New Kittens
| The Healthy Kitten Congratulations on the furry new addition to your family. Kittens are cute and sweet and sooo much fun. At All About Pets, we want to do everything we can to help your kitten grow into a healthy adult cat and live a long and happy life. Feline Leukemia/FIV Testing Feline leukemia & FIV are two diseases that affect the immune systems of cats. It is usually spread when an infected cat bites another cat, but it can also be transmitted various other ways. Once a cat gets one of these diseases, he/she has it for life. Both feline leukemia and FIV can significantly reduce the lifespan of affected cats. If your kitten comes from an unknown background, we recommend doing a simple blood test to determine whether or not your kitten has one of these diseases. If your kitten goes outdoors, he/she will be exposed to other cats that could possibly be carrying one of these diseases. There is a vaccine available for feline leukemia and it is recommended for outdoor cats to help protect them from this disease. Our Commitment To Your Pet’s Health Welcome to All About Pets! Our dedicated veterinary health care team is committed to helping you provide the best care for your new kitten. We understand that like people, pets have different lifestyles and needs, and one of our goals is to work with you to determine your pet’s health care needs and offer you options for your veterinary care. We will work hard to provide you with the best information and recommendations for your pet. We want you to feel completely comfortable discussing any aspect of your pet’s care with us and we encourage you to ask questions so you are confident making informed decisions regarding your pet’s health care. Vaccinations To keep your new kitten happy and healthy, you will need to make sure to get him/her vaccinated according to this schedule. Your new kitten should begin a vaccination schedule at about 7 weeks of age with the distemper/respiratory vaccine, which covers several diseases. A booster vaccination should be given every 3 to 4 weeks thereafter until the kitten reaches 12 weeks of age. When the last distemper/respiratory booster is given, the rabies vaccination can be given as well. Your kitten will then be protected from a variety of diseases for an entire year. Kitten Food Your kitten will be growing rapidly in the first year of his/her life, so it is very important that he/she gets proper nutrition. We feed and recommend Hills Science Diet® Kitten Food for any cat that is under 1 year of age. Cheaper brands of food that can be bought at grocery stores are often low quality and made with many by-products making them less nutritious. The amount of food to feed your kiten depends on his/her individual needs. Ask Dr. Hawley to recommend a feeding regimen for your kitten. Also, make sure that your kitten always has access to fresh clean water. Heartworm Disease & Preventative Heartworm disease is a preventable, mosquito-borne disease in dogs and cats that eventually affects multiple organs and can even cause death if it is left untreated. The important thing to remember is that heartworms can very easily be prevented. A heartworm preventative is a flavored, chewable tablet that you give to your kitten once a month to protect against heartworm infestation. Heartworm preventative also protects against certain intestinal parasites that cats & kittens commonly pick up. Kittens are especially prone to becoming infested with intestinal parasites due to their underdeveloped immune systems. Heartworm preventative is more important for cats that go outdoors, but mosquitoes can still get into your house, so it’s not a bad idea to have even indoor cats on it. Microchipping Microchipping is a highly effective form of identification for your kitten. A microchip is a little computer chip that is about the size of a grain of rice, and is inserted underneath the skin of your kitten, so it can never be lost. If your kitten ever becomes lost and is picked up by and animal shelter or veterinary clinic, they can scan the microchip and notify you of your pets location. Although collars and ID tags are also helpful (and still recommended even if your kitten is microchipped), they can come off— but microchips stay with your kitten for life. Even if your kitten doesn't go outdoors, microchipping is still recommended because there is always a chance that he/she could get loose and become lost. We suggest that the microchip be done at the time your kitten is spayed/neutered, because the microchip is inserted with a relatively large needle, and if it’s done while your kitten is under anesthesia, he/she wont feel a thing. If you decide to microchip your kitten after he/she is already spayed/neutered, it can still be done, but the area should be shaved and numbed first. Spaying and Neutering It is highly recommended that female kittens are spayed, and that male kittens are neutered. It helps to prevent many different health and behavior problems later on in life. It also helps to decrease the number of unwanted kittens in the United States. Kittens can be spayed or neutered at about 5 to 6 months of age. It is a very safe and inexpensive procedure. If you are planning on getting your kitten declawed, we recommend getting it done at the same time as the spay/neuter. That way, the kitten only has to be put under anesthesia once. Also, it is less expensive for you that way. Fleas and Ticks If your kitten goes outdoors, it is recommended that he/she is put on a flea & tick preventative. Not only can fleas and ticks potentially carry many diseases, they also make your pet uncomfortable. Flea bites can cause severe skin irritation and itching, especially for pets with allergies. Plus, scratching can cause secondary bacterial infections. Fleas can also lead to tapeworm infestation, and in rare cases, anemia may occur. Tick prevention is also very important because different species of ticks carry different diseases, such as Lyme Disease. Because fleas & ticks are extremely common and can cause numerous problems, we highly recommend a flea & tick preventative for all cats. This simple treatment is only necessary during warm weather when fleas & ticks are around, and only needs to be applied once a month. |
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