Caring for Cats and Kittens

Vaccination:

We at St Martins Veterinary Clinic would recommend that kittens start their vaccination course from 8 weeks of age and complete the course at 12 weeks. A booster after 12 months is essential and should be considered a further kitten vaccination. After this we then recommend an annual health check at which we will discuss your cat's lifestyle and decide which vaccination boosters are appropriate.

Vaccines are available against five primary diseases:

• Feline Parvovirus (Feline Enteritis)
• Cat Flu (2 types - Feline Herpes Virus & Calicivirus)
• Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV)
• Feline Chlamydophila

These diseases cause distressing and frequently fatal disease. Many cats become carriers for life if they are infected as kittens and symptoms will flare up during periods of stress.

The combination of vaccines and the frequency with which we would advise boosting them depends on the cat's environment and lifestyle and is some cases may only be every three years. For more information regarding the vaccines we offer please don't hesitate to contact us.

Neutering:
It is strongly advised that your cat is neutered. Neutering helps to prevent or reduce a number of problems:

FEMALES: 

• Unwanted pregnancies
• Coming into oestrus
• Marking
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Mammary tumours
• Ovarian and uterine cancer and disease

MALES:

• Marking and Spraying
• Fighting
• Straying
• FIV (feline AIDS virus) and sexually transmitted diseases
• Testicular cancer

Spaying involves an ovaro-hysterectomy with the removal of the uterus under general anaesthetic through a tiny incision that only requires 1-2 stitches. Castration involves the removal of the testicles which is also performed under general anaesthetic but stitches are not normally required. Cats recover quickly from these procedures.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no advantage in allowing a female to have a litter of kittens first. We would normally recommend a female being neutered from the age of 4 months to avoid the risk of early oestrus and unwanted pregnancies and although males can be castrated from this age we recommend waiting until the slightly later age of 7-8 months as they mature later than females. Un-neutered male cats are more than twice as likely to die prematurely due to injury or illness than neutered males and few live beyond 5-6 years.

Worm treatment

We advise worming kittens shortly after weaning then regularly afterwards. Adult cats with access to outdoors should be wormed at least every 3 months. Cats can pick up worms from each other or from fleas and eating birds, rodents, amphibians and reptiles, slugs and snails etc. These worms include:

• Roundworm (Toxocara and Toxascaris)
• Taenia spp (Tapeworms from eating wildlife)
• Dipylidium (Tapeworm from fleas)
• Heartworm
• Lungworm

Some of these worms can be fatal and are difficult or impossible to treat so prevention is of vital importance.

Flea Treatment

Cats regularly pick up fleas out-of doors and should be treated monthly to prevent investation of the home.

Most effective flea and worm products are only available from vets. We have a wide range of flea and worm products available at competitive prices. These are often in combination preparations that come as easy to apply spot-on formulations or even in injectable form to avoid having to give pills! Flea treatment needs to be repeated frequently to be effective as infestation may not be apparent until it is out of control. We are able to give the correct advice on what is best for your cat depending on his/her lifestyle and environment.

Other Parasites

Cats are commonly infested with ear mites which can cause severe and distressing ear infections. They will also occasionally pick up other skin mites and frequently become infested with ticks if they go into rough ground. A number of products are available for these parasites and treatment is often incorporated into regular flea and worm treatment. Some of these parasites can carry other diseases that may be fatal.