Preventive Care for Cats: Keeping Your Cat Healthy

July 11, 2024

Bringing a cat into your home means you are making a lifetime commitment. You want to extend every moment you have with your new furry friend. There is good news. You can do this with some planning and a preventative care plan for your cat. Keeping your cat happy and healthy helps extend your pet's lifespan and makes every moment with them count.

At Pure Peak, we want to help you prepare for a long and happy life with your feline friend. We want you to understand the importance of creating a preventative care plan for your kitty and the steps you can take to ensure you are setting up your cat for a lifetime of snuggles and purrs.

What Is Preventive Care for Cats?

It is cheaper and less stressful to prevent health problems in your cat than to deal with them once they manifest. Preventive care is healthcare that focuses on your animal's current health to avoid future problems and medical conditions.

You likely engage in regular preventative care for yourself. That could include making regular doctor’s appointments, getting your teeth cleaned every six months, or getting a flu shot. You might even go in for cancer screenings. Preventive care is meant to maintain good health and detect any health issues before they get out of hand. In this way, you seek to maintain a happy and healthy life. Your furry friend deserves the same.

You and your cat’s veterinarian can develop a preventive care plan for your kitty that helps you extend your pet's life, detect medical conditions before they become serious health issues, and improve the overall quality of your feline’s life.

What Monthly Prevention Do Cats Need?

What types of preventive care services does your cat need? The answer can depend on your cat’s age, size, and overall health. Most preventive care programs begin with annual or semi-annual wellness exams. These exams are like your annual physical or doctor’s appointment.

During a wellness exam, your vet can review your cat’s nutrition, skin, coat, oral health status, and vital signs. A wellness check may also focus on your cat’s diet, whether they are overweight or underweight, orthopedic health, as well as overall systemic health. Additionally, an annual or semi-annual visit may also include routine bloodwork. Semi-annual wellness exams are particularly valuable for pet parents as they provide an opportunity to discuss any specific concerns, behavioral issues, or other questions you have with an experienced professional.

Preventative care plans may also include:

Monthly anti-flea and tick medication
Periodic at-home monitoring
Nutritional counseling
Blood and urine testing
Educational materials focusing on the health of your cat at its unique stage of life
Environmental modifications that can improve the health of your pet.

Routine wellness examinations are also excellent because they allow you to continue discussing heartworm prevention with your vet and refill prescriptions for flea and tick treatment and prevention medications.

Do Indoor Cats Need Preventative Care?

Yes! All cats need a preventive care plan, even indoor cats. Indoor cats live longer and have fewer injuries and health concerns than outdoor cats. They also have access to clean, fresh water. However, they can still suffer the ill effects of bad-quality cat food, lack of exercise, and dental issues. They can also develop life-threatening conditions such as obesity, cancer, and other feline illnesses.

Although not as common, indoor cats can also fall prey to parasites like fleas and ticks through other pets, humans, and the accidental introduction of infested furniture or household items to their home environment. Flea and tick prevention and other parasite prevention measures should be the cornerstone of any well-thought-out preventive care plan for both indoor and outdoor cats.

The Importance of Wellness Exams for Your Cat

Wellness checks are vital for helping you maintain your cat’s health, safety, and well-being. They give you and your veterinarian the chance to evaluate the health of the feline patient regularly. Consistent regular veterinary visits allow you and your veterinarian to use historical information from previous visits to track over time how your cat’s health is trending. These regular visits ultimately will allow you and your vet to more easily detect and recognize the signs that something may be wrong with your furry companion.

Cats are masters of masking pain and discomfort. Cats instinctively hide pain, which may have been an evolutionary trait to protect them from predators since predators tend to target weak and vulnerable animals. Many cats do not show signs of pain or distress until an issue has significantly progressed, and sometimes, they won’t display symptoms until medical intervention has little chance of producing a successful outcome. Wellness exams are crucial because they can help your vet catch potential issues like feline diseases and other medical conditions in their early stages, giving your cat the best chance of receiving the care they need to recover.

Common Health Issues in Cats

The health issues your cat experiences over their lifetime largely depend on diet, environment, and age. Outdoor cats experience more issues with wounds, infections, parasite infestations, and diseases. As cats age, they can develop dental issues, kidney disease, and cancer. Some of the most common health issues that occur in cats include:

Diabetes
Cancer
Gum disease and tooth loss
Upper respiratory tract infections
Kidney disease
Hyperthyroidism
Feline lower urinary tract disease
Urinary tract infections

Although rare, cats can contract transmissible diseases such as Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) and rabies, making preventive care and regular health monitoring essential for their well-being.

How to Develop a Cat Preventive Care Plan with Your Veterinarian

Developing a cat preventive care plan with your veterinarian is easy. It requires communication with an experienced and compassionate veterinarian. Schedule an appointment and talk to your vet. Discuss your concerns and the need for a preventive care plan that addresses your cat’s unique needs. Your vet should work with you to set the parameters of a preventive care plan, keeping the plan's details on file.

You can also ask your vet’s office to notify you or send you reminders when it is time to schedule your cat’s annual or semi-annual appointments and direct you to how to access your cat’s medical history and test results.

When you love your cat like family, that love shows. A well-respected medical professional like a veterinarian should see the love and care you give your cat and be willing to work with you to set up a preventative care plan, complete with advice, medications, and testing, that will improve the quality of your kitty’s life. Talk, ask questions, and work with your veterinarian. You both have your cat's best interests at heart.

Cat Preventative Care FAQs

Cat owners often have questions about how best to care for their pets. We’ve answered some frequently asked questions for you here.

What are the risks of failing to provide preventive cat care?

Failing to provide preventative cat care can lead to heartbreaking consequences. Since cats are excellent at hiding the signs of pain and illness until it is too late, you may miss receiving a vital diagnosis that could have spared your family member pain and suffering. You risk worsening an injury or medical condition and your cat’s health if you skip routine exams and fail to provide preventive care.

What are the signs my cat needs help?

It is in a cat’s nature to disguise the signs of pain. Many people are entirely unaware their cat is suffering or feeling pain because they are so adept at hiding it. However, some signs can indicate a problem with your feline. Your cat may need help if you notice: