What kind of preventive care does my kitten need?

There are a lot of things to consider with preventive care. Preventive care is actually really good nutrition. You get on a name brand food, like a Purina food or Royal Canin or Hills, and feed them only kitten food up until they're a year—that's preventative medicine because you're getting started out on a clean plane of health.

Second of all, the vaccinations are key to preventative care. They're trying to prevent diseases that we just don't even want to see anymore.

The third would be a flea and tick medication because fleas can come into your house. They can come in on the dog, and ticks can come in. Sometimes cats just go out on porches and windowsills. And so that's also preventative medicine.

And then the other part of preventative medicine is to get your cat spayed or neutered when they get older, or at about six months of age.

So preventative care is a pillar of our clinic. This is part of our philosophy—strong, preventative care to just do that, prevent things from happening later in life...to prevent kittens from getting sick, prevent them from transmitting anything to the owner. So some preventative care is fecal testing or poop testing to check for any parasites. Because sometimes you can't see parasites that are worms on the stool. It can be eggs, and these can be zoonotic, or transmissible to people. We get them proper vaccinations to protect them from diseases that are common in cats. We administer blood tests to make sure they weren't born with that with a virus that sometimes some kitty cats can get. We check their heart, their lungs. So, regular veterinary appointments are going to be very important. Do not forget flea and tick control. Cats are very good at hiding fleas, as they groom often.

Your kitten will need to have a deworming protocol, a parasitic preventative plan going forward so that you guys don't have fleas or ticks in your houses or on your cat. In addition, kittens need vaccinations, optimal nutrition, and guidelines for good behavior.

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.

I recommend using a monthly preventative for heartworm, fleas, and ticks, even for indoor kittens. I personally like to recommend using Revolution monthly, which also has a dewormer in it. For young kittens, testing fecal samples and ensuring they don't have any intestinal parasites, and if they do, we may need to deworm them, is also good preventative care for young kittens.

Preventative care for kittens includes vaccinations to prevent diseases and infections, deworming to protect against intestinal parasites, and flea and tick prevention. Your veterinarian will help you determine the appropriate preventative care plan for your kitten.

Vaccinations are crucial for preventative care. Heartworm prevention, flea and tick prevention, and a single-dose topical application for parasites, ear mites, etc., are also recommended. Fecal screenings are conducted as part of preventative wellness care to check for any intestinal parasites that may require additional treatment.