WHY WELLNESS? Because, cats hide their illnesses…
To keep your cat well, it takes careful and knowledgeable assessment to find the subtle signs of illness.
Wellness care begins with the physical exam…needed once a year until 10 years of age and then twice a year thereafter.
Prevent Dental Disease
Benefits for your cat
Healthy mouth, breath, heart, and kidneys; fewer anesthetic experiences needed to clean teeth
What you can do
Feed Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) certified cat dental diets; brush or wipe your cat’s teeth once a day
Prevent Heartworm Disease
Benefits for your cat
Healthy lungs
What you can do
Once-a-month heartworm preventive medication; treat year round for all cats
Prevent Flea Infestation
Benefits for your cat
Healthy skin, prevents spread of cat scratch bacterial infection & infectious anemia, prevents tapeworm infections
What you can do
Once-a-month or every-3-months flea preventive
Prevent Intestinal Parasitism
Benefits for your cat
Healthy intestinal tract, prevents vomiting and diarrhea related to parasites, may prevent food allergies, prevents accidental human infections
What you can do
Once-a-month preventive medication; scoop the litter box daily and dump and clean the box weekly
Prevent Dehydration
Benefits for your cat
Healthy kidney function, may reduce risk of urine crystal formation and urethral blockage
What you can do
Feed canned food with water or low sodium broth added once a day, make the food as soupy as the cat will eat
Prevent Obesity
Benefits for your cat
Healthy joints, may prevent Diabetes, promotes optimum grooming, especially of hard-to-reach places
What you can do
Weight checks and body condition scoring twice a year at exams, the LHFC team can advise you as to the amount of food your cat needs
Prevent Behavior Problems
Benefits for your cat
Promotes a loving and satisfying relationship between pet and owner, prevents abandonment and euthanasia
What you can do
Gentle play using toys and not hands, arms, legs, or feet as play objects; using “Kitten Time Out” as a way to calm a kitten or cat that is too aggressive; never punish a cat by spanking. Always offer one litter box more than the number of cats in the home. Scoop the litter box daily and dump and clean it weekly to prevent house soiling.