Lots of Cat Care questions will be answered by your vet. If you do not have a vet, the shelter where you got your cat, will probably recommend one. If you have to search for a vet pick one that takes an interest in you and treats your baby as a family member. The facility should be clean and the receptionists should be knowledgeable and pleasant. There should be Veterinarian Certificates on the wall. There should be an after-hours phone number. I have used after-hours numbers more than once. At the cost of veterinarian fees these days pet insurance is worth considering. What you pay for good cat food you will save in vet bills.
To get the kitty to the vet use a cat carrier. You should have a cat carrier for each cat in case you have to leave during an emergency. Some cats go in the carrier easily. If they don’t want to go in wrap the baby in a towel and put them in the carrier. One cat to a carrier. We have both hard and soft carriers.
Tattoos or microchips? Both are good. I like tattoos because they are easy to see and find. This means when a stray cat is found with a tattoo that cat belongs to somebody. Chips need a handheld microchip reader. Someone has to take the effort to do this. Hopefully, a shelter or humane society does this as a standard practice. Both tattoos and chips have helped get cats home. My horse is chipped, while my cats and dogs are tattooed.
As our cats came home from the vet visit there was not much isolation time during the introduction phase to current family cats. With adult cats, I would open the carrier and they would come out when ready. With week or months of being cautious, the new cat would socialize. Be ready for fights and break them up gently. I have not had to completely separate anyone yet. When Roxanne moved in she was separated for three days until I could get her to the vet where she was checked for mites and diseases. Then I just let her loose with the clowder. Soon after moving in she went into heat and there was lots of howling. We got her spayed. When she came home she got into a few scraps that required intervention. After a week her surgery was still weeping. This required an antibiotic. After a few days, she was all healed up. and now we have a generally well-behaved family. The two baby kittens were always monitored and their socialization and integration to the family just happened as they grew up.
We have nine cats, five dogs and two horses. They range from less than a year old here in 2017 to nine years old. This means that some of these family members could outlive me. We have a plan in place so that all the cats, dogs and horses are looked after in the event of some unforeseen catastrophe. Have a will in place so that you have peace of mind for the future of your family.
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