February is National Cat Health Month

Since February is National Cat Health Month, let’s focus on health and wellness! 

Now is a good time to make your pet’s health checkup with your veterinarian. Even if we appear “the picture of health,” it is still a very good idea to keep to a regular checkup schedule!

We recommend a twice a year schedule but, at a minimum, once a year. You all know us felines like to hide our pain and sometimes things come on quickly and before you know it, we need to be rushed to the vet. It’s important to see the vet regularly so that they have a health history of your pet throughout its life.

It’s also a good time to microchip your pet if you have not already done so. Many vets will offer low-cost microchip services during a regular checkup. 38% of lost pets who are microchipped are found verses 2% of animals who do not have a microchip.

Here is a check list of topics or questions for you to bring up to your vet at your visit!

• How is my pet’s weight? What weight should my pet be at this stage?

• What diet do you recommend? This is a very important question as we are what we eat. It is  a hot topic today as there has been a huge swing away from cooked and processed foods with fillers, chemicals and preservatives towards the raw food diet. If you are a regular reader you know that we promote the raw food diet because of how it changed my life and Mom’s life too. 

• How are my pet’s teeth and gums? Better to learn to deal with our teeth and gums early on to save our overall general health and big vet bills later!

• How do you feel about later vaccinations for indoor only cats? Are they necessary considering the risks?

• How much exercise should my pet get daily? What is the best exercise for cats? 

• What will my bill be for this visit? And what kind of costs can I expect in the future for routine care?

Mom says to save these questions to your phone so that you have your list already when you get to the vet. This way you don’t have to remember and instead you can concentrate on the answers!

And while we are at it, we would like to remind all pet parents to investigate getting pet insurance!

With so many cats and dogs getting human diseases like cancer or diabetes and more than 50% of pets who are overweight with many considered obese, just like your own health insurance, pet insurance is almost mandatory considering the vet costs today for something serious.

It is an exploding category in the insurance industry and you have many choices!! We have written about it before and Mom says the monthly cost to fully insure Beau and me is equal to a nice dinner out for one. The Consumers Advocate also issued a very comprehensive report and analysis of pet insurers and who is best, etc which we definitely recommended reading!