How often for vet visits

[silent_fire]

We've got three cats in the household: 16 year old male, 9 year old male, 9 year old female. None of them have any known health issues, nobody has been showing any signs of problems, and they're up to date on shots

Comments

[karmen]

Depends on the cat, since they age faster than people do and people see the dr. once a year so using that logic cats should see the vet twice a year. This is also the logic of some of the animal governing bodies though the biggest one (AVMA/AAHA) is once a year

[silent_fire]

Maybe we'll skip the one who had to get a second vet tech called in to hold the other half of the kitty burrito down . . . she's super sweet and cute as long as she can check out the new space, then turns into a pissed off little ball of writhing claws as soon as someone tries to get her to stay in one place and be examined.

[karmen]

lol yes that is not fun for anyone, especially the cat!

[silent_fire]

After getting home and spending an afternoon licking dewormer off herself and drooling because it tasted foul (they didn't manage to get it between her shoulderblades since she was squirming so much), she spent the next day sleeping even more than usual.

[neumeindil]

Many vets consider 8 "elderly" for cats and suggest visits every 6 mo to head off issues sooner than they might otherwise be detected. That said, if you have blood work and urinalysis done for the two younger ones at their yearly, I don't see a reason it couldn't wait until a year has passed for them, though the 16 year old should probably go every 6 mo. (You might also talk about skipping vaccination to preserve his kidney function, if it's in decline.)

[silent_fire]

Gotcha. I'm happy to do the baseline bloodwork for the 8 year olds at their yearly, and probably check the 16 year old again (he had bloodwork done last year).

The only vaccine which they get is rabies (PureVax yearly). There are a couple cases of rabies in the area every year, and they do go outside. That rabies certificate can also be required in a number of emergency situations, so I plan to keep that one up to date.

The 16 year old's kidney numbers are good, and they're all on relatively low phosphorous canned food, so I'm not too worried about kidney issues (and I'm not convinced that once a year vaccinations would cause more kidney damage).

[ichbinkelsey]

Yeah, the major thing I'd be worried about in an older guy is the kidney numbers, so if you're keeping a good eye on those, I think you're probably set.

[ichbinkelsey]

My own practice (and the policy of the clinic at the animal sanctuary where I work) is that my cats go in for well visits once a year and otherwise just go in if they are having an issue. This is, ime, pretty standard protocol for non-geriatric, healthy cats. There are a couple of vaccines that need to be re-upped every six months (two of the biggies are the vaccines for FIP and bordatella), but those are generally only appropriate for cats in some very specific situations, and I don't usually give those to my own guys.

My feeling is that well visits every year is more than sufficient, though I echo everyone else: if you feel like it's necessary for your older dude, then it's probably not a bad idea.