The core vaccines are vaccines that are required for all cats, no matter what their lifestyle is. And so for our kittens, the core vaccines would be what we call our FVRCP, which is initials for the feline upper respiratory or respiratory diseases. Panleukopenia. Calicivirus. And rabies, of course, is another core vaccine.

We recommend that all kittens receive the Leukemia vaccine because kittens are the most susceptible to that virus. It's highly contagious from cat to cat. If they start out as being an indoor kitty, like we just said, some cats aren't happy doing that. You might find that later either your lifestyle changes or their lifestyle changes, and they go outside, so we want to make sure that they are the most protected they can be.

Some will have different answers to that question. I believe that they can be safely outside, but of course, there's more risk outside—you can't argue that point. But I believe that if they want to be outside, they can be happy and healthy. And, of course, there are certain preventative measures and vaccines that we can recommend to help keep them healthy.

Some of our kitties that we try to make indoors aren't happy inside. We can see here, especially when we see many behavioral issues that are just as important as medical issues, and behavioral issues turn into medical issues because of that stress on the body. And so if they're happy inside and they have enough environmental enrichment, then perfect. But if they like to be outdoors and have that indoor/outdoor life, I think sometimes it's kind of that happy medium or best life for them.

We generally recommend that around five to six months old for our females. Most people want to spay them before they have their heat cycles because that can be somewhat annoying to go through. And then for our males, if they are indoors, they can tend to mark their territory or spray. And so that's a big thing that we want to help prevent that behavior with neutering.

A big one is heartworm and flea and tick prevention. We know that external parasites are a big deal. Internal parasites, things that we can't see, are like heartworms. Even if you have a strictly indoor kitty, we still recommend that because mosquitoes transmit heartworms. We know that mosquitoes can be inside our house.

We recommend starting around six to eight weeks, and then we recommend that they come back every three weeks for boosters. They're not going to be fully vaccinated until they've completed their full kitten shots. Also, during that time, we are checking to ensure that they are growing and developing properly. They come to see us until they're about four months old.

Any questions that you have. Of course, bring them. Write them down. We encourage you to write them down so that you'll remember them. We give a lot of education. But if you have questions about their nutrition, about how they interact with your other family members or your other pets, those would be good questions to ask us. If you have questions about just what they're doing at home, how they're acting, then ask us, and we're happy to help.

When you come here to the Animal Hospital of Statesville, you will get lots of education. We talk about how to care for your kitten. We talk about the first set of vaccines and deworming that there they are going to get. They can carry or have intestinal parasites that can be contagious to you and me, so we educate on that. And your kitten's going to receive a complete physical exam, and we make sure you know how to take care of them at home. We’ll ensure you have a proper carrier and have them set up and ready to go in that.

If the kitten is with Mom, then we wouldn't necessarily recommend that until they're closer to about six to eight weeks—at the age of weaning. If they are abandoned and not with Mom, we would recommend bringing them in right away. That way, we can evaluate them and see what their needs might be since their mom's not providing them.