Should A Cat Have An "annual Wellness Exam"?

[sailon]

My vet is soliciting an Annual Wellness Exam. It's around $200. It does include a rabies vaccination (which my state doesn't require annually) and bloodwork.

I appreciate the concept of preventative medicine, but Maxine is, and always has been, an indoor cat with no serious medical issues.

I certainly want Max to be healthy and happy, but cat care is expensive enough without paying for "anticipated" problems.

Any recommendations?

 

[maggiedemi]

That does sound a bit high. Rabies vaccines are only $16 at the clinic I go to. I think they last 3 years? Drontal de-worming pills are $8 each, and my cats each need two, so that's only $16 each. I don't know, it seems like in all it would maybe be $100 counting the office visit fee, not $200.

 

[sailon]

That does sound a bit high. Rabies vaccines are only $16 at the clinic I go to. I think they last 3 years? Drontal de-worming pills are $8 each, and my cats each need two, so that's only $16 each. I don't know, it seems like in all it would maybe be $100 counting the office visit fee, not $200.

Thanks. Seems high to me too. What kind of a clinic do you go to? I'd like to find one in my area.

 

[maggiedemi]

It says Veterinary Clinic in the name, it's for cats and dogs. Usually if it says Clinic in the name, it is cheaper than a private practice.

 

[sailon]

It says Veterinary Clinic in the name, it's for cats and dogs. Usually if it says Clinic in the name, it is cheaper than a private practice.

Thanks again.

 

[tabbytom]

I think some vets offer such packaged deals as in like car service package? A maintenance program, parts and service with all the routine checks?

 

[ameezers]

What kind of blood work are they planning on doing? That (I would assume) is why the price is so high. My vet sends blood work to a different facility to be tested, to test for FIV and FeLV it's $164 per cat, plus the cost of vaccines, de wormer and the time the vet takes to assess the cat.
For just a regular check up and vaccines it's usually around $100 per cat.

 

[orange&white]

If the $200 includes a complete blood panel, it is a good value...but I don't usually get blood work done on healthy, symptom-free pets. I had one cat who showed symptoms of hyperthyroidism and paid a lot more for him to have multiple tests for several years, even though he always tested negative.

Blood work can uncover problems before symptoms ever start, and you may catch a disease which is curable at an early stage. Makes sense if you can afford it.

I have up to 3 cats and up to 2 dogs at a time, so I put money aside in an emergency vet fund. That may be the wrong-headed way to do it, but with owning multiple pets, eventually one or two of them end up draining the "wellness" account, plus some, while the majority live happy, healthy lives with just the minimal basic exams.

 

[sailon]

I think some vets offer such packaged deals as in like car service package? A maintenance program, parts and service with all the routine checks?

That's exactly what it appears to be. Per maggiedemi I checked for local clinics. Turns out Petco gives rabies vacs 2 days a month for $10. My vet charges $45.

 

[AbbysMom]

If $200 includes blood work, than that's a good price. I pay more than that for an annual exam with blood work and vaccines.

I feel an annual exam is important. Your cat may appear healthy, but there are things that only a vet will be able to detect such as heart murmurs, early onset of kidney disease, etc. Finding these things and starting to treat them early is important. The older they get the more important these annual exams become.

My cat is indoor only and she tested positive for giardia on year. During her annual exam in January we found her liver values are off and we are now treating that. None of these things would have been known if she didn't go in for her annual exam.

 

[tabbytom]

That's exactly what it appears to be. Per maggiedemi I checked for local clinics. Turns out Petco gives rabies vacs 2 days a month for $10. My vet charges $45.

Guess the comparison is like buying stuffs at the mall verses buying online.

But sometimes prevention is better that cure. Better to pay for package with warranty with nothing happening rather than not covered and full of problems. Just like being insured.

 

[Purr-fect]

This may be unpopular to say, but we do not take our cats to the vet annually.

If they are ill or hurt we certainly take them. We also do not give our cats vacinations annually.

Like us, our cats get vacinated on occassion, but not as frequently as recomended. I think periodic vacinations maybe beneficial, but I am not confident that frequent vacinations are healthy. I also think regular visits to the vet causes our cats great stress.

We do not appy flea pet drops. We do use flea collars but leave them on long past their effective date as we dont want to subject our guys to poisons and dont trust the claims of the flea collar/flea drop companies. Our guys are watched carefully for signs of fleas and are brushed when them come into the house. In all these yeras we have never had any flea issues, but maybe its been luck. However im glad we havent subjected our guys to toxins needlessly.

Our cats typically live natural lives to 18 years or so.

 

[maggiedemi]

Purr-fect- what do you use for flea collars? Soresto? I did use flea collars from Walmart when I first got my cats, but my male cat outgrew them, he is 12-13 pounds and his neck is too big, it was cutting him even though I had the collar as far out as it could go. So I switched to Frontline drops a few years ago.

 

[sailon]

Thanks for all the replies. To answer a question, I don't know what the bloodwork entails. It just says "wellness bloodwork". I'll find out.

I guess at this point I'll go ahead, but I still think it seems a bit excessive. With a healthy cat I think every 2 years would be more reasonable.

 

[foxxycat]

I try to take them in for their yearly appointments if there's money-I always bring them in for illness. I just never do the wellness exam as they often see the vet 2 or 3 times a year. This year will be the first time we do just a wellness exam. I don't do bloodwork unless there's something going on- I do blood work the first time I take them to the vets as a baseline-then not until they are in their teens unless of course something is going on. Once they hit 10 I do blood work yearly. One place I went to had senior wellness blood work for $99. This was also urine as well. The exam was $50. I don't remember if that test had the thyroid test included in it.

For fleas I found DE Food grade works great for treating the outside areas. It's basically ground silica and suffocates the bugs who breathe through their skin like fleas/ticks. I have put it on my fingers and run it through their fur to help kill off fleas. I have sprinkled it around the yard when it's dry. It helps.

Revolution is what I use on them for fleas right now. I have not seen many fleas where I live. When we used to stay at this house in Maine they got fleas BAD. But last year they didn't get any. I usually just use a flea comb dipped in dawn dish soap/water. it kills the fleas on the comb. it's tedious but works.

It's always a good idea to do blood work once a year or every other at the minimum. Each cat is different=some cats don't handle the vets well..so far all mine have been OK.

 

[alxxxxx]

My vet is soliciting an Annual Wellness Exam. It's around $200. It does include a rabies vaccination (which my state doesn't require annually) and bloodwork.

I appreciate the concept of preventative medicine, but Maxine is, and always has been, an indoor cat with no serious medical issues.

I certainly want Max to be healthy and happy, but cat care is expensive enough without paying for "anticipated" problems.

Any recommendations?

You can try searching online low cost pet clinics,some pet shelters do monthly community clinics for pets and its cheaper

 

[stephanietx]

I take mine for an annual "wellness exam" but it's only the office visit, which is $35. I don't vaccinate my kitties past their initial kitten shots for a variety of reasons, so we don't have that added expense. My vet understands and doesn't pressure us to get the shots. It's good to have a relationship with your vet so that if something does pop up, there's a baseline to compare to.

 

[IndyJones]

This is an old thread but absolutely take them for their yearly checkup.

My kabby I just found out has stage 3 heart disease and I never would have known had I not taken him in.