our preventatives are available in a monthly chew or a monthly liquid that is applied to the skin on the back of the neck.  Please visit the links below for more information.

• Fecal testing – Testing your cat’s stool at least every 12 months for internal parasites not only will help keep your cat healthy and disease free, it will also help protect your family against zoonotic parasites that your cat may be harboring.  This is especially true if young children, elderly or immunocompromised individuals are living in your household. This is recommended for all cats, including indoor only cats.  Please visit the links below for more information.

• Strategic Deworming – We recommend having your cat dewormed at least annually for the common parasites that can affect you and your cat.  This will help ensure your cat is not harboring any parasites that may not be detected on routine fecal testing.  This may be performed more frequently for at-risk cats (i.e. cats that spend time outside). 

• Flea and tick preventatives – This once a month prevention is generally recommended for cats that spend any amount of time outdoors or share a household with dogs.  It is also recommended for households that have young children, elderly or immunocompromised individuals.  Our preventatives are available in a monthly liquid that is applied to the skin on the back of the neck.

• Microchip Identification – This safe, permanent, individualized microchip only takes seconds to administer under the skin. If a shelter or human society scans your missing cat, they will call the company who will then alert you to the whereabouts of your missing cat.

Feline Age Chart