First Vet Visit - what to ask?

rahma

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We're taking kitty for her first vet appointment (with us anyways) this Saturday. What should I be asking/looking for? I only have one real concern right how:

*Weight - she's overweight, although I don't know by how much. She's got a tummy hanging down, and the people from the humane society said she's overweight. She's currently 12 pounds. I'm transitioning her onto a grain free diet with occasional wet food, and I'm going to ask how much I should be feeding her. She isn't interested in playing with the toys I have, even when I try to do an interactive play session, so I'm going to ask what other things can I do to get her moving?


The humane society also warned us about URI, and the husband seems to think she has a cold. I think it's just purring, but we'll ask about that as well.


Anything else I should ask/do/bring?
 

lovemykitty3

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You should bring a stool sample for the vet to test for worms, etc. Bring all the medical records you have from where you adopted her so they know what shots she already had. Ask how her teeth are. There are certain shots she'll need depending on whether she's an indoor or outdoor cat. Even if she's indoor only, she may need certain vaccines if at some time you take her to a boarding kennel while you go out of town. The vet should do a basic checkup, weight, ears, eyes, listen to heart, check teeth and mouth. I don't know if they do blood tests, depending on the cat's age. Good luck
As far as toys, try "Da Bird" or a feather wand.
 

darlili

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My boy was overweight - I brought the bag of food with me, so the vet could look at the ingredients and the calories per serving information, and guide me re amount to give (which was way smaller than I would have thought possible). Your baby is so new with you, she may not be used to playing yet...just keep trying various toys as you go along (feather, fishing pole type toys, mine love tearing tissue paper up - the laser toys really rev my two up) - and even her just following you all over the place is exercise. If you can manage two play sessions a day, maybe 15 minutes each, you'll be doing fabulously well for both of you.

Agree with lovemy kitty3 - bring stool sample if you can (I store it in a couple of lunch bags in the fridge, if I can't get a sample right when we're leaving), and just tell the vet you're a new meowmy and want to do right by your baby....most vets will be happy to go over what you should be doing as a pet parent, and what their philosophy of check-ups are (usually once a year for younger cats, twice a year as they get older).

BTW, have you had a chance to check the cat section at your local library or book store? Amazing how my library grew when I adopted my two!
 

kara_leigh

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The ONLY toys Gus was interested in were hair ties and pipe cleaners. With the pipe cleaners we would wind them around our fingers to make them curly, or zig zag them, anything but straight. Then we would throw them into the kitchen and he would go crazy.

Nora only likes toys she can pick up in her mouth and carry from room to room. Such as sparkly pom poms, and a stress ball she found somewhere that rolls nicely on our kitchen floor, but she can still pick it up. She hasn't started to break off pieces yet, and I watch for that. She also likes along strip of fleece that is knotted on both ends. She can drag that every where she wants to. She is so different than Gus, b/c we never saw him pick things up with his mouth unless he was fetching.
 
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rahma

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Thanks for the advice guys! The records we got from the humane society said she didn't have worms (I think), but I like to be overprepared, so I'll have to go digging when I clean out the litter box Friday night, ewww.

Also many thanks for the ideas on play. I've only gone through a few of the toys so far (I kind of went overboard in my pre-kitty purchasing sprees), so maybe she'll like different attachments to the wand thingy I have (only used the sparkly one so far). I was thinking of busting out the boogie mat - http://www.fatcats.com/html_site/1_circus.shtml - tonight to see how she does with cat nip
 

darlili

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Not all cats like catnip - it's a genetic trait. I think it's about 30% aren't interested at all. But, if yours likes it, whoa, will you have some fun tonight!
 
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