Your Cat's Yearly Check Up

Healthy cats are happy cats. Many veterinary practices are cat-friendly or have doctors who specialize in cats. Yearly wellness visits can help catch medical problems early.

They will take their temperature and check their pulse and ask you general questions about diet and general behavior and health.

"The veterinarian will then come in and manually examine your cat's key body parts: the eyes and nose, mouth and teeth, ears, heart and lungs, fur, paws and feet, and rear end. This is a good time to bring up any health concerns you have as well as behavioral issues you're dealing with. Keep in mind that cats often act out when they're not feeling well, so it's good to eliminate potential medical causes whenever your cat starts acting abnormally.

Your cat's eyes will be checked for clearness and signs of inflammation or tearing, while the nostrils will be looked at for signs of congestion. The vet will examine your cat's mouth and teeth for gum inflammation, signs of excess tartar, and any tooth abnormalities or breakage. Next, your vet will look at your cat's ears for signs of inflammation, redness, or drainage around the ear canal, along with mites.

Listening to your cat's heart and lungs allows your vet to find any heart murmurs or abnormal sounds, such as respiratory congestion. Then, your vet will comb the cat's fur with a flea comb, looking for signs of "flea dirt." Examining the paws and feet also allows your vet to look for broken or damaged claws, cuts, or injury to the pads. Then, the anus will be checked for visual evidence of worms, and the anal gland will be looked at for potential signs of infection or impaction.

Lastly, your veterinarian will carefully palpate fingers into your cat's internal organs to feel for signs of abnormalities, such as swelling, lumps, or bumps. This is one of the most important parts of the wellness check, as your vet's fingers have the magical ability to remember how a particular cat feels normally. This makes it easy to pinpoint potential problems at future visits.

If your cat is over 7 years old, make sure your vet checks your cat's blood pressure.  This is not normally done by most vets, many do not even have the equipment. BUT if your cat has hypertension and it is not treated it will cause them many other health problems including becoming blind.  It is really important,  Encourage your vet to get the equipment to do it. 

You should yearly do blood work for your cat.  They will check their blood count (CBC) and a chemistry panel.  If your cat is over 7, make sure they are including a T-4 test.   We have caught several cats becoming hyperthyroidism before they became symptomatic because of this blood test.  Catching it early and treating helps prevent more serious damage from being done.

You should have a Urinalysis done.  That helps them make sure the kidneys etc are all working right and detect the presence of other things that should not be in urine if they are having a problem.

If your cat goes outside, a fecal every year to check for worms is important.

Make sure your cat is up to date on vaccines. 

https://www.thesprucepets.com/adult-cats-annual-veterinary-exam-553794