Cat Care
Vaccination
and preventative medicine
It is vital that your cat has all the necessary vaccinations to keep it safe. Routine vaccination has greatly reduced the extent of several, sometimes fatal, cat diseases. Your cat should be vaccinated for:
Feline infectious enteritis (FIE) – this is a severe and often fatal intestinal infection caused by the feline parvovirus.
Cat ‘flu – two types of cat ‘flu are vaccinated against, feline herpesvirus (FHV-1) and feline calicivirus (FCV). These viruses are very common and vaccination will prevent your cat catching these severe infectious respiratory diseases. Once infected many cats may be carriers for life.
Feline leukaemia virus (FLV) – this is particularly important for cats who go outdoors. FeLV is a lifelong infection and most cats who are infected will die within three years of diagnosis.
Feline chlamydophilosis – this bacterium causes conjunctivitis in cats and is spread by direct contact between cats. Thus, cat colonies, multi-cat households and kittens are predominantly affected.
A kitten should be vaccinated at nine weeks old with an important second dose being given at 12 weeks. Thereafter there are yearly boosters. Your cat should also be treated for fleas and worms regularly.
Neutering
There are thousands of unwanted cats in Italy – just walk through the streets of any town and you will see small colonies of them, often in poor states of health. Cats should be neutered when they reach 4-6 months of age. Cats recover quickly from neutering operations but they will need some additional care for a short period.
Neutered male cats are less likely to roam, less likely to fight and less likely to mark their territory by spraying urine on the furniture!
Neutering female cats avoids unwanted pregnancies, they won’t call and wail when they come into season and will be less likely to contract diseases spread by bites and reproductive activity.
Feral
neutering
In Italy there are a great number of feral colonies and Cinni along with other members of AISPA are committed to reducing the number of feral cats and controlling disease.
An uncontrolled feral colony can grow quickly and disease can be rife. The best way of managing the colony is to neuter all of the resident feral cats within as short a time frame as possible. Over a period of years this will reduce the size of the colony. A controlled, healthy colony will deter other ferals from moving in.
A cat colony is such when there are two or more cats living in complete freedom who are cared for by one or more persons. To attain sterilisation of cats in a cat colony the cat carer must apply to the local ASL of residence. The ASL will send their veterinary service to see the colony and on approval will make arrangements for the sterilisations to be carried out.
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Cat Care – Frequently Asked Questions
Q. At what age should a cat be neutered?
A. Preferably between 4 and 5 months but it can be done at almost any age.
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Q. Why
should a cat be neutered?
A. There are three main reasons:
- Birth control is the most important reason. Many thousands of unwanted kittens are killed or abandoned every year.
- Male cats, if not castrated, may when adult, mark their territory by spraying a strong smelling urine at various check points leaving a terrible odour which is very difficult to remove.
- The female will come on ‘heat’ repeatedly in certain periods of the year, often vocalising noisily, especially at night, and will show clear signs of exasperation if not mated. Speying will prevent this and protect the owner from sleepless nights. Furthermore, if she is speyed before the first ‘heat’ her chances of getting breast cancer at a later age are almost nil.
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Q. Is the operation cruel, and how is it done?
A. In both the male and female the operation is performed under a general anaesthesia and analgesics (pain killers) are administered before surgery so that when the cat awakens it is pain free.
In the male the testicles are removed from the scrotum, whilst in the female both ovaries and the uterus are removed.
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Q. How do cats get worms?
A. There are different types of worms that can parasitise a cat and there are different ways in which a cat can get worms.
Kittens can get worms from their mother, especially during lactation. Cats that use common outdoor litter areas can get worms via the faecal-oral route whilst other common ways are through the ingestion of fleas, flies and other insects, as well as the eating of prey such as birds and small mammals.
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Q. How do I treat my cat for worms?
A. It is notoriously difficult to treat cats for worms by placing the medicine in the mouth. Of course there are exceptions, but on the whole it is easier to get your vet to inject the medicine. Recently this task has been made easy by using a spot-on medicine. Just as a spot-on for fleas is placed on the back of the neck or between the shoulder blades, the same procedure can now be used to treat your cat for worms. Ask your vet for details.
It is good practice to worm your cat twice a year or even more frequently if allowed out of doors.
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Q. How
should I feed my cat?
A. Cats require a diet similar to that of the wild cat which includes small rodents, birds and insects. The diet must therefore contain a high proportion of animal protein, together with some animal fat and small quantities of vitamins and minerals. Fibre is also an important element. Carbohydrates on the other hand appear only minutely in a cat’s diet and if fed must be well cooked and given in small quantities. From this it emerges that he nutritional requirements of a cat are so demanding as to be guaranteed only when allowed to hunt and eat prey. Satisfying the nutrient requirements of cats with commercially prepared cat food has proved to be successful and economical. Commercial cat foods are typically available in two forms, wet and dry. Dry foods costs about two thirds less than wet food on a cost per calorie basis. Cats prefer food served at body temperature (38-39 degrees Celsius). They favour small but frequent meals and should be fed a small amount three or four times a day. Feeding dishes and water bowls must be kept clean and well rinsed and fresh drinking water must be available at all times.
