Cat Health Care Milestones: 1st year

Having your cat health care plan in place right from the get go will allow for a well coordinated handover from mummy immunity to great cat health care… Kittens take their first wobbly steps around three weeks old, just one week after they first start to see and hear. At about six weeks they’re likely to have been weaned from their mum’s milk and the immunity gained from the milk’s maternal antibodies wears off.

Adopting normally happens around the eight to 12 week mark onwards and for the new pet parent there’s plenty to do to lock in your kitty’s wellbeing.

In this article, we look at your cat’s key health care milestones and the scheduling of them. From vaccinations and worming, to desexing and more, it’s here. Read on to help nurture a healthy, happy and adorable kitten that grows into a well balanced cat.

Meow!

Prepping cat health care plans

Kittens are ready to leave their first homes to join their furever homes from about 12 weeks old. However, some people do adopt earlier than this and several cat health care milestones should happen beforehand.

Here’s an overarching timeline estimate – emphasis on estimate – for your health care planning. Your vet will have their own schedule according to your cat’s breed and health, but it will roughly look like this.

Cat health care milestones:

2 weeks	Worming	Routine
6 weeks	Vaccinations	Routine
8 weeks	Flea control	Routine
12 weeks	Microchipping	Once-off
16 weeks	Desexing	Once-off
24 weeks	Dental hygiene	Routine

Now for the scheduling and some inside info on why these cat health care events are such important milestones.

2 weeks: Worming for wellbeing

It’s super important to follow your vet’s worming instructions because worms can make your little mate really sick. Depending on your cat’s age and lifestyle and the type of worming medicine, the dosage and scheduling will vary.

The most common of these absolutely gross critters to infect Kiwi cats are tapeworms and roundworms. (Of course you get other types of worms which don’t fall under this category – like ringworm in cats.) Tapeworms, roundworms and others set up camp in your cat’s intestines, where they feed and lay eggs. There’s really only one way to combat them: worming meds.

Remember, the below is a rough guideline which your vet may schedule. Always go with the precise quantity and regularity your vet recommends:

2-12 weeks	Approximately every two weeks (usually a half dose)
12-24 weeks	Approximately every month
24 weeks +	Approximately every three months

Oh, and if these creepy crawlies weren’t already a big negative, they can infect humans too. Plus, flea larvae feed on tapeworm eggs. That brings us to your cat’s flea treatment. But first, your kitten’s vaccination schedule…

6 weeks: Kitten vaccinations in NZ begin

At six weeks old a kitten is already starting to socialise, and they’ll need their first round of jabs to keep them protected. The immunity they had in the womb and from suckling from their mum now completely ceases and desists.

They’re exposed to the big wide world and an onslaught of airborne and transmissible illnesses. To combat this your cat health care plan includes a core vaccination, and in some instances a non-core vaccination, schedule. This may vary from vet to vet. And from cat to cat.

For instance, an abandoned and rescued kitten may need more closely separated doses than a cat from a breeder.

Your kitten’s core vaccination schedule typically follows this approximate schedule:

6-16 weeks	Every two to four weeks	FPV, FHV-1, FCV
6-12 months	Optional follow up booster	FPV, FHV-1, FCV
every 1-3 years	Annual booster	FPV, FHV-1, FCV

Core vaccines

Core vaccinations safeguard your cat against the following illnesses:

• Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV). FPV is a contagious viral disease that can cause a range of symptoms from lethargy and loss of appetite to vomiting and death. FPV can affect cats of any age, but symptoms are often most severe in kittens.
• Feline herpesvirus (FHV-1). Also called feline viral rhinotracheitis, this is one of the biggest causes of upper-respiratory-tract infections in cats.
• Feline calicivirus (FCV). FCV is a contagious virus that can cause a range of illnesses from upper-respiratory-infections to oral disease.

Non-core vaccines

Non-core vaccines may be very necessary to your cat health care plan. Your vet will assess what non-core vaccines your kitten needs, if any. These may include feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV, which can cause feline AIDS) and feline chlamydiosis.

If you adopt a cat that’s older, your vet may augment their vaccine schedule further, depending on their history and past kennelling environment, to ensure immunity is kept up-to-date.

This next bit on fleas is so gross, we need to watch this cute kitten video to steel our nerves:

8 weeks: Flea control to save kitty’s skin

Fleas are parasites that literally lounge under the protective concealment of your cat’s fur, while chomping down on them. Fleas often cause itchy and scratchy cat and dog skin conditions. In severe cases, a flea infestation can even lead to obsessives compulsive disorder in dogs.

In short, these guys are a perpetual bane in the life of our fairer furry kind. Not to mention, us and vets too.

They’re nasty little critters that leave eggs, larvae and pupae on your cat and in and around your home. As if bloodsucking wasn’t insulting enough, they also do their toileting duties on your pet. To make things worse, the larvae eat these fecal droppings then spin cocoons in which to pupate. ARRRRGGGHHH!

Typically, controlling flea breakouts if most effective with a regular cat health care program that targets all stages of the flea lifecycle. Speak to your vet about a safe and effective product to use. Fleas infestation will likely peak in the hot months, but that’s not to say they won’t have a field day all year round, given the comfort of indoor living.

Depending on vet recommendations, your kitten can begin flea treatment from eight weeks old. And because management is better than trying to get rid of a flea colony in full bloom, treatment can be done as often as every three months.

8-12 weeks	First treatment between eight and 12 weeks
every 3 months	Ongoing treatments every three months

12 weeks: Microchipping to reduce risk

While there’s no prescribed age to get your cat microchipped, your vet may be able to microchip kittens from 12 weeks of age onward. Microchipped cats are 20 times more likely to be returned home if they land up in a shelter than those without.

Cat microchips keep all your ownership data on a central network that you register the chip with. The chip is easy and painless to place and can then be scanned to see the data. Read how cat microchips work, and more on why they’re an good cat health care choice.

16 weeks: Desexing for so many reasons

Our current Kiwi cat population can easily produce an additional 15 million new kittens a year if they’re not desexed! Within six months, those kittens will be able to produce litters of their own, resulting in a population boom.

However, indiscriminate breeding and overpopulation aren’t the only reasons to desex your cat. Read ‘spay and neuter your cat‘ to find out potential health benefits and drawbacks this procedure can have.

4-5 months

Once-only procedure

Four months is typically the earliest age vet recommended age to desex your pet kitten. In shelters, however, kittens in shelters may be desexed as young as eight weeks to curb overpopulation.

Of course, desexing cats is advisable rather than mandatory. Or you may decide to do it later in your cat’s life if you’re planning to breed them. Provided you know you can provide suitable cat health care to one or more litters of little furballs and can rehome them when the time comes, it’s entirely up to you.

If you do decide to breed, be sure to give your mum cat ample nutrition while she’s pregnant and lactating. This will prevent deficiencies and give the kittens the best chance at a healthy life too.

24 weeks: Dental hygiene commences

The best time to start brushing cat teeth is when all the milk teeth have been replaced by adult teeth, at around six months. This also gives you a chance to keep a close eye on your feline’s general oral health and keep conditions like gum disease at bay. This process should be fortified by a once annual vet check up, to get a professional perspective.

Read about cat teeth to find out how to brush them, protect them, and what disasters you’ll be avoiding by doing so.

Cat insurance for optimum cat health care

Top quality cat health care is easy to provide when you have pet insurance. Starting your pet’s plan when they’re small is clever because you can start getting reimbursed on those vet bills ASAP.

Plus, if you sign up online with us, you get one or more months of free cat insurance or dog insurance!

Optimum cat health care for your feline friend couldn’t be easier, and you’ll very likely be taking out insurance before any pre-existing conditions emerge (which insurers don’t cover). Purrrrrfect! Click below to get started.