Should I take my cat for regular vet visits?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Sometimes I think I fail as a cat owner. I’ve never owned a cat before and am a little paranoid I’m doing it wrong from time to time.

My small buddy Max is about four and seems to be in fine health. He enjoys killing spiders, biting my hand, sitting on the windowsill, and cuddling. He’s an indoor-only cat, and is fixed, and vaccinated against rabies. He’ll eat any cat food I buy.

Am I failing him by not taking him for regular checkups at the vet? When he was a tiny guy, he got noticeably ill and I had the vet look in on him, so it’s not like I’m ignoring his health, but it’s not a regular thing.

Sometimes I worry because he was a street cat I found on the street in my village in Bulgaria and one day some kind of crazy Bulgarian street cat germ might rear its ugly head.

Am I a shitty cat owner?

2

It’s usually a good idea to take them in once a year or so for booster shots and whatnot (some of them are every three years), but if he’s indoor-only and he seems happy and healthy, you’re probably fine.

ETA: It’s also a good idea to run your hands over him every once in awhile to check for anything unusual. Sometimes if you can catch things early they’re easier to deal with. Ditto checking his teeth–if he has bad breath, reddish inflammation around the gums, or buildup, it might be worth taking him to get that looked at as well.

3

I don’t know much about cats, but my concern would be about what diseases might be able to be “casually” transmitted from the outside environment to him. I have no idea how easily transmitted feline distemper would be (the Wiki page isn’t entirely clear and is no substitute for hearing about it from an expert), but canine distemper - not related - can be picked up from touching infected dogs’ bodily fluids (even saliva or tears), or even on shoes by walking across a lawn where an infected dog has urinated.

My husband is a letter carrier who deals with dogs frequently, and since ferrets are susceptible to canine distemper, we always made sure to get them vaccinated, then check their immune reaction in following years to see if the immunity level was sufficient, with revaccination if it wasn’t.

Also, what is the legal requirement for cat vaccination in your area? If Max bit the UPS or Postal Service guy when you opened the door to sign for a package, he might have to report it to his supervisors. Without a rabies vaccination on file, would they quarantine Max at home, or in a kennel, or would they do worse?

4

Take him in for his distemper shots at least. It is a horrible death, with no low chances of recovery via treatment, and is basically entirely preventable with a fairly inexpensive shot. I’d skip rabies a lot sooner than I’d skip distemper.

My vet in Michigan (Westgate Animal Clinic, for you Ann Arborites following at home) went to an every-3 years vax schedule for indoor cats starting about… 2000/2001. If cost is an issue the Washtenaw County Humane Society has a Vaccination clinic… $25 FVRCP – (distempter plus 2 other extremely contagious, preventable diseases) and a $40 exam fee.
http://www.hshv.org/shelter.htm

5

The only vaccines your indoor cat “needs” are rabies and feline distemper (panleukopenia). Rabies by law and the other because it’s so highly contagious. Once a full series of both has been done, you only need to have them boostered every three years.

The only thing your cat needs otherwise will be dentals. They’re probably the most expensive thing about owning a pet. Since they won’t sit in a chair with their mouth open and willingly let a vet drill their teeth, dentals have to be done under full sedation, like a surgery. So you have to pay as much for those as you would for any other full sedation procedure. If you can get yourself and your cat in the habit of regular brushings with animal toothpate (enzyme-based rather than abrasive or fluoride-based), you might be able to avoid frequent dental procedures, but that often depends on genetics and general cooperation.

Once your cat is older, say over 10, then in addition to yearly checkups should also be labwork that includes urinalysis and blood panels to make sure organs are functioning normally.

6

I take my cats every 2 years unless an emergency pops up. I take public transportation so it is a bit of an ordeal to get the cats to the vet and back and the carriers freak them out so badly that they vomit and poo all over themselves on the trip there and back. I don’t think it is worth freaking them out like that unless absolutely necessary. I last took them in November so they will go back again in November of 2011 but I check their teeth and ears and occasionally their feces to make sure everything is on the up and up between visits.

7

Your state’s laws might require you to get rabies shots for your cat every so often. It’s something I’d do anyway, unless I lived in a rabies-free place like Hawaii. Just in case my cats were to bite someone, since AFAIK there’s no way of testing an animal that hasn’t had its shots for rabies that doesn’t involve killing the animal.

8

Seconded what SeaDragonTattoo says, for the most part. Remember, the panleukopenia (feline distemper) vaccine is probably bundled up with others, so you won’t get JUST the panleukopenia booster (which is a disease of mostly younger cats).

Also, just so that everyone is on the same page, feline distemper IS NOT the same disease (not even the same virus) as what is called canine distemper. Feline distemper is also known as panleukopenia, and is a parvovirus, more closely related to canine parvovirus. Actually, feline parvovirus was known before canine parvovirus. Anyways, both of these give nasty intestinal disease, versus canine distemper, which has other presentations and mainly attacks other organs.

Hello Again, the rabies vaccine may be required by law, so it is more likely that THIS is the vaccine that shouldn’t be skipped, versus the other vaccine (which, again, covers mostly younger cat disease).

Also, even if rabies vaccines can be offered every 3 years, check with your vet, and check with your state law or city ordinance. For example, it took Baton Rouge a few years before it agreed on the 3-year vaccination protocol. Otherwise, dogs HAD to be registered and vaccinated every year with the rabies vaccine, even if they were receiving the 3-year one. Lastly, vaccine-associated fibrosarcoma is a concern in cats (more so than in dogs). Some groups think that frequent vaccinations are the main cause (hence vaccinating every three years instead of every year). Others think it is the adjuvants in vaccine that cause the problem, so they use non-adjuvant vaccines, which last less but have to be readministered more frequently.

Animal toothpaste can be found in PetCo and other pet stores. Or you can ask your veterinarian abut it.

Also, I would also take the cat for a fecal at least once a year. Even if it doesn’t go outside… YOU do, and you could potentially bring a stray flea (brings tapeworms) or parasite egg (although if you live that far north, it may not be such a problem). Related to that, if this were a cat that lived in semi tropical to tropical areas, I would be thinking about a heartworm preventative for the cat (they usually are bundled up as an all in one dewormer, too).

9

I really would take all indoor cats for a checkup yearly. Cats are very very good at hiding signs of illness, and often you won’t see them looking “sick” until their illness has become advanced.

Rabies vaccination is required by law in most states, I believe, and feline distemper is nasty and should be vaccinated against as well.

Really, I don’t mind 100 bucks or so every year per cat for the shots and exam just for some piece of mind that there’s nothing lurking that the vet can notice. They don’t love going but it’s for their own good and they gets lots of love afterward.

As well, if you make a point to get to know and have a good relationship with a vet they can really go above and beyond for you if you have an emergency. Our vet is our primary doctor for our cats because she was just so amazing at helping us out when our orange tabby died suddenly last year. You never know when an emergency might happen, and having a good relationship with the clinic can mean that they’re more likely to squeeze you in, or stay a bit late, or hell, even swing a home visit if you need it. It can only help!

10

Nope. But it is not as if being vaccinated lets them get away scotch free. The main difference between vaccinated and non vaccinated animals has to do with length of quarantine and how desired is the head.

11

Lol. Aren’t cats great? I love them but man, they’re dummies sometimes. I once drove almost the whole way across Canada with 4 cats in carriers. It was a full week of listening to them loudly meow and having them occasionally pee on themselves.