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In GeneralYour cat can't tell you how it's feeling so you must familiarize yourself with its normal behavior. A healthy cat maintains normal body weight, level of activity, and social behavior. A significant change in any of these is a warning sign. Getting regular, accurate weights can detect problems early. You can weigh yourself on a bathroom scale with (holding) and without the cat and subtract. This is accurate only to about two pounds on most bathroom scales. For better accuracy, modify a kitchen scale by mounting a bigger platform on it. Train your cat to get on the platform by placing a Pounce or similar treat on it. Any sudden weight change, especially loss, probably means your cat is feeling sick. Medicines for humans are often used for cats, both prescription and non-prescription drugs (phenobarbitol, lasix, amoxicillin, cold medications, etc.). When you hear that you should never give human medicines to cats, it means that you should not give them without first consulting your vet. Certain very common human drugs like aspirin and especially tylenol (acetaminophen) are deadly to cats, so don't give them any kind of medication unless recommended by the vet (note that aspirin can be given in very small doses, but you need to check correct dosage and frequency of administration). A final cautionary note about this section. This is not meant to be a complete treatise on these various diseases. It is intended to familiarize you with the various major diseases your cat can develop. If your cat has any of these diseases, you should be in close contact with your vet, who will provide you with all the information you need Veterinary CareOn the netFrequently there are postings such as: "My cat
is doing
On the other hand, if you already have a vet appointment, or have had the vet look at it and be stumped by the symptoms, rec.pets.cats can be a valuable resource of tips on what might be wrong, or reassurances that the cat is not at risk of immediate death, so do not hesitate to ask the group under these circumstances. Home vet booksA low-cost method to ease anxieties over non-emergency kitty problems is to get a home vet book. (See Literature.) These books also help explain what sort of "deviant" behaviors are actually relatively normal for cats. However, unless you yourself are a vet, these books should never substitute for having a vet for your cat. Pet InsuranceIn the August issue of Cat Fancy, there is an article discussing health maintenance plans for cats that is set up between your vet and yourself and then administrated by this HMO company. The company is called RLI Planned Services in Peoria, Illinois. The article included a sample plan. For $75 a year, your cat receives:
All other medical, surgical and hospital services (except prescriptions and diets) are 10% off. (All of these things are included in this HMO for $75/year. OR $125 for two years.) Here's the company's address:
The article says to ask your vet about this program. If he/she isn't familiar with it, they should contact the company and see about setting up the HMO plan. Vets also may be able to direct you to other pet insurance plans that they know about. You may want to consider that $100/year over an expected 15 to 20 year lifetime is $1500 to $2000. Plus whatever you have to pay for excluded costs, coverage limits, deductibles. Pet insurance will help with major medical problems such as FUS, cancer, etc, or emergency care. If your pet is basically healthy, you will pay about as much either way, for insurance or for preventative care that keeps it healthy. Choosing a vetChoose a vet who you are comfortable with and who will answer your questions. Check out the office: do animals seem just frightened or are they also out of control? Is it bedlam, or reasonable for the number of different animals there? Do you have local recommendations from friends? Does the vet specialize in small animals as opposed to, say, livestock? The best way to find a vet is word of mouth (from someone who takes good care of their pets, of course).
24 hour emergency careA good vet will either be associated with a 24 emergency care plan or be able to give you the number of a good place in your area. Keep this number on your refrigerator and check with your vet when you visit that it's still up-to-date. Fecal samplesAny time you bring your cat to the vet, try to bring a fresh fecal sample. Put a small, fingernail-sized sample into a plastic bag, or ask your vet for a supply of fecal samplers. The vet cannot always get a fecal sample from the cat, and this saves you extra trips to return the sample and then bring the cat in if the tests are positive. If you are afraid your cat will not cooperate and give you a fresh sample before you need to go in, within 18-12 hours before a sample can be placed in the refrigerator. Samples over 18 hours hold, however, will probably not be of use. Cat reactionsCats largely dislike being taken to the vet. They hate riding in the car most of all, and the smell of fear and other animals in the office often distresses them further. Get a pet carrier. A plain cardboard one will do for infrequent trips; get a stronger fiberglass one for more travel or destructive cats. Carriers keep your cat under control at the vet's and prevent accidents in the car en route. Popular suggestions to reduce your cat's anxiety during vet visits:
Further stepsFrom kittenhood, accustom your cat to being handled. Look into its ears (clean, white and light pink), eyes (clear, no runniness, inner eyelids may blink but should remain open), nose (clean and pink (or its normal color) and mouth (clean, light pink gums) regularly. Hold it still and look at its anus; pick up its paws and look at the pads and claws. This will have the added benefit that you will notice any changes from normal quickly and be able to call up your vet if something is wrong. Do arrange for the kitten to meet plenty of people; this will socialize your cat and it will not hide from people when adult. Vet billsYou should be prepared to handle routine costs from year to year incurred by yearly physical exams, occasional fecal samples (and worming medication), plus yearly vaccinations. However, accidents and major illnesses can happen. Sometimes, pet health care insurance is one way people use to control these costs. Other times you might try vet schools which may give you reduced rates for their students to have the opportunity to work with your cat, especially if the problem is rare or uncommon. You might be able to negotiate a monthly payment toward a large bill, or a slightly reduced one in exchange for a bit of labor or other work (for example, one accountant prepared his vet's taxes in exchange for reducing the cost of surgery that his dog had had). The humane society may know of lower-cost clinics or vets who are prepared to cut prices for people who are not particularly well off. It can't hurt to call around and ask. But as other posters have mentioned, being a vet is a business, too, and vets tend not to have high incomes. They also have many of the same expenses as an MD (equipment, office staff) and the additional expenses of running their own pharmacy (and animal medicine is just as expensive as people medicine). AuthorOriginally written 1991 & updated through 1997 by Cindy Tittle Moore. Maintained by the Fanciers website as of July 1999.
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