how often do you take your cats to the vet?

We have three cats and we pretty much don't take them to the vet unless they're sick (or for spay/neuter). They're all indoor cats as well. My parents don't want to take them because they don't want to have tons of vet bills for healthy cats. The cats are 8 years, 5 years, and 2 years. The youngest was up to date on vaccinations when we got him last year, and the other two haven't been since they were spayed I think.. The oldest might have been when she went to the vet for a UTI, but that was still a while ago. I want to get their vaccinations updated and get check ups just to ensure that they're healthy, but my parents think it's unnecessary. Especially after last year when we took one of them in because we thought she had a UTI again. They did all kind of unnecessary tests only to find out that she was constipated, and then gave her an enema.. which didn't even work. So I feel like now they're even less inclined to take them in. I'm 17 and I don't have any money to take them myself.. but I just want to make sure they're healthy! What should I do?

You really are in a position where your parents are in charge of things so what they say goes.  My healthy kitty goes in once a year.  They are almost 13 now so she now gets blood work done with her checkup, up until about age 10 she didn't get routine blood work done.  My other kitty has a chronic health condition and is on a steroid so he goes in at least every six months.  He gets blood work done each time he goes in.

What I do with my kitties is really academic because it is your parent's call.

Cats are very resilient and when they are young often need little vet care especially if they are indoors. Once they get older they do need checkups very much like humans. I would assume you as a 17 year old probably dont see a doctor unless you get sick? In another couple years the 8 year old will probably start to need a yearly check up. It sounds like you love your kittys very much and worry that this is all up to your parents. I think your kittys will be ok if your parents just take them to the vet when they get sick. they are still young.

While there is probably not much you can do now, you can definitely take what we say and apply it to yourself (or not) if you choose when you become the caretaker of a pet.

2014 and before, our cats didn't go in unless they were (obviously) sick. I added the "obviously" part because sometimes they are sick but cats are very good at hiding things. So, we were pretty lucky because for years, we didn't take any of them to the vet. Lucky hadn't been to one since before we moved (over 10 years ago). Anyway, early 2015, Sara developed a UTI and we discovered she also had severe hyperthyroidism. File the hyper-t under "not-obvious" so I'm not sure how long she had it.

2015 was a bit of a tumultuous year for us as far as our kitties' health. My Lucky got sick and died from acute on chronic renal failure. In his case, I'll admit, there was no amount of monitoring that would have caught it, because he was already having blood work checked (only a month before getting sick even he had near-perfect blood work). But Sara I think we could have caught a LOT of things with her if we'd taken her in for regular checkups. Maple has a really bad tooth that probably could have been caught quite awhile ago had I taken her in.

After all the heartache and tests and blood work and traumatic visits to the visit (trying to get some of these cats in the carrier is traumatic for both of us), I just decided from now on, they are going for regular visits. I have purchased insurance for all of them also. The three younger ones have comprehensive (covering illness, incident and wellness). My two senior girls have wellness only.

One thing I'd say - I wouldn't call the blood work that was done "unnecessary". A lot of folks feel blood work was "unnecessary" if nothing was found. But it provides a baseline that you wouldn't have otherwise. I know that doesn't sound like much, but when you are dealing with a cat that has a chronic (or even acute) issue, it helps considerably. My vet is very good about doing only the necessary blood work on my kitties, but for the very first one, he'll always do a full set. That's the only way he can see the full picture. They will usually do a urinalysis too if they can actually get some urine. My Maple is the one cat they haven't been able to do this with yet because every time they try, there's nothing there.