Preventative Care For Your Indoor Cats You Should Know About

When you are the owner of one or more indoor-only cats, you may wonder what type of veterinary care they may need on a regular basis. Most people do not take their indoor cats to the vet frequently and sometimes miss recommended vaccinations and routine exams because they assume their cats are safe inside. However, indoor cats, just like any other pet, need routine care to remain happy and healthy. Get to know some of the preventative care that you can provide to your indoor cats. Then you can be sure you are taking all of the best steps to keep them healthy at all times.

Take Them for an Annual Exam

Annual exams are a great preventative veterinary care option for your indoor cats. They will get a basic physical exam, be weighed, be given any necessary vaccinations, and may even have blood work and other routine tests performed on them.

During the physical exam, the vet will palpate your cat's abdomen and body to see if there are any lumps (indicating the presence of potential cysts or tumors), check their paws, and may even examine their teeth. All of this will help to detect any health issues your cat may have. 

By committing to annual exams for your indoor cats, you can detect health issues early and get the treatment that your cat needs in time to make a major difference in their well-being. 

Consider Heartworm Prevention Care

While outdoor cats are more likely to be exposed to the mosquitoes that might carry the heartworm parasite, there is always a chance that your indoor cat could be exposed as well. They may accidentally get out of your house at some point. Mosquitoes can also get into your house. There is no way for you to know which mosquitoes are infected with heartworms and which are not. 

Although the risk of your indoor cats getting heartworms is relatively low, there is still a risk. And because of this, you may want to consider heartworm prevention treatments for your cats. They make chewable monthly heartworm prevention treats for cats that are easy to use. There are also monthly topical medications that can be used as heartworm prevention and can also help to prevent fleas and ear mites. 

Many veterinarians recommend you give your cat heartworm prevention treatments all year long. However, if you live in an area of the country with hard winters in which no mosquitoes can be found, then you can choose to treat your indoor cats only when mosquitoes are active (usually the spring and summer, primarily). 

Now that you know some of the preventative care you can provide your indoor cats with, you can be sure you are doing everything you can to keep your cats healthy.

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