Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Yes, Indoor Cats Need Vet Visits

At Pet Angel, when you adopt an animal, you sign an adoption agreement. In the agreement, we require that you take your new family member to the vet within a certain amount of days of adoption. While discussing this, we often times run into potential adopters and current cat owners who do not understand that their indoor cat must go to the vet. It is vital to your animal that they have routine check ups, just like children require while growing. To explain this better, here are three reasons your cat should go to the vet, even though its an indoor cat.

1) Cats are very good at hiding illnesses

Cats hide pain. Its what they do. So when you discover that your cat is showing physical signs of being in pain, it means it is extreme. Often times they will not act themselves, staying away from the family and climbing up high on perches. They will not be as active, and will begin not to eat or drink as much. Their fur may change and become less shiny, and tuffs of it may begin to form from lack of grooming. They may begin to miss the litter box, or not use it at all. These are all signs that your cat needs to go to the vet. They aren't miss behaving, they aren't becoming lazy. They are sick. 
Check out this link for more information. 

2) Cats Peeing outside the litter box can mean a UTI or bladder infection

Cats can not use words like you and your child can to tell you when they don't feel good. They have to communicate it to you in a different way. When your cat pee's outside the litter box, on your bed, on clothing or on the floor, they are not misbehaving. Do not try to re-home them or decide to get rid of them because they are being bad. Instead, take them to the vet. Odds are they had a bladder infection or a UTI. This can be treated with medication, and they will go back to using their box again. They stopped using the box because they know that will get your attention and thats what they want, to tell you they are sick! 
If this isn't it, check out this link to see other reasons they might not be using the box.

3) Your cat needs shots

Just like a child, your cat needs shots. What if your cat gets out and you find them three days later? Do you really want to risk them getting sick when you get them back? What if, why your animal is lost, it ends up in a shelter? At your home it might not be at risk, but in shelters it will be around other cats, and could catch something. A mosquito can get inside, bite your cat and give your cat heart worm, do you really wanna risk your cat getting a serious parasite? I can promise that if you decide, for whatever reason, that you can't keep your animal and call to bring it to us, I'm going to ask you why you didn't take it to the vet in the last 3 years and I'm going to be upset when you didn't care for your cat like you do your child. 

In Conclusion

Treat your cat as though it is a family member. If your kid is sick, you take them to the doctor. You don't try to re-home them or turn them into a foster home. Do the same for your pet, figure out ways to work around the illness and take care of your pet when its not feeling well. Shots will keep them from getting sick, and the love will keep them happy. Besides, you are that cats world, they love you more than you know.


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