Page 90 - Complete Cat Care: How To Keep Your Cat Healthy and Happy

Kitten health checkups

For the best possible start, take your kitten to a vet as soon as possible
for a comprehensive checkup and protective vaccinations. Follow this
with annual health checkups throughout your pet’s life.

Preparing to visit the vet
Taking your kitten for his first visit
to the vet should not be stressful,
provided you have prepared him
beforehand for the trip. The most
important thing to do is accustom
the kitten to going in his carrier
(see pp.18–19). Practice lifting him
in and out, using toys and titbits for
encouragement, so that he learns
88 to associate the carrier with treats
and feels safe and comfortable
when he is in it. Pick up the carrier
with the kitten inside and walk
Breeding around with it so that he becomes
used to the sensation of moving.
Keep these practice sessions short,
and never simply shut a kitten in a
carrier and leave him on his own.
If you introduce your kitten to as
many people as possible, and other
pets if you have them, he is more
likely to act calmly when he meets
strangers at the veterinary practice.
You will be able to stay with your heart, checking the limbs for △ No surprises
Prepare for a trauma-free first visit to the
kitten throughout the visit to mobility, and combing through vet by teaching your kitten to enjoy going
provide reassurance if he needs it. the coat for fleas. If your kitten in his carrier.
has not been vaccinated, then he
First health checkup will be given his first vaccination, and ear mites. Now is also the
Even if your new kitten has already if he is old enough. He will need to right time to ask the vet about
been vaccinated, an early health return for a second vaccination neutering (see right).
checkup is still important. At the to complete the course. Most kittens will come through
initial appointment the vet will give At this visit the vet will answer their first trip to the vet with a
your kitten a thorough examination. your immediate questions on clean bill of health, but health
It includes checking eyes and ears, general cat care and offer valuable issues inevitably arise over the
feeling over the entire body for advice on the control of common years. Rather than waiting until
abnormalities, listening to the parasites such as worms, fleas, things go wrong, book your pet
an annual veterinary checkup so
that potential problems can be
“At the initial appointment the vet will give identified and dealt with early
your kitten a thorough examination.” on. Follow-up visits include an
overall examination and booster
vaccinations if necessary. At these

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