Custom Wellness Care
for Your Unique Feline
Superior veterinary care needs to account for the specific needs of your feline family member. One essential way Dr. Nancy Dunkle and the Exclusively Cats staff ensure that your cat’s specific health needs are being met is through annual preventive care exams.
Annual Preventive Care Exams
Because we only treat cats and have extensive training in feline health conditions, we recognize subtle clues that may otherwise go unnoticed. Early detection of potential health problems enables us to provide treatment quickly and hopefully prevent or reverse any symptoms of illness or disease. Some cat parents with more fearful or sensitive felines are tempted to skip vet visits. But this is where a welcoming, cat-friendly vet practice really comes in handy! We tailor our approach to each of our patients and excel in treating felines of all temperaments.
We Take the Time to Get to Know You & Your Cat
During your cat’s wellness exam, we will take note of your cat’s preferences, personality, and temperament. Likewise, we will ask you questions and gather information about your comfort level. Are you comfortable administering pills or liquid medications to your cat? How easy is it for you to encourage your cat to sit still or be handled by you? We plan to be life-long partners for the care of your cat, so getting to know you is also vital. Wellness appointments are great opportunities for these communications. Client education is important to us and will offer useful materials specific to any conditions we discuss.
What to Expect with Each Exam
In addition to the useful exchange of information and checking your feline out from nose to tail, here is what else you can expect at an annual exam:
- An examination of your cat’s teeth and gums for evidence of dental disease and recommendations for any feline dental services that may be warranted.
- Vaccinations based upon your feline’s particular lifestyle and corresponding risk factors.
- A fecal test, to rule out intestinal parasites.
- A discussion of heartworm and parasite control methods, which new research supports as critically important for cats.
- Cat nutritional and behavioral counseling.
- Based on medical history and overall physical exam, we may suggest blood work to ensure the body’s organs and immune systems are functioning normally.
We recommend that young adult cats be examined at least once a year, while senior kitties (age 7 and older) or those with an ongoing health condition should be examined more frequently.
Learn more about the importance of wellness exams from Roberta Lillich, DVM and former President of the American Association of Feline Practitioners.
Year-Long Heartworm Prevention Is Recommended for Felines
Bri and Angel treating a patient
Carried by mosquitoes, feline heartworm disease has been in the literature for decades, but since veterinarians were looking for “dog-like” symptoms in cats, the severity of the feline version of the disease was only recognized recently. Feline heartworm disease differs from the canine version in that in cats it affects primarily the lungs and, to a lesser extent, other soft tissues and thus is not really a “heart” disease. Also, the small number of worms that cats get “fooled” the veterinary world for years. However, it is the death of these few worms that proves fatal for cats, so unlike the dog, if your cat gets heartworm disease, there is no safe way to “cure” it. This makes prevention the necessary key. To do this, we recommend year-long application of Advantage Multi for Cats.
- Read more about heartworm disease from Cornell’s Feline Health Center.
Nothing is more important to us than providing felines with the personalized veterinary care they deserve. Contact us to learn more about the wellness services we provide.
What Our Clients Are Saying...
“ I recommend Dr. Dunkle and her staff very highly and without reservation for anyone who is looking for superb care from a cat-obsessed family. (Why the word family? Because that’s what you become when you bring your baby to Exclusively Cats!) ”— Gailen Mitchell (Sweetie’s mom)
