Kitten Exams
We start you at about two months of age, testing for deadly diseases, treating internal and external parasites, giving important vaccines, placing your microchip, and giving valuable advice. We visit every month until you are four months of age, then again at about a year of age.
Annual Exam
Call it the annual exam, health checkup, wellness exam, whatever. We want to poke you, prod you, palpate you, look at you, listen to you, evaluate your nutrition, your behavior, your aches and your pains. We may want to give some vaccines, we may want some blood or some urine. We want to get to know you. And your person of course. The annual exam takes about 30 minutes. A perk to bringing your cat in every year, is that as long as your cat is current on their annual exam anytime you have a problem with your cat that you would like us to examine the exam fee is waived. That means that you can bring your cat in to see us every day for the next year and the only thing you will be charged for are medications or extensive diagnostics.
The annual feline exam includes some or all of the following:
HCP Vaccine
This is Feline Panleucopenia, Rhinotracheitis, and Calici virus. These viruses are responsible for some severe diseases in kittens and young adults. But after maturity the vaccines are very effective and long lasting. These vaccines cost $18, but they are included in the annual exam for no additional charge.
Feline Leukemia (FeLV)
This disease is uncommon in indoor only cats, but in Northeast Texas, really and truly for sure indoor only cats are very rare. This vaccine is included in the annual exam for no additional charge.
Rabies Vaccines
Rabies vaccine regulations are a bit complicated.
Essentially the regulations require you to be vaccinated a couple of times as a puppy, and repeated when you are one year of age. We use only a vaccine that carries a three year license, so your vaccine should protect you for three years, probably even longer. This is good news for your person and your person’s kids.
The complications arise from the variance of the law from town to town, and from county to county. In fact, most town ordinances require the vaccine to be given EVERY SINGLE YEAR OR EVERY THREE YEARS, regardless of your protection status.
This means that if you are overdue by even one day, you will be considered legally NOT vaccinated. In the unlikely event you are accused of biting a person, even if it was an accident, or even if the person richly deserved to be bitten, you will be at the mercy and whim of the Rabies Control Officer in that town or county. The Rabies Control Officer will decide, based on your legal vaccine records, if you will be quarantined or if you will be summarily euthanized, and your brain submitted for rabies testing.
This is serious life-and-death business. Please admonish your person to pay attention, and don’t be late. The consequences can be fatal for you.
Microchip
At Mt. Pleasant Animal Clinic we insist all of our patients have a microchip. If your pet already has one we will record the information in our electronic record system. If your pet does not have one, they will get one. The microchip is included in the annual exam.
Revolution
Heartworms are just as real in cats as they are in dogs. The difference is that we don’t have a good test in cats, and we don’t have a good treatment in cats. Your only chance is to avoid heartworm infection to begin with, and you do that by having your person apply a dose of Revolution every month. Revolution prevents heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, fleas, ticks, ear mites, evil spirits, road rage, and honky tonk blues.