Recommended Kitten Care

Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Tests

Since these viruses are prevalent and represent a major health risk to your kitten, as well as other cats, it is recommended that your kitten be screened for these diseases during his or her first exam. By performing this test at this time, we can guarantee that your new family member is free of these life threatening diseases and will not be a source of infection to other cats in the neighborhood if your kitten will eventually be an indoor/outdoor cat.

Vaccinations

All kittens should receive a series of two "Distemper Group-4" (FVRCP) vaccines. These are given typically at 8 and 12 weeks of age. This vaccination is repeated at one year and then given every 3 years thereafter. If you have a large number of cats or work in cat rescue, we may recommend giving this as a yearly vaccine.

A Rabies vaccine is given at 12 or 16 weeks of age. This vaccination is repeated in one year. At that time, we have the option of administering the rabies vaccine yearly with a safer, non-adjuvant, feline only, Purevax rabies vaccine or we can change to a 3-year rabies vaccine. Rabies vaccinations are required by law.

If your kitten may be an indoor/outdoor cat, a series of two transdermal Feline Leukemia vaccines is recommended at 12 and 16 weeks of age. This vaccination is repeated annually and can always be discontinued if your cat, with age, become and indoor-only pet.

There are vaccines available for Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). To date, these vaccines have not yet been proven to be highly effective in the prevention of these diseases.

Due to recent and ongoing research, new vaccine protocols have been established for the safety and lifestyle of your pet. You may have read or heard about a medical diagnosis in cats called a Vaccine-associated Fibrosarcoma. A cat can have a reaction at the vaccine site that can turn into a malignant cancer. Just as in people with malignancies, your cat's genetic makeup also plays a large role in the development of a Vaccine-associated Fibrosarcoma. Your kitten/cat is actually at greater risk for contracting Feline Leukemia, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and many life-threatening upper respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. This is why it is still important to vaccinate your feline friend. We, however, are going to provide you with safer vaccine options, and depending on the lifestyle of your pet, we will likely not be vaccinating them as frequently as we did in the past. You may also notice that your veterinarian is vaccinating your kitten along his or her legs. This is being done now, because in the rare event that your pet develops one of these fibrosarcomas months or years later, amputation tends to be curative.

Spaying and Neutering

If you are not planning on breeding your purebred cat, an ovariohysterectomy (spay) or castration (neuter) is recommended at about 5 to 6 months of age. Spaying prevents mammary cancer and pyometra (an infected uterus) in your aging female cat. Neutering of male cats will lessen the chance of urine marking (spraying) in the house. Also, as responsible pet owners, you will help decrease the overpopulated stray and feral cat colonies in your county.

Intestinal Parasites

Intestinal Parasites, including roundworms, hookworms, coccidian, whipworms, tapeworms, and giardia, are a very common problem among young animals and indoor/outdoor cats. They generally cause diarrhea or you may be lucky enough to see your pet vomit or pass these parasites in their feces. Kittens tend to get intestinal parasites while they are in their mother's womb or while they are nursing. Adult indoor/outdoor cats are at risk for getting parasites through flea bites and by snacking on what they enjoy to hunt. Therefore, it is recommended that a fresh fecal sample be checked for the presence of parasites during your first and second kitten visit and then at least annually. Some intestinal parasite can be zoonotic (passed to humans). This is why it is important to practice good hygiene after cleaning out the litter box. Please see Parastite Prevention for more information.

External Parasites

The most commonly found external parasites are fleas and ticks. There are a variety of products available for flea and tick control, and we will help you decide which one will be the best to use on your kitten or cat. Never use a product on a cat that is intended solely for use in dogs. Also, cats can be extremely sensitive to flea and tick products that contain pyrethrins or permethrins. Since these ingredients can be quite toxic to cats, we recommend not using them. Cats can get Lyme disease from deer ticks, but they never become sick from having the bacteria in their bloodstream. Other parasites to be watchful for include lice and mites. See Parasite Prevention for more information.

Nutrition

It is recommended that a high quality kitten food (Growth Formula) be fed for the first 6 months to 1 year of your kitten's life. We can suggest some brands of high quality kitten and cat foods if you are having trouble picking a food for your pet. The food should be fed free-choice rather than on a strict feeding schedule. If table scraps and other treats are fed at all, they should be kept to a minimum. Although most kittens and cats like the taste of milk, it is usually not digested well and often leads to diarrhea. Therefore, it is not recommended as part of their diet.

Microchipping

We can microchip your kitten or cat by injecting a permanent identification number in the form of a chip underneath the skin between the shoulder blades. This will stay with your pet for its entire life and can be used to safely return your pet if they should go astray. It is easiest to inject the microchip while they are under anesthesia during your pet's spay or neuter, but we can do it anytime. We primarily recommend this for indoor/outdoor cats.