If you have not had a cat or other pet before, it may come as a surprise to you to find out that they sometimes become ill. Some illnesses are hereditary and some are acquired, but most are avoidable and all are insurable. You can have your cat inoculated against the most common illnesses and you can take out insurance against vet’s fees.

However, besides illnesses, there are other things that can go wrong like injury from fights and worms, fleas and ticks. Worms are easy to cope with. The most widespread cat worms are tapeworms, round worms and hookworms. Cats will have worms because they consume carrion and wild meat. The easiest method to inhibit worms is to give your cat a tablet each six months. Worms are serious and must be treated or they may kill your cat.

Cats do a great deal of grooming and this means that they end up consuming a lot of fur. This fur forms fur balls in their stomachs. Usually a cat will make itself vomit by eating grass to cough them up, but they can pass into the intestines where they can create blockages. This can be damaging if they do not go through the cat.

If your cat goes off its food, is constipated or has a painful stomach (does not like to be tickled), it could be a blockage and you should take your cat to the vet. You can help your cat out by brushing it regularly to remove loose hair. Most cats like to be groomed with a soft brush or a velvet glove.

Cats suffer from urinary tract infections (UTI’s) just like humans do. However, in humans it mostly affects women, it cats it usually has an effect on Toms. You can suspect a UTI if your cat’s urine smells very bad or if it has trouble urinating. If you notice either of these issues you have to take it to the vet for tablets.

What individuals call feline distemper is not really distemper – it is panleukopenia which is not even related to canine distemper. It is equally as deadly though and not a lot of cats survive it, although it can take years to actually kill your cat. The safest way of protecting your cat against panleukopenia is to have it vaccinated against panleukopenia while it is a kitten.

Panleukopenia is extremely contagious, so if your cat has it, you should keep it isolated until it dies or have it put down. Panleukopenia is not perilous to humans, but you might carry the virus around with you and even pass it on to your friends’ cats – something that they will not thank you for.

In general, the more time your cat spends out of doors, the more frequently you should take it to the vets for a check up. Once or two times a year should be enough. At the check up, you can have your cat checked for parasites, fleas ticks, lesions, infections and panleukopenia and you can buy your anti-worm tablet at the same time.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is now concerned with the canine distemper vaccination. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Distemper Vaccines