Cat Health
Vaccination
Cats can be vaccinated against a number of potentially fatal diseases. These are feline enteritis, feline influenza, feline leukaemia and chlamydia. Vaccination can commence in kittens from as early as 9 weeks of age. For full immunity they require 2 vaccinations 3 weeks apart and annual vaccine boosters thereafter. As part of the annual booster your cat is given a free health check. A vaccination certificate will be given to you as this will be inspected by catteries before boarding your cat. Annual booster reminder cards are sent out by the practice by post .
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Fleas
Fleas are common external parasites of cats all year round. It is recommended that veterinary prescription flea control preparations are used are used regularly to prevent conditions such as flea allergic dermatitis, rashes and sores. These same preparations can also be used to control other skin parasites such as, ticks, mange mites and lice. Contact the surgery for more detailed information.
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Worms
It is important to regularly worm your cat for the health of you cat and for public health. Adult cats should be wormed 3-4 times a year.
Kittens should be wormed more regularly. Worm every 4-6 weeks until they are 6 months of age then change to the adult worming interval. There are many different worming preparations available and the veterinary surgeons will be happy to advise which is the most appropriate. To treat tapeworms effectively, in addition to using wormer, you also need to eliminate the source which are fleas. Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes and can be prevented with different insecticides. Heartworm is not in the UK at the moment so they are only significant if you travel abroad with your cat.
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Neutering
Male cats - Tom cats can be castrated from 6 months of age. Cats that are not castrated have a larger territory so castrating reduces roaming behaviour and fighting with other cats.
Female cats - These may be spayed at 4-6 months of age before they start coming into season. Cats come into season every 3 weeks and spaying eliminates unwanted kittens.
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Nutrition
Healthy nutrition leads to a health cat. In the same way as humans change with age by having different requirements, both quality, quantity and type of food so do cats. For this reason we recommend to change your cat food with changing age of your cat.
Our trained veterinary nurses are available to give advice on the correct diets which will maximise the health and life expectancy of your cat.
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Dental Care
It is just as important to look after your dog’s and cat’s teeth as it is to look after your own. Dental disease is a very common problem. It affects more than 80% of dogs and cats over 4 years old. It causes:
-bad breath
-red, swollen, bleeding gums
-yellow/brown deposits of plaque on the teeth
-pain
-decreased appetite and difficulty eating
-loss of teeth
-tooth root abscesses
-bacteria from the mouth enter the bloodstream and travel to organs, particularly the kidneys and heart and can seriously compromise your pet’s health
-your pet can become quite depressed
Cats can develop erosive lesions in the teeth. This is when the enamel dissolves and leaves the tooth nerve exposed. This is quite a painful condition and can lead to root abscess or tooth fracture and exposed spikey tooth fragments. These affected teeth need to be removed.
Prevention
- Regular dental check ups and professional cleaning by your vet are recommended.
- Brushing your cat's teeth on a regular basis is an excellent and highly effective means
of prevention
- Giving hard textured food . A prescription diet is available to reduce
plaque build up
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Dental Checks
Routine dental checks are recommended. An ideal time is when you bring your pet in for vaccination. You can check your pet’s teeth yourself by lifting the upper lip and inspecting the outer surface of the teeth. If you see areas of yellow brown staining or red bleeding gums it is best to bring you pet into the surgery for examination.
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Routine Dental Work
Your pet may need a routine dental done. This involves a general anaesthetic and your pet will stay with us for the day. We have state of the art dental facilities which are the same as used by human dentists. This enables us to provide the best dental care. The dental machine has a sonic scaler and this removes the layer of scale and tartar on the teeth without damaging the teeth. The teeth are closely inspected and any teeth with damage or loss of gum support are extracted. Animals cope very well with tooth extraction. Even if multiple teeth have to be removed they can still eat normally and are much happier and healthier in themselves as their mouths are now pain free. We polish the teeth and this smooths the surface so delays the rate at which plaque builds up again. After a dental procedure is done it is recommended to follow up with home care. This significantly reduces the number of dental procedures we have to do and ensures your pet has healthy clean teeth for longer. There are several things you can do to achieve this and everything you do manage to do makes a significant difference.
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Brushing your pets teeth
This is by far the most effective method of tooth care. It significantly reduces dental disease. It does take patience but if mastered it will be worth while. Each stage should be taken slowly and give your pet lots of praise and reassurance.
It is possible so best of luck and remember it is well worth it.
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What to do if you cant brush their teeth
This is a prescription diet for dogs and cats especially formulated to clean the surface of the teeth when the animal chews on it. The food does have nutritional value so can be fed as a complete food or can be used in conjunction with normal diet.
This is a paste that can be given daily to dogs and cats. It is administered into the mouth where it spreads to coat the teeth. It contains enzymes that reduce plaque production. It is flavoured so is palatable to most pets.
These hide chews contain enzymes to reduce plaque formation. Also the action of chewing on the abrasive hide reduces food particles.
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