Newsletter

Winter Newsletter – 2011

The importance of health checks for indoor cats

Indoor cats make up the largest percentage of pets in the United States. There are over ten million more pet cats then dogs according to the latest study from the humane society. Although felines far outnumber canines for companionship, only about thirty percent of patients seen at veterinary clinics are cats. The American Veterinary Medical Association looked into why there is such a discrepancy. Why would the largest pet population have the lowest number of veterinary visits? Findings showed that the main reason for cats not being brought into the veterinarian routinely is because there is a misconception that cats are healthier than dogs and therefore do not need routine health checks. The life style of most cats does have some impact on their overall health. Since most cats live strictly indoors there is a decreased risk from diseases related to parasites, weather or harm from predators that a pet living outdoors or frequently going outside would be exposed to. This decreased risk to a few hazards gives a false sense of belief that they are at less risk for all other health issues. Unfortunately, this is not true. Bite wounds, flea/tick infestations and heat stroke are less common in indoor cats but conditions like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dental disease and other disorders are not affected by indoor status. Annual health checks are very important because they allow us to detect many diseases/disorders early when they can be treated more effectively and caught before serious complications have occurred. Our pets can not speak to us so unfortunately a disease can go unnoticed until it causes significant harm and debilitation. Also, most pets are instinctually designed to hide signs of illness. In the wild, the predators will always go after the weaker prey so hiding any signs of weakness or illness is a survival instinct. Since our pets can not tell us how they feel and also try to hide their problems, routine evaluations and diagnostics become very essential in early diagnosing and treating /preventing disease. We recommend annual examinations for all patients. Elderly patients, those over 10 years of age, should have routine screening test performed to further assess their health status. Since we can not rely on our beloved pets to tell us when they do not feel good it is important to stay pro-active with their health.

Sincerely

Premier Animal Hospital