Congratulations on Your New Kitten!

If you have never owned a cat before, we will help you learn what you need to know to keep your new kitten healthy and happy.  On your first exam here at the clinic, you will get a folder full of information about everything from vaccines to microchipping.  You will also receive a kitten pack with a sample of some kitten food and your kitten's first parasite prevention medication.  At your first appointment we recommend you bring in a fecal sample so we can test for any parasites your kitten might have.

Vaccines are needed for your kitten at a young age (8 weeks), and will continue until he or she reaches 4 months old.  Each vaccine will be boostered at least once within that time, if not twice.  The following is a list of what we recommend and at what ages we will give them at:

FVRCP is usually given at 8, 12, 16 weeks of age followed by an annual booster

Rabies vaccine is usually given around 4 months of age, boostered 1 year later and then every 3 years.

We also recommend that your kitten be tested for 2 viral diseases Feline leukemia (FELV) and Feline immuno deficiency virus (FIV).  These are fatal viral diseases that are spread through infected blood and saliva, and lead to a cat AIDS like syndrome.  FELV vaccine is recommended if you adopted you kitten from a barn or if you are not sure of the kitten's history.