Wellness Exams and Vaccine Programs Recommended for Kittens and Young
Adult Cats
Here's What I Generally Recommend to my Feline Clients at different Life Stages
Kitten Recommendations
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 14-16 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. Use modified live virus vaccines to avoid adjuvants that have been proven to cause cancer in a small number of cat patients.
Rabies vaccine using the new recombinate vaccine without adjuvant.
Leukemia vaccine.
FIP vaccine for outdoor cats... Maybe. There's more evidence building that this vaccine is not very effective
Discuss and consider need for the Feline AIDS vaccine available.
The correct name for this vaccine is Feline Immuno-deficeincy virus
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. Also, the new safer and better Recombinant Rabies vaccines is only approved for 1 year at this time. 3 year approval will probably be coming soon.
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.
