General Comments about Vaccination Progams
I don't have much to say as an introduction other than to state the obvious;
THANK GOD FOR THE VACCINES WE HAVE AVAILABLE TODAY !
Alarmists are making a big deal these days about the dangers and potential problems caused by vaccines ... and indeed, we, as a profession are making changes and improvements to both the vaccines themselves and to the protocols we recommend for pet vaccination.
But remember to keep some perspective; for every pet that experiences the discomfort of minor vaccine side effects, and yes, for the rare pet that experiences a major vaccine complication such as a cancerous reaction at the vaccine site or even allergic death: hundreds or thousands of pet lives are spared an agonizing death due to distemper, parvo, leukemia, feline AIDs, pneumonia, kidney failure, and rabies.
Several Comments about Vaccine Quality and Why It's Best to have a Vet Examine your pet each year and decide which vaccines are appropriate for your individual pet.
First, let me remind you that even high quality vaccines won't give your pet good protection if your pet is immune suppressed from parasites, certain medications, illness, certain metabolic problems such as diabetes, thyroid problems, Cushings Disease, excessive stress, or poor nutrtion.
That's the most important reason to have a veterinarian give your pet it's vaccinations; making sure your pet is healthy.
But there are a number of reasons this is a job for a good veterinarian as opposed to doing them in some parking lot, feed store, or doing them yourselves:
1. As just mentioned; the most important part is a good history, wellness examination, and whatever blood, fecal, or heart tests are appropriate to make sure we're vaccinating a healthy pet. Only a vet working from a well equipped office can do this well.
2. Vaccine protocols used to be simple; we more or less recommended that all pets should be examined and vaccinated once a year. This system worked extremely well, all things considered, but now it's recommended that we fine tune this simplistic system and customize a vaccine protocol for each individual pet based on the pet's life stage, risk of exposure, health status, and so forth. Using wise judgement on which vaccines to give when requires a veterinarian.
3. Not all vaccines are equal in protecting your pet. And not all vaccines are equal in safety. Some older and less expensive brands are not only not as effective as the newer, improved vaccines, but are much more likely to cause local inflammation, irritation, and vaccine reactions. Some vaccines have been shown to be nearly useless. Vets are constantly updated on vaccine improvements and vaccine problems and use the best and safest vaccines. This is not always the case if you're getting your vaccines from a mail order catalog, from feed stores, or parking lot clinics.
4. Vaccines have to be kept refridgerated, something that mail order houses, and feed stores may not be as careful about as veterinarians who tend to be very meticulous about vaccine and medication storage and handling.
5. While serious side effects and fatal allergic reactions are rare, it's fairly common to have minor inflammatory reactions, post vaccine fevers, and so forth. Veterinarians know how to deal with such problems.
6. And finally, reputable vaccine manufactuers bend over backwards by paying vet bills and so forth on those occasions when their products cause trouble. They take even the smallest reported reaction seriously. But they only do so if the vaccines were administered under the supervision of a veterinarian.
About the Argument that We may be Vaccinating Pets More Frequetly Than We Need
Basically, this argument is valid. Vaccines save hundreds of thousands of lives in America each year. Leukemia cases have been cut in half over the last few decades because of vaccines. And the only reason leukemia is still a common cause of death in cats is because so many cats are not vaccinated. Rabies is now a fairly rare disease in developed countries because of vaccination.
But vaccines, like all potent medications, have potential side effects. In the case of rabies and leukemia vaccines, the worse possiblities are sudden death due to an allergic reaction (very, very rare...and usually reversible if the reaction occurs in a hospital) and a small possibility of the vaccine causing tissue inflammation that might become cancerous. The chance of this happening is about 0.01% None the less, several thousand serious cancer cases are reported each year that might have been started with tissue inflammation caused by a vaccine or other injected medicine. We as a profession are taking these potential side effects very seriously. Here's what we've come up with so far:
Effective adjuvent free vaccines are now available. Adjuvents are chemicals mixed with the killed virus in the vaccine to make in work better, but increase tissue inflammation at the vaccination site. Present thinking is that it is the inflammation that triggers a potentially cancerous reaction is some genetically coded individuals.
New, needless vaccine injectors that cause much less tissue inflammation are being used in more and more clinics to further reduce the already tiny chance of future cancer at the injection site.
And the biggest thing we're doing to prevent vaccination problems is by choosing not to give certain higher risk vaccines as frequently as we used to recommend.
Make no mistake; not vaccinating is much more risky than over vaccinating. What we're trying to do is get it just right: Prevent common and terrible diseases using the latest in vaccine technology while at the same time preventing possible vaccine complications by
Making vaccines both longer lasting and less reactive
Reducing the frequency of vaccination
Improving vaccination technique (such as needless delivery)
At present, not all vets are in agreement as to which new vaccine protocols to endorse and recommend to their patients. As with so many important topics, for every study suggesting one conclusion, there are other studies suggesting a different result. Bear with us for a while as veterinary scientists hash this topic out and understand that you will find differing opinions for a while as to how often to vaccinate your pet.
Here's What I Recommend to my Cat Clients at different Life Stages
Kittens 6-7 weeks of age
There's very little disagreement at this age; almost all vets think early vaccination is very important.
Kitten - Pediactric exam paying special attention to birth and genetic defects, hernias, heart murmurs, and cleft palettes. Really look close for ear mites, ringworm, and other parasite problems.
Record of weight, temperature, heart rate, and resp rate
Screen for Ringworm
Microscopic ear wax exam
Vaccinate for feline distemper or panleukopenia, herpes viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and chlamydophila. These are all common, highly contagious, and serious illnesses that are easily prevented with early vaccination.
Deworm with high dose pyrantel
Capstar for fleas if indicated
Play, fondle, enjoy, and bond to the patient
Discuss nutrition choices including vitamins and minerals
Discuss Pet Insurance: This is the most advantageous time to get insurance
Dispense carpet cleaners, litter odor, litter boxes, vitamin supplements, shampoos, grooming aids, and toys as needed.
Dispense a fecalyzer fecal container for the purpose of bringing back a fecal sample on the next visit
Make an appointment to bring back the kitten for a repeat exam and vaccine boosters in 3-4 weeks. Young kitten immune systems are very immature and initial vaccinations give critical but a very limited duration of protection.
At our hospital, we offer free rechecks for our kitten patients for minor infant bouts of diarrhea, snotty noses, and so forth. And we send you a reminder a few days before your next visit to bring in a stool sample and to make sure the appointment time is still convenient for you.
Kittens 9-11 weeks old
Once again, we vets are all pretty much in agreement that kitten booster vaccines and vaccination for leukemia are important.
At this stage of development, kittens are like human toddlers and in addition to checking everything over for problems we might have missed on the initial exam, we pay special attention to bone and joint development, ear canals, and eyes.
Record of weight, temperature, heart rate, and resp rate
Consider testing for Feline Leukemia and Feline Aids
Vaccines feline distemper or panleukopenia, herpes viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and chlamydophila
First of 2-3 leukemia vaccinations. Leukemia is the number 1 viral threat to your cat. Protect your cat from a slow and miserable death. Yes, as with many other vaccines, including human flu vaccines, there is a tiny chance of severe complications, but a much greater chance of getting the disease.
Microscopic fecal exam and choose appropriate dewormer
(Controlling intestinal worms is not a one or two time deal. It takes multiple dewormings with different types of effective deworming medicines to get control of the situation.) In addition to round and hook worm problems we will be testing for coccidia
Your kitten is old enough at this age to apply most flea control medications and to start heartworm prevention. At our clinic we give out a free sample dose of Revolution to get you started. Note; kittens and cats are much more susceptible to pesticide adverse reactions …sometimes fatal … than are puppies and dogs. Do not use flea products intended only for dogs on kittens. Capstar, Revolution, Frontline, and Program are quite safe on healthy kittens. Other than that, be cautious.
Play, fondle, enjoy, and bond to the patient
Discuss training and destructive problems
Discuss nutrition choices
Dispense litter box deodorizers, waterless shampoo, vitamin supplements, grooming aids, and toys as needed.
Make an appointment for the next visit. We’ll send you a reminder.
Kittens 12-15 weeks of age
Yes, once again, we all agree that rabies vaccination, a leukemia booster, and booster vaccines for feline distemper, herpes, calici, and clamydia should be given to this age group. There is, however, some disagreement on whether or not the vaccines for FIP, Feline AIDs, and cold complex are advantagous for most kittens.
At this stage of development, your kitten’s immune system is mature and able to respond well to vaccines giving about a year’s worth of excellent disease protection. This is also the age where we see a lot of development changes in the skin, hair coat, glands, and problems with teething. Colds and conjunctivitis are common at this age. Once again, we closely examine your kitten for diseases and problems, make a record of it’s vital signs and discuss training, behavior, grooming, and nutrition.
Now that our hospital has a wireless EKG, we do a free cardiac EKG screen for kittens at this visit. This famous device picks up heart defects that we might otherwise miss on routine exam, it makes the upcoming neuter/spay visit safer, and it gives us a baseline for future comparison for this patient. This is all pretty cool, but it’s not yet a normal feature of a kitten exam in most hospitals. By the way, heart disease is fairly common in young cats and quite common in middle aged and older cats. And often, heart disease in cats is “silent” and not easily detected with a stethoscope alone.
Recommended Vaccines:
“Adult” vaccines feline distemper or panleukopenia, herpes viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and chlamydophila.
Rabies vaccine.
Leukemia vaccine.
FIP vaccine for outdoor cats
Discuss and consider need for Feline AIDS.
Your vet may also recommend a series of FIP and/or AIDS boosters depending on your cats risk.
Rabies certification and tag.
Consider a personalized ID tag and Microchipping
We deworm with a big bolus of Pyrantel for any remaining round worms and if other intestinal worms were a problem at the last visit, we repeat a microscopic fecal exam to see if the problem is resolved.
We make sure you get started using heartworm prevention if your kitten will be outside.
I dispense a free sample of Science Diet T-D to be given as treats as an aid for removing any remaining baby teeth. Other vets use other products.
Discuss offering your growing kitten a variety of foods, both wet and dry.
At this visit, we recommend doing a blood screening test for kidney and liver function and a blood glucose test. These tests are inexpensive and knowing that these tests are normal greatly increases the safety up the upcoming anesthesia and neutering-spay surgery that we will be recommending for most pets.
Make an appointment for surgical neutering/spaying of your pet. The ideal time for doing this is between 4 and 6 months of age. We send a letter a few days prior to your pet’s surgery to remind you about the need for an empty stomach and to go over some options you might want to consider such as fluoride treatment for the teeth, dental sealants, and hernia repair if needed.
Make an appointment for 6 months from now for a mid-year wellness exam and fecal test! Otherwise you’re likely to forget. We’ll send you a reminder and you can always change the appointment closer to the event if your initial appointment is inconvenient.
Kittens 4-6 months of age:
As discussed above, this is the ideal age for neutering and spaying. We are very careful with anesthesia … the safety of which has been tremendously improved in the last decade. We take the precaution of doing pre-anesthetic blood work for liver function, kidney disease, and blood sugar. We monitor body temperature, hydration, heart rate, blood pressure, gum refill time, respiration rate, oxygen saturation, and run continuous EKG during our surgeries. And like all vets, we pay special attention to pain management. For the vast majority of patients, these surgeries go very smoothly. Most are up and playful within hours. In fact, I like to keep my spay patients overnight for observation in a ward cage not because I’m overly worried about their recovery but rather I want to enforce rest for at least 12 hours after surgery to prevent these young patients from over-activity. The body needs some quiet time to clot and initiate healing.
While your kitten is under anesthesia, consider any additional minor procedures such as hernia repair or declawing if needed, and I like to recommend fluoride treatment for the teeth and also dental sealants. This is also a convenient time to insert a microchip if not already done. We also make sure that there are no retained baby teeth at this time.
We have you return about 10-14 days later for suture removal and of course, we check on your post op kitten anytime during this period if there seems to be any trouble with healing or infection etc.
Mid Year Wellness Check
About 10-12 months old if your kitten is on our usual schedule
At this stage of development your kitten IS IN PUBERTY. Even though your pet was neutered or spayed, there are a lot of hormonal and development changes going on. This is also a time when there are a lot of behavior problems to discuss. At any rate, we go over your young cat again and deal with the skin problems, acne, skin or ear allergies, and injuries that are common at this age. We check out joints carefully.
Don’t be cynical, we’re not out to get your money with an unneeded visit. In fact, at our practice, this mid year mini check is usually free if there are no time consuming problems to deal with.
Also at this time:
I like to give a bolus of Panacur Dewormer. Here in the South, round and hook worms are a constant threat. Many vets repeat the fecal exam at this time instead.
Refill your supply of heartworm preventive and flea control. They should be running out about now if you bought a 6 month supply at your last Kitten Exam.
Record and discuss your pet’s weight
Discuss changing your pet’s diet from kitten formulas to “Adult” diets.
Life Stage: Young adult cats 1-3 years of age
Once a year:
Complete annual Physical - Wellness exam. At our clinic this includes a screening test for Ringworm, a careful dental exam, careful attention to eye, ear, and skin problems, and an EKG. We record weight, heart rate, resp rate, body score, and temperature. Just like at the auto oil changing places, we have a 32 point check up list and check out your pet from head to tail. And remember how quickly cats age; examining your pet once a year is like a human going to the doctor every 7 years. Our goal Preventive Medicine; to find problems in their early stages so we can deal with it.
Rabies Vaccination We now have a vaccine that is only legally required every 3 years (this varies from 1-2-3 years depending on your state laws), but for maximum protection, we recommend young adult cats...especially if outdoors... get rabies vaccination yearly for the first few years of their life.
Your cat should be coming in anyways for a good yearly physical-wellness exam, for other recommended vaccines, and for all the other benefits and responsibilities of good pet care:
Other Vaccines: At this stage of life, I recommend yearly boosters of feline distemper or panleukopenia, herpes viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, chlamydophila, and leukemia. I think it’s best to stimulate your young cat’s maturing immune system several times during the first few years of life for maximum protection. However, if your cat is truly a 100% indoor cat, we might recommend less frequent vaccinations.
As you will see if you read on, I am a believer in not over vaccinating, and once your cat enters the next stage of life, (3-7 years) we will most likely start skipping years between vaccinations.
What else to consider:
Heartworm screen
6 month injection of Program if not using Revolution
Microscopic fecal exam
I like to give a yearly bolus of dewormer (I don’t rely on the worm medicine in your heartworm preventive or 100% on fecal exams)
Mid year wellness check for young adult cats:
At our clinic, this midyear wellness exam is a free mini check up for regular patients if there are no time consuming problems to deal with. Other vets don’t like the idea of a free exam. Why,? because they fear it might diminish the value and importance of the exam part of the visit, arguably the most important part of a good preventive medicine program. They’re correct; for preventive medicine to work, your pet needs to be given a check up fairly often … every 6 months … even if there are no big and obvious problems evident to the untrained eye.
My argument is that frequent check ups every 6 months are so important that I don’t want pet owners to have any excuse for not doing them, hence a short mid-year check up at no cost. But that’s just at our clinic where we’re a little gun ho and slightly addled; don’t let a few dollars stop you from taking good care of your pet.
And we also do several things important to the health of your pet that do cost a little money:
Intestinal worms have become so resistant to our deworming medications and are so prevalent in yards, fields, and parks, that it’s important to run fecal examinations at least once a year. I like to do them at this mid year check.
I like to give a bolus (extra large dose) of Panacur dewormer mid year even if the fecal exam is negative. Panacur is super safe and very broad spectrum, killing many different intestinal organisms, including those that we miss on fecal exams. (You need to understand that fecal exams are good for detecting mid to heavy worm infestations but not so good at detecting early and mild infestations. Also that certain types of intestinal parasites are quite difficult to detect at all on routine fecal exams and are frequently missed)
Program Injection If you’re using Program injections for flea control, it lasts about 6 months and should be repeated at this time
This mid year visit is a good time to discuss any concerns, talk about flea control, skin or ear allergies, cold sores, shedding, oral hygiene products, diet, behavior issues, and so forth.
For preventive medicine to work well, we need to keep records of your cat’s weight, heart rate, temperature, and respiration rate.
And Mid year is usually the time to pick up Flea and Heartworm Control. It should be running out about now.
Life Stage: 3-7 years
These are prime years for the health of most cats.
But don’t ignore the importance of wellness exams, dental exams, the constant vigilance needed for parasite control, and vaccines.
What do we recommend:
Continue the practice of a Complete annual Physical - Wellness exam. At our clinic this includes a screening test for Ringworm, a careful dental exam, careful attention to eye, ear, and skin problems, and an EKG. We record weight, heart rate, resp rate, body score, and temperature. Remember our goal with Preventive Medicine; to find problems in their early stages so we can deal with it.
Rabies Vaccination We recommend giving this important vaccine yearly for the first few years of life. But at this 3-7 year life stage, we recommend giving rabies every 3rd year using the 3 year approved rabies vaccine.
Note that some States have different legal requirements and that when a local region has a rabies outbreak among the local wildlife, your State Vet may change the recommendation to every year again.
And if your cat is a free roamer or happens to have a lot of contact with wildlife or rodents, you might want to continue with a yearly schedule.
Other Vaccines: At this stage of life, we can also stop giving the combination shot of feline distemper or panleukopenia, herpes viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and chlamydophila every single year. Our profession is still arguing about the pros and cons of vaccinating too often versus not enough, but the consensus seems to be that about every 3 years at this life stage is about right. But this every third year business is not set in stone and so much depends on the health and genetics of the individual patient as well as the situation such as indoors only versus out and about.
Leukemia Vaccine: Leukemia disease is common and deadly serious, but it’s mainly, though not exclusively, a disease of younger cats. And leukemia vaccine has a bad reputation for causing vaccine reactions (mostly minor, but occasionally very serious). So once again, the consensus seems to be that we should give this vaccine yearly for the first few years of life and then every 3 years after that and maybe not at all for totally indoor pets and senior pets.
Many vets are changing over to this new regimen of giving Rabies, Leukemia, and the combination of other vaccines every 3 years instead of yearly once a cat reaches a certain age. For those excellent pet owners who bring in their pets for at least an annual physical – wellness exam, we are often alternating which vaccine we give each year to further limit the amount of vaccine antigen we give a pet on any one visit. In other words, we give rabies vaccine one year, the leukemia vaccine the second year, and the combination vaccine the third year.
Also consider:
Heartworm screen to ensure the ongoing protection of your pet from this devastating disease.
Many vets like to do a microscopic fecal exam at this time. (I prefer to do this test at the Mid Year check up.) In some localities, some vets recommend twice yearly worm exams.
I like to give a free yearly bolus of dewormer to my patients.
Lastly, make an appointment for your midyear wellness check in 6 months so you don’t forget. We’ll send you a reminder and it’s easy to change to date if the original date is inconvenient.
A note about Intestinal Worm Control:
Controlling worms is a multi-attack situation; none of the tests or products we have available are 100% reliable. So, for best results and a family dog free from the irritation, pain, and debilitation of even a minor parasite load, we recommend
1. Frequent microscopic stool sample checks (1-2 times yearly)
2. The protection for intestinal worms that is provided from your monthly heartworm medication. For cats this usually means Revolution which also controls fleas, ear mites, and mange well.
3. Twice yearly boluses of dewormer. At present, I like to switch back a forth between high doses of Pyrantel and Panacur. Because worms rapidly become resistant to worm medications, and because newer and better products often become available, this specific recommendation might change at any time. Trust your vet to be fairly up to date (we are constantly updated about drug and disease management improvements by professional bulletins, articles, sales reps, and seminars) and to recommend the best for your situation. And to point out the obvious: we vets are constantly examining hundreds of poop samples a week; so we KNOW what products are working well and which are not in our local regions.
4. The vigilance of the pet owner. Use your eyes and look for any obvious abnormalities in your pets stools. However, you need to know that many of the parasites that cause major disease are not visible without concentration techniques, special stains, and a microscope, so don’t rely on looking alone. Trust your vet’s recommendations and do those fecal exams!
Another comment about intestinal parasites:
Successful parasites are ones that can feed off your pet but not kill it! Most of the common parasites that affect dogs and cats are very successful and for the most part don’t kill your pet. Most people wouldn’t know their pet had parasites if it weren’t for the fecal exams. Most pets with small to moderate loads of parasites act okay on the outside and even their stool will appear more or less normal. But, on the inside, those parasites are causing constant inflammation and irritation, draining nutrition, and causing havoc in the immune system.
Okay, enough said about worms. Certainly the most important part of a yearly wellness exam is the exam itself and time spent with your veterinarian discussing the health, habits, diet, and behavior of your pet.
And it should be time to stock up for another 6 months on heartworm preventive, flea control, and oral hygiene products.
Mid year wellness check for adult cats 3-7 years old:
A mini wellness exam. For preventive medicine to work well, we need to check up on our patients every 6 months. We need to monitor and record weight, resp rate, heart rate, temperature, and body score.
We do EKG screens at our clinic at these mid year exams. Heart disease is the #2 cause of death in cats from disease (number 1 is kidney disease) and an EKG can pick up heart problems long before we can detect them using a stethoscope alone.
It’s also time for:
Fecal examination
Bolus of Panacur or other Dewormer
Capstar if warranted
Trial of TD, Biotene, or other teeth and gum cleaning products
Pick up Flea and Heartworm Control; it should be running out about now.
Make an appointment for your pet’s annual wellness exam in 6 months.
Life Stage : Senior cats age 7-12
Annual Complete Physical. Cats at this age are like people in their 50-70’s and we can usually find several things that need medical attention if we look carefully on an exam. This is an age when dental problems, joint disease, lumps and bumps, and cataracts are common. And that’s just the more obvious stuff. Internally, it’s common for pets this age to suffer from different degrees of heart, lung, immune system, and metabolic-hormone problems such as diabetes, liver disease, early kidney disease, stones, early cancers, and thyroid disease. A good exam at least once a year is critical at this stage of life if are goal is early disease detection and to maximize the comfort and life of your loyal pet family member.
Blood Work: At our clinic we do an inexpensive BUN kidney screening test at this annual visit. We also do a hematocrit or PCV test to check for anemia. More extensive blood work is recommended on a case by case basis
Urinalysis: We encourage our clients to bring in a fresh urine sample in order to do a urine protein test which is a detection test for early kidney disease.
Heart: we do an EKG for our older patients every year as part of our check up. We consider X-rays of the chest on a case by case basis
Bowel Health: We generally do routine fecal samples at our mid year check up but most vets do them at the annual check up so I’m listing this here. At this age, we recommend doing fecal exams, but not so much as a parasite check but rather for signs of bowel irritation, inflammation and poor digestion.
Vaccines: Rabies every 3 years unless yearly is warranted
feline distemper or panleukopenia, herpes viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and chlamydophila every 3 years, and Leukemia every 3 years. Ideally, we rotate these so that your cat gets one vaccine one year, another the second year, and so forth. This technique reduces the chance for reactions.
Basically, we now base our older cat vaccine recommendations on an individual basis depending on exposure, activities, legal requirements, and most importantly on the general health and immune status of the patient.
This is the time we spend a lot of time discussing your pet’s weight, arthritis problems, dental hygiene, body odors, and any other issues that need to be dealt with. And of course, we enjoy playing, petting, bonding, and massaging our older patients each year.
Once again, it’s time to stock up on any needed heartworm, flea, and parasite control products and to make another appointment for 6 months away for a mid year check up.
We also usually recommend Glucosamine and Omega 6:3 fatty acid supplementation for this age group. And oral hygiene products.
Senior Cats: Mid year;
Mid Year check up paying close attention to dental, ear, and skin inspection. Record of weight, Heart rate, resp rate, and Temperature
Bowel Health/Fecal Examination. At this life stage, in addition to checking for parasites, we are looking for signs of liver dysfunction, intestinal bleeding, poor digestion, and bowel inflammation.
Blood Panel: Depending on the general health of the individual patient, we often recommend a panel of tests … they keep getting better and less expensive … that picks up all kinds of diseases that would otherwise be missed on routine exam. Anemias, Kidney disease, liver disease, Cushings, Addison’s, pancreatitis, diabetes, Hypercalcemia, thyroid disease, and much more. As you probably know, these tests are done routinely on human patients after turning 50, and as a result, we’re all living a lot longer.
Pick up Flea and Heartworm Control Meds, Glucosamine, Arthritic pain medication, Omega fatty acids, and oral hygiene products.
Make an appointment for the next annual examination.
Geriatric Life Stage: Cats over 12
At this life stage we see a wide variation of health. Many pets are still active and outwardly normal. Others are in obvious decline. With our help, though, we can keep the lucky ones healthy and active for awhile longer and the pets with geriatric problems happier and more comfortable. At he annual and mid year vet visits, we tend to customize what we recommend and do based on the individual patient’s health and lifestyle. But it all starts with a good exam:
Yearly Geriatric Physical: It’s rare that we can’t find something needing attention in cats at this life stage on a good physical exam. And it’s rare that we can’t improve your cat’s health and comfort level. The most common problems are dental pain, masses, ulcers, and cysts, aches and pains of sore muscles and joints, kidney problems, weak or malfunctioning hearts, digestive disorders, cataracts, eye lid cysts, cancers, arthritis, hormone deficiencies, skin problems, anemia, liver disease, and neural degeneration. We inspect every body part during a good exam to help identify and grade the problems of your old pet friend.
We also rely on lab tests, EKG’s, and radiographs: whether or not we take advantage of any or all of these diagnostic tools depends on the physical exam findings and whether or not you have already recently done these things as we may have recommended them at the last mid year check up.
And we rely on an ever improving arsenal of treatments and supplements for improving the ailments of old age. Here’s a list of just some:
Durlactin, Cox-1 pain inhibitors, Glucosamine, MSM, Adequan, and Omega fatty acids for arthritis and other pains.
Prescription diets and supplements such as potassium and phosphate binders for the management of kidney, liver, and bowel problems.
Anenosyl-Methionine for the treatment of depression, osteoarthritis, and liver disease
Pancreatic enzymes for digestive problems.
And a smorgasbord of vitamin potions, hematinics, appetite stimulants, serious pain medications, skin treatments, oral hygiene products, and hormone replacement therapy as needed.
Vaccines? Often not needed at this age, but it depends on your pet’s breed, activity level, health, and exposure. Most vets are vaccinating every 3 years for cats this age or skipping certain vaccines altogether.
Make an appointment for the mid year check up in 6 months !
Geriatric Cats; Mid Year Check Up
A mini check up; at this age problems can crop up fairly quickly and we want to identify them as early as possible for hopeful resolution.
Consider the need for dentistry, blood panels, and survey radiographs on an as needed basis.
A fecal test looking especially for signs of bowel irritation and inflammation.
A hemocrit test for anemia and ictrus
Monitor and discuss your pet’s problem list. Modify diet and treatments as needed.
Refill any needed medications, supplements and so forth
