This is an exciting time for both you and your new cat or kitten. To help ensure a long and happy relationship, here are some health pointers to consider.
. Make a visit to your veterinarian as soon as possible. Your veterinarian is your best source of information on keeping your cat healthy and happy. A complete checkup is a must, and you'll want to make sure your new cat or kitten is current on vaccinations. This is also a good time to arrange for spaying or neutering.
. If no health and vaccination record is available for your adult cat, or if you adopt a kitten, your veterinarian will start a record for you. Regular checkups and booster vaccinations throughout the life of your new pet are a must to ensure optimum health.
. A combination vaccine can protect your cat against the viral diseases panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis and calicivirus, plus the disease chlamydia (pneumonitis). Panleukopellla is a potentially fatal disease that causes fever, vomiting, diarrhea and severe abdominal pain. Rhinotracheitis, calicivirus and pneumonitis cause highly contagious upper respiratory disease. Even after recovery from infection, cats can be carriers of these diseases, so protect through vaccination.
. Approxinlately 58% of all cats go outdoors. If your cat goes outdoors, if you have more than one cat, or if your cat has chance encounters with other cats, it could be at risk from one or more of the "Big Three" feline diseases: feline leukemia (FeLV), feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). These viral diseases are contagious, incurable and often fatal. The three are often interrelated, with one virus making a cat more susceptible to one or both of the others.
FeLV: Feline leukemia attacks and weakens a cat's immune system, leaving it susceptible to many life- threatening infections. It can also cause cancer. Even if a cat recovers from FeLV; it is permanently infected and the virus shortens its life. FeLV is spread through close contact; cats in multi-cat households and outdoor cats are most at risk. Protect your cat by having it tested to make sure it is not infected with FeLV; if it isn't, it should be vaccinated. Kittens as young as nine weeks can be immunized, and annual boosters continue the protection.
FIP: This incurable viral disease kills at least half a million U.S. cats a year. There is no simple diagnostic test to identify it, and its symptoms - weight loss, fever, lethargy and vomiting - are misleading because they are common to many diseases. Prevention is the best - and only- medicine for FIP. The vaccine, Primucell FIP, is given as nose drops for healthy cats 16 weeks or older. Initial vaccination is two doses, three to four weeks apart, followed by yearly boosters.
FIV: This virus attacks the immune system much like the AIDS virus in humans. Two to six weeks following exposure to FIV; an infected cat may have a fever and swollen lymph nodes. The cat may then appear normal for years until the last, fatal stage in which a weakened immune system leads to other infections. FIV is primarily spread through biting, so outdoor ca~ and aggressive male cats (an~ those exposed to them) are at highest risk. There is no FIV vaccine, but blood tests can determine if a cat is infected. Protect against FN by keeping cats indoors, neutering male cats to reduce the urge to roam or fight, and having any new cat tested before introducing it to other cats.
1 Pfizer National Survey, May 1996.