From the early days of your cat’s life, the team at Williamsburg Veterinary Clinic focuses heavily on their overall wellness, mental well-being, and even offers behavioral counseling! Taking time to establish a relationship with you and your pet is an important part of caring for them in the future. We will use this time to talk to you about:
- Basic care and cleanliness
- Socialization
- Puppy or Kitten vaccination protocols
- Nutrition
- Training and behavior
- Parasites, both internal and external
- Overall health, and breed considerations
A big part of this is creating a baseline of health between you, your car, and our office. Why do we do this? When there are health problems or changes, we’ll all be able to recognize the signs. This is important because cats are great at hiding when something is wrong.
When cats are sick, they can’t tell us something is wrong. And, even if they could tell us something was wrong, they probably wouldn’t. Cats are notorious for hiding signs of illness, and a cat owner often won’t recognize changes in a cat until the cat’s disease is advanced and her prognosis is poor.
Regular veterinary care can uncover early signs of illness in cats
Every cat should be seen by a veterinarian at least annually until the age of 7, and at least twice annually after that. During your cat’s visit, we’ll examine her dental health, digestive health, reproductive health, joint mobility, and more. We’ll assess her body condition score to determine if she is at a healthy weight, we’ll ask questions about her behavior and her lifestyle, and we’ll discuss her diet and exercise. We’ll also conduct regular blood work to compare to the results of previous years.
With cats, what seem to be small changes in behavior can actually mean big underlying medical conditions, and our exam and preventive blood work help to reveal disease processes in their early stages before they advance and make treatment difficult. The earlier we are able to diagnose your cat’s medical condition, the easier and more successful treatment will be.
We want your cat to live many happy years with you. Call us at 407-239-7606 to schedule your feline friend’s regular preventive care exam or if something seems off at the moment. We’re here for your cat.