Well, first bring your kitten to the veterinarian as soon as you get your kitten, so we can do a physical exam, get them off to a great start. And then from there, the veterinarian will let you know when the next time that they need to come in for follow-up blood work when to spay and neuter them, and what vaccines need to be done. But get started right away.

The first thing they need is a feline distemper vaccine. It's a combination vaccine that protects against feline distemper and upper respiratory vaccines. And we usually give those at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks.

The second thing that the American Association of Feline Practitioners recommends is that we do a feline leukemia vaccine on all kittens. They'll need two of those four weeks apart. And it is required by law in all states that they have a rabies vaccine, so that'll be given when they're about 16 weeks of age. Additionally, we do a blood test to make sure the kitten has started out without having feline leukemia and FIV. And we always ask you to bring a stool sample in as well so that we can run a fecal and look for roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, coccidia, and giardia.

At your first visit you'll get introduced to the team. You'll get introduced to how we are going to go about caring for your pet in the different lifestyles and phases. We'll talk about a lot of information on behavior, and do a thorough physical exam. We make sure there are no congenital abnormalities that have gone undetected, or underlying parasites like fleas or ticks. And we’ll just have an overall discussion of your kitten's health and needs. Be prepared to discuss lifestyle as well. Are you thinking about having an indoor kitty or outdoor kitty? How many pets do you have in the house? So these are some things to expect to discuss and for us to go over at your veterinary visit.

What I would expect is that you brought in their history and any previous medical records that you have, so we know where we're starting. You hopefully brought in a history of observations that you made with your kitten since you've had it. And you might have a list of questions that you want to bring in also, and obviously that you brought in a kitten! So that's what we're going to have. And then the veterinarian is going to do a full physical examination and ask you some follow-up questions as well.

Some products aren't necessarily monthly, but more commonly, they are. So for example, here we have Simparica TRIO. That's probably what we use a lot now because it's all-in-one heartworm, flea, tick, and two intestinal parasites, all in one monthly tablet. It's awesome. Revolution is a topical product whereas this one's oral. It's for heartworm, fleas, and some intestinal parasites. And then Heartgard is for heartworm and intestinal parasites. And then we have Bravecto, which is traditionally a three-month product, but we actually did just get the one month as well. So depending on where you are financially, this is good for fleas and ticks.

It’s kind of in the term there in that it’s the prevention of disease.

Preventative medication used monthly, heartworm prevention in South Louisiana is my first, second, third, fourth, and fifth answer to that question. Heartworms, are rampant. They are spread by mosquitoes. Heartworm preventative is absolutely imperative if you have a dog, and this is true anywhere, but particularly anywhere in the southern half to two-thirds of the United States. It's just everywhere. And it would be downright silly to not have them on heartworm preventatives.

Other things that may not be mandatory depending on where your dog lives and what their lifestyle is, but various flea and/or tick controls could also be considered monthly preventatives as well.

Well, for obvious reasons, if we're preventing things like infectious diseases, for example, we give a rabies vaccination to prevent that dog from getting rabies. That's pretty helpful. But also things like parvo, distemper, hepatitis—all the different ingredients in these combination vaccines. Heartworm disease, that's huge. In South Louisiana where we practice, it's rampant, really. So how do we prevent it? We prevent it by doing monthly heartworm prevention. And there's only one way to do that.

Exercise is very important in pets and people. I always associate pets with people because we all should be doing it. Play time is so healthy. I mean even most dogs, just think of how excited they even get when you say the word “walk”. I have to spell it out for my dog and I think she's catching on now. So they get so happy. So it's good for their mental wellbeing. It's good for their physical wellbeing. It's great to maintain weight, keep those joints moving, so regular exercise is one of the most important things for people and pets.

Good question. So the best thing pets have for them, unlike people is we can regulate their portions. So free feeding is the number one way pets gain weight, not from spayed even though people swear by it because my next question after people say my dog gained weight after she got fixed or spayed. I say, "Do you free feed? Or do you measure the food?" I'd say about 85% of people say they free feed and that's the number one way pets gain weight. Free feeding means you pour a bucket of food, you leave it there and let them eat. So the main way you got to get a cup, not a big coffee cup because my questions are what size or cup. Some people say this big. Some people say this big. Get a measuring cup, measure your dog's food according to their weight, feed them twice a day or three times a day or whatever your regimen is based on the food you are feeding, go by the directions on the back. If they're gaining weight, cut them back. If they're underweight, increase them a little bit, but you have to measure.