More cats are owned than dogs, yet there are 60% fewer cat visits to the vet every year.  But, they need the highly tunes sleuthing and observation skills of a veterinarian at least as much as dogs do.  Cats are both predator and prey animals in the wild.  This makes them unique masters of hiding signs of illness and weakness.  Vet check ups every 6 months to a year help identify health problems sooner, keeping your kitty active and happy longer!

CIMARRON ANNOUNCES NEW FELINE FRIENDLY INITIATIVE!

Studies say #1 reason cats don’t come to the vet:   it’s stressful to them and their people!  Boy Howdy!  Ever noticed how fast a cat can run under a bed when you get the carrier out of the garage?  Then, if you can reach them, they have to be dragged out and stuffed into the carrier.  Straight out of the cartoon when the cat spreads his legs across the doorway…  Then, if you’ve been able to successfully stuff scratching, hissing kitty into the carrier, you have to endure the excruciating, guilt building yowling all the way to the vet.  Then, there are the dogs and other cats in the waiting room– not friends!  Then the veterinary nurse drags you out of the only safe haven you have (hey!  how’d this dread carrier suddenly become the best thing around?) to stuff a thermometer up your tookus (that’s cat French).  The room smells like all the other scared animals. The steel table, no place to hide cuz they keep dragging you around.  Poking , prodding, stabbing.  Thank goodness, the carrier door is open! Kitty can slither into it faster at the vet’s office than anywhere! The hideous yowling all the way back home.  Once kitty is home, his cat-mates hate him all over again because he smells funny, so he hides under the bed for the next 12 hours.

Studies also say that when we emotionally bond with our cats, it’s more intensely than with out dogs!  (Swear, I didn’t make it up!)  It’s no wonder we dread the trip to the vet with our precious, beloved pussy cats so much that we just don’t do it and hope OUR cat doesn’t get sick.

Cimarron’s New Kitty Sensitive Solutions:

  * Tips for Travel Training cats and kittens  check it out!       Cat Carrier Training

* Medications to help the travel anxiety— ask for a dose when you schedule your appointment. Pick it up ahead and administer an hour before the trip

   * Happy Kitty Pheromone diffusers in the cat room to help reduce anxiety.  Also on sale so you can pre-treat that carrier!

   * Move directly into your exam room to avoid other animals and give kitty a chance to come out of carrier and explore a little before all of the necessary evils.

   * Fleece lined exam tables.

* More onwer comfort care allowed.

The American Association of Feline Practitioners  video on How Cat Sensitive Practices like Cimarron make the vet visit easier!

     #2 Reason to not bring cats to the vet:  She’s never sick.

Cats are largely indoor pets, so people figure thaey don’t need vaccinations, adn simce cats are so good at hiding signs of illness, it’s easy to tnik that a cat is “fine”– unitl she’s in medical crisis.  so, why put us all through all that stress and expense?  Did you know that indoor cats are actually more prone to dental disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, osteoarthritis, urinary tract disorders and behavioral conditions than outdoor cats?

The best news is that medical advances in feline medicine in the past 5-7 years have given us treatments for these diseases in cats!  Many of the treatments are simple food additives.  Even treating diabetes is no longer the horror that it used to be!  Newer feline pain medications keep you cat spry and active!  A little treatment can give you back the playful, spunky kitten you once knew!

Cats should be seen once to twice yearly by their veterinarian, just like dogs,  even if they are indoors only. Veterinary Wellness exams and wellness testing can detect disease conditions early.  And early intervention is the key to a longer,  more comfortable life with fewer expensive, emotionally racking crises along the way!

We are here to do whatever we can to help you take the terror (for both you and your family felid) out of Kitty’s trip to the Vet!