Providing essential routine care for your pet is all part of being a responsible pet owner. Remember that you can save money on the cost of treatments and services that keep your pet healthy and happy. Not only that but budget and spread the cost of routine care across the year by paying with direct debit. Check out our Pet Health Club page for more information.

General health check and vaccinations

It is always recommended that a veterinary surgeon carries out a general health check on your new kitten within a couple of days of its arrival. Kitten vaccinations start at the age of 9 weeks, with a second booster vaccination at 12 weeks of age. We recommend giving your kitten a vaccination against Feline flu (Feline viral rhinotracheitis, Feline calcivirus), Feline enteritis (Feline panleucopaenia) and Feline leukaemia. Annual booster vaccinations are required to keep up your cat’s immunity.

Kittens should not be allowed outside until fully vaccinated at twelve weeks. We advise that you wait until they are at least six months of age before allowing them out unsupervised to reduce the chance of them getting lost or being injured.

We suggest that you gradually start to introduce your kitten to the outdoors by taking him/her out to the garden for short periods of time with you and slowly increase the time the kitten spends outside with you until they are happy and settled. Letting them out during daylight hours only and rewarding them with food on their return indoors is useful when establishing a routine.

We recommend you neuter (spay or castrate) and identichip your kitten before allowing them outdoors to prevent unwanted litters, reduce roaming and fighting and allow your kitten to be reunited with you if they get lost.

Neutering is usually done around six months of age but can be performed earlier. Please speak to your vet if you would like earlier neutering.

It is advisable to have pet insurance for your kitten to cover any unforeseen illnesses or injury. Please speak to us about our free four week pet insurance for kittens.

Worming

When collecting your kitten from the breeder, remember to ask when the kitten was last wormed. We can then advise you on the best worming protocol and products to use for your kitten. Please contact our surgery for advice. Worming treatment for your kitten/cat is covered with our Pet Health Club Scheme.

Fleas

Most products available for protection against fleas are applied as a spot on monthly although we can also provide injectable and oral treatments too. Treatment usually starts from 6-8 weeks of age. However, products are available for use from 2 days of age if necessary. Some flea treatments are also effective against worms, which avoids the need to separately treat for worms. Please contact the surgery to discuss the most suitable products for your pet. These products are covered with our Pet Health Club scheme.

To help break the flea cycle by killing the eggs and larvae, it is important to remember that your house should also be treated.