Happy FRI-YAY. As always, it’s lovely to have you back (or welcome, if you are new here). If you’ve ben around here in the last week, you’ll know we’ve recently welcomed a new addition to our family: a baby 12-week old kitten. I found him stuck in a thorn bush, covered in burrs, and wet from the cold rain. I immediately decided I needed to adopt him, obviously. Anyways: a new kitten means lots of things, but most importantly: a visit to the vet. In honor of August 22nd being #cat2vetday, I’ve teamed up with Royal Canin to show you how important your kitty’s health is, especially around this time of year.
Take Your Cat To The Vet Day
This post is sponsored by Royal Canin. All opinions are mine and mine alone.
First off, meet my kitties. Izzy is an 8-month-old Tortie, and Chester is a 12-week-old Orange & White Tabby (you can follow their playful adventures on instagram @isabelandchester). They are both incredibly energetic, social and out-going. They made fast friends, and now love to snuggle together on the bed and roll around and play.
Fun fact: less than half of the cats owned in the United States are regularly seen by a veterinarian. National Take Your Cat To The Vet Day is a plead to cat moms and dads everywhere to make sure they routinely get their fur babies checked by a licensed veterinarian.
If you know me at all, you know that I am a cat LOVER. I have always had cats, and think they are one of the best pets. They make the best snugglers, are an absolute JOY to watch play and wrestle and they are incredibly smart. Unfortunately, cats are also extremely good at hiding illness. Preventative feline care is KEY to making sure your cat lives a long and healthy life (and it can help you avoid major vet bills in the future).
Preparing To Take Your Kitty To The Vet
One of the most CRUCIAL times you need to take your furry friend to the vet is when you first adopt them. Adopting a cat into your life is an awesome and special experience. Often, cats have a way of choosing you, instead of the other way around.
If you adopt from a shelter, odds are they probably already vetted, but it’s good to take them in after you adopt them to rule out upper respiratory infections and anything else they may have picked up from their shelter stay.
If you find a feral or stray cat that you want to make your forever pet, it’s even MORE important to take them to the veterinarian. There are several illnesses you need to rule out before taking them home and it is highly likely they also have worms (very common in outdoor pets, and very treatable). You also don’t want to get any of your other pets sick, so a quarantine is often necessary for the first 24-48 hours.
You will also make necessary decisions on whether or not you will be spraying/neutering (highly recommend, for reproductive control and also behavior/temperament control), and declawing (I do NOT declaw my cats. Yes that means my furniture — and arms — occasionally get scratched, but I am vehemently against chopping off my cats toes. Cats have claws, I knew that going into adopting them).
Another thing you’ll find out is how much this little bundle of fur is going to cost. Cats (and any pet) cost money. Even a free cat off the side of the road isn’t going to be FREE. Vets aren’t cheap, but it is worth it if you plan on keeping this little guy for the rest of his life. Understand going into this adoption that vet bills are part of the equation to owning an animal.
Have I convinced you to book your cat’s yearly wellness exam yet? Make that call to the vet office and get your furry feline checked up on. Peace of mind and preventing illness are incredibly important in the life of your cat.
For the rest of August, Royal Canin will be donating up to $20,000 to Frankie’s Friends, an organization that provides grants to help with the cost of life-saving or life-enhancing emergency or specialty care for pets whose families cannot afford the full cost of treatment. Just snap a photo of your fur baby and #cat2vetday on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I’ll be posting mine today, so be sure to join me!
PIN THIS FOR LATER:
It’s always stressful taking your kitty cat to the vet, but getting the confirmation that they are all healthy and good for another year is SO worth it. When you sign up for a pet, you sign up to take care of them to the best of your ability.
Let me know in the comments below if you plan on celebrating #cat2vetday this year, and tell me a fun fact about your cat!
Your kitties are SO cute! My sweet girl is due for her 1 year checkup. And it’s so true–even free kitties or pets aren’t free and it’s so important that people actually realize that Also, ruined furniture–totally comes with a kitten. We trim Lilly’s claws and use a spray to keep her off our new dining chairs and it definitely helps.
Thanks Kristen!! Yep to ruined furniture thing. We keep scratching posts everywhere and are looking into getting a cat tree for them!!
Oh my goodness your fur babies are the cutest!! I also have two cats who are sisters, and taking them to the vet is always a struggle. Thank you for your great advice!! I really enjoyed your pictures!!
Thanks Stephanie!!! 🙂 I hope this year is a little bit easier!
Oh my goodness. Not one, but TWO kittens! Aren’t you lucky!!!??? Cats are my favourite, but sadly – I developed terrible allergies to them to the point where I had to give up my cat friend Jones (he’s living happily with my mother-in-law’s best friend). I can’t believe how many kitties don’t go to the vet! That’s insane!
Ugh the WORST! I don’t know what I would do without my fur babes — I’m completely obsessed with them LOL. I’m glad your kitty was happily re-homed. 🙂
Your cats are adorable! I am a firm believer that pets are family and we owe it to them to make sure they are happy and healthy. Cats are especially adept at hiding pain, so it is really important to keep up with their health.
Yes AMEN. My cats ARE part of our family. I couldn’t imagine life without my babies!!! 🙂
Aww, your cats are so cute! What a great post, girl!
Krystin
Thanks, Krystin!!!!
awww your kitties are so cute! I have two cats and absolutely am a self proclaimed cat lady. I need to get them to the vet asap!
Omg first of all, you are stunning and your cats so cute!!! Loved this post!!
We just adopted a kitten two months ago (she’s about 4 months old now!). She’s had a couple of vet visits already so we are used to this! Always important!
Congrats on your new addition! Looks like they are already great friends. I don’t have cats, just dogs. But I agree that it’s so important to get regular checkups. And yeah, it can be expensive. But peace of mind is important. We have a non profit vet that just opened up in our city. And they’re open seven days a week. Plus they provide amazing care.
Your babies are adorable. I have 4 kitties myself and I love them with all my heart. I found this double sided sticky tape to put up on trim and on the corners of furniture. It doesn’t look super great, but after a few weeks they stop scratching up the taped area and I can remove the tape. This is a process and they always seem to find a new place to scratch, but they are worth it!
awe i needed to get royal canin for tucker a few times when he was having stomach issues. IT worked amazingly and I love them!
Love your fur babies! They are adorable, and your calico girl looks VERY much like one of my mom’s cats! Royal Canin is a great food, and the prescription dry food my mom feeds all of her cats, because one of them is prone to urinary blockages.
Lovely photos! Your cats are so cute! I don’t have any pets but would love a dog one day.
Your cats are so adorable! I have 2 myself, and my sister has 1, making our house a 3 cat household! Thankfully 2 are absolute angels at the vet, but one is an absolute terror so it’s always a big challenge to bring her. But still so important to make sure she stays healthy!
I’ve actually never had anything from Royal Canin, and we’ve got our 3 cat babies! When can Chaz + izzy have a playdate with Pumpkin, Moose + Purrcy?????
Coming Up Roses
Approx. ASAP of COURSE.