Recently, I was a devout "my cats only go in when they are sick" person, After the last twelve months or so, however, I've become quite the opposite. My cats will be going in for annual wellness checks from now on. My sickie will obviously be going in more than that, but the others will be going in for regular visits.
I wanted to list out the reasons for this. I am hoping that if there is anyone debating whether they should or not, this will help them decide. Or if anyone is dead set against wellness visits, they may reconsider.
1. Establish a clinical history. This doesn't sound like a biggie, but it is. If you only take your cat to the vet when they are sick, they only have that one visit to go by, and no history to compare against. Have things gotten better / worse / remained the same? It will always be a mystery, and if something seems off (even if the cat is perfectly ok) they will test the heck out of that one thing because they have nothing to compare against.
2. Establish a relationship with the vet. Imagine going to a mechanic that doesn't know you at all, doesn't know if you're the type that is "good for it" in terms of making payments. Do you think they'll fix your car without payment up front? Probably not. While a veterinarian is a doctor, they still need to be paid. If they don't know who you are, they will likely not be willing to do payment plans with you if your cat needs some sort of expensive procedure done. Vets that see patients and their owners on a regular basis get to know you and more importantly, know that you will pay them, and are more willing to work with you on such things.
3. Catch and address problems before cats show symptoms. There are a lot of diseases out there that have no obvious symptoms, but will show up in tests run at the vet's office. I personally know some folks that would say that just gives the vet an excuse to charge you more for something. that isn't bothering your cat. Well, let's talking chronic kidney disease (CKD). This is something that shows in the blood work and urine quite a bit before actual symptoms show. And treatment can start before symptoms show, which is really ideal because you don't want your pet to lose its appetite (this is usually the first obvious symptom). The problem is, the symptoms don't show until the level of toxins in the blood get pretty high, and by that point, you have to treat it a lot more aggressively, which is no fun for you, your cat, or your wallet.
4. Being proactive is less costly than being reactive. This is both in terms of money, as well as your cat's health. While it's never a guarantee, there are a lot of cases where you'll spend less by taking your cat to the vet on a regular basis, than only treating when symptomatic. Usually when a cat is symptomatic it is very ill (as stated in #3), because they are very good at hiding things. It has to be pretty bad before anything shows. It's also easier to make a small payment once a year than to have to make a big lump-sum payment when your cat is very sick and needs to have a lot done all of a sudden.
I'm sure there are other points, but I've wanted to put this list together for awhile now. These are the big ones I can think of. I've had two very sick cats in the past year, and with the one in particular, I have to wonder how much of this could have been caught or even prevented (or made easier somehow). I've probably spent thousands (many thousands) in the last year. It's not easy to do that, nor has it been fun for my cat to go into the vet at least once a month now.
I wanted to list out the reasons for this. I am hoping that if there is anyone debating whether they should or not, this will help them decide. Or if anyone is dead set against wellness visits, they may reconsider.
1. Establish a clinical history. This doesn't sound like a biggie, but it is. If you only take your cat to the vet when they are sick, they only have that one visit to go by, and no history to compare against. Have things gotten better / worse / remained the same? It will always be a mystery, and if something seems off (even if the cat is perfectly ok) they will test the heck out of that one thing because they have nothing to compare against.
2. Establish a relationship with the vet. Imagine going to a mechanic that doesn't know you at all, doesn't know if you're the type that is "good for it" in terms of making payments. Do you think they'll fix your car without payment up front? Probably not. While a veterinarian is a doctor, they still need to be paid. If they don't know who you are, they will likely not be willing to do payment plans with you if your cat needs some sort of expensive procedure done. Vets that see patients and their owners on a regular basis get to know you and more importantly, know that you will pay them, and are more willing to work with you on such things.
3. Catch and address problems before cats show symptoms. There are a lot of diseases out there that have no obvious symptoms, but will show up in tests run at the vet's office. I personally know some folks that would say that just gives the vet an excuse to charge you more for something. that isn't bothering your cat. Well, let's talking chronic kidney disease (CKD). This is something that shows in the blood work and urine quite a bit before actual symptoms show. And treatment can start before symptoms show, which is really ideal because you don't want your pet to lose its appetite (this is usually the first obvious symptom). The problem is, the symptoms don't show until the level of toxins in the blood get pretty high, and by that point, you have to treat it a lot more aggressively, which is no fun for you, your cat, or your wallet.
4. Being proactive is less costly than being reactive. This is both in terms of money, as well as your cat's health. While it's never a guarantee, there are a lot of cases where you'll spend less by taking your cat to the vet on a regular basis, than only treating when symptomatic. Usually when a cat is symptomatic it is very ill (as stated in #3), because they are very good at hiding things. It has to be pretty bad before anything shows. It's also easier to make a small payment once a year than to have to make a big lump-sum payment when your cat is very sick and needs to have a lot done all of a sudden.
I'm sure there are other points, but I've wanted to put this list together for awhile now. These are the big ones I can think of. I've had two very sick cats in the past year, and with the one in particular, I have to wonder how much of this could have been caught or even prevented (or made easier somehow). I've probably spent thousands (many thousands) in the last year. It's not easy to do that, nor has it been fun for my cat to go into the vet at least once a month now.